Who's your favorite Minor League team?

Yankeebiscuitfan · 07-03-2005, 04:10 PM

Most of the time I am roaming the big league forums. But it came to my mind to ask which is your favorite Minor League team, and why?

Just curious.

baseball_in_hel* · 07-04-2005, 08:48 AM

My favourite 'actual Minor League' team is the Vancouver Canadians, just because they are the closest team to me, and that's really close! All my other favourite teams aren't officially Minor League, they are just Minor League level, and are not affiliated with any Minor League Baseball league.

~~Tyler~~
~~Peace~~

**Coal Cracker** · 07-04-2005, 04:56 PM

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. I'm originally from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and have continued to follow them despite moving to CT.

**B-Ham Barons Fan** · 07-06-2005, 04:23 PM

The Birmingham Barons because they are close and I actually get to go to the games.

**efin98** · 07-06-2005, 05:45 PM

I'm going with the North Shore Spirit of the CanAm League. They are a team you won't know about from a league that will probably fold in a few years, but boy do they play hard.

**Mach 1** · 07-07-2005, 11:42 AM

Since they're my local team ... the Sacramento River Cats.

Yankeebiscuitfan · 07-09-2005, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by efin98

I'm going with the North Shore Spirit of the CanAm League. They are a team you won't know about from a league that will probably fold in a few years, but boy do they play hard.

Is this an independant league? I have never heard of it.

**Brownie31** · 02-21-2006, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by B-Ham Barons Fan

The Birmingham Barons because they are close and I actually get to go to the games.

A hearty amen to this post! I too live in the B'ham area and am a long-time Barons fan going back to the days of Reggie Jackson & Company at Rickwood Field in 1967. The Barons have existed since 1887 & have won sixteen Southern Association/Southern League championships: 1906, 1912, 1914, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1948, 1951, 1958, 1967, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1993 & 2002. Former Barons include Pie Traynor, Burleigh Grimes, Billy Southworth, Earl Whitehill, Alvin "General" Crowder, Jimmy Piersall, Walt Dropo, Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, Jack McDowell & Frank Thomas among others. Brownie31

**Giantfanforever** · 03-10-2006, 03:19 PM

I grew up on minor league baseball, first with the Portsmouth Cubs (they changed their name to Merrimacs, named after the iron-clad warship that was built at the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth and battled the Monitor in Hampton Roads Harbor during the Civil War) until the Piedmont League folded in 1955.

The Tidewater Tides were born in 1961 and played in Portsmouth for nine years, first in the Sally (South Atlantic) League, then the Carolina League. In 1969, the New York Mets moved their Triple-A farm club from Jacksonville and a new ballpark (Met Park) was built in an area of Norfolk that was convenient to Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and the Newport News-Hampton area. While at Met Park, the Tides won 2 International League pennants, 5 Governors Cup playoffs, and a Triple-A World Series.

In 1993, under new ownership, the Tides moved into a new stadium, Harbor Park on the downtown Norfolk waterfront. At that time, the city snubbed their noses at the rest of the area and changed their name to the Norfolk Tides. They wanted a new team with a new ballpark and a new name and logo. They wanted to abandon their past legacy and build one of their own. The Norfolk Tides have never won a championship.

For awhile, I followed the fortunes of the Denver Bears (later the Zephyrs) in the American Association. Denver won 8 Association pennants in their Triple-A history, with a Junior World Series title and a Triple-A Alliance championship when the AA and the IL merged and played interlocking schedules. As bad as the Colorado Rockies have been, I wonder if Denver fans miss the exciting brand of ball played by the Bears in old Mile-High Stadium.

Lately, I have been following the Peninsula Pilots, a team in the Coastal Plains League, a college summer league. They use wooden bats, play 9-inning games, and as best as I can remember, the quality of play is about the same as the old Class A Carolina League.

**Bluesteve32** · 07-28-2005, 10:48 AM

I like the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Class A California League
affiliate of the Angels. I guess that makes old Jack Benny's line appropros: "Train for Palm Springs is now boarding (former home of the Palm Springs Angels and the former spring home of the Angels) via 'Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga.'"

That would be a funny way to get to PS, and Anaheim would actually be out of the way. Former MLB player Hank Aguirre was from Azusa for those that remember him on the Tigers and others.

**sschirmer** · 07-29-2005, 08:58 AM

I'm going with the Akron Aeros, Beloit Snappers, and Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

**Fenway24** · 08-14-2005, 10:59 PM

My favorite Minor League team is the Pawtucket Red Sox (PawSox), AAA team for the Boston Red Sox. You can see the Red Sox of the future for about 10% of what it costs to go to Fenway.

Hey, it looks like there's something Yankee fans and Sox fans can agree on! SACK GEORGE!

**Parker Field** · 08-15-2005, 11:34 AM

My all time favorite minor league team was the Richmond Virginians of the AAA International League. Althought they don't exist anymore, the memories of my childhood still do and they were a very important part of that. RIP 1954 - 1964.

The current Richmond Braves are a remote second.

**runningshoes** · 08-15-2005, 12:17 PM

Buffalo Bisons

**shoeless1920** · 08-16-2005, 12:44 PM

Some comments after reviewing this thread:
(1) Enjoy the Vancouver Canadians while you can, there's serious talk about tearing down Nat Bailey Stadium and putting a curling venue there; upon hearing this, by the way, Canadian poet laureate George Bowering stated, "It's a dreadful, awful place, but it's where baseball is, eh? It's a baseball park. What are they going to put in there, curling? Come on! This is not Winnipeg, this is Vancouver. Curling! Who is going to curl?"
(2) The North Shore Spirit is not a Minor League Baseball team. It is a member of the independent Can-Am League.
(3) The Yuma Scorpions is not Class A or otherwise a Minor League Baseball team. It is a member of the independent Golden Baseball League.
(4) The Minor League team in Des Moines was known as the Iowa Oaks from 1969-1981.
(5) The Minor League team in Spokane was known as the Indians throughout its affiliation with the Dodgers. Spokane was never known formally as the Dodgers.
(6) If I lived in Texas and was a fan of Chicago sports teams, I would frequent Houston to cheer on the Cubs when they came to town, Arlington when the White Sox came to town, and so forth for the Bears, Bulls and Black Hawks, and I would check the college schedules religiously to see if by some chance the Illini were to play any non-conference games anywhere in the area.
(7) The Lancaster Barnstormers is not a Minor League Baseball team. It is a member of the independent Atlantic League.

**shoeless1920** · 08-29-2005, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by shoeless1920

....there's serious talk about tearing down Nat Bailey Stadium and putting a curling venue there....

It is with much pleasure that I can emend my previous comment noted above. I visited Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver for a ballgame last week, and the curling venue was being built on an adjacent parcel of land and Nat Bailey has formally and officially been spared. Currently funding is being arranged for some improvements to the grand old yard. This is wonderful news as Nat Bailey is a terrific ballpark with great fans.

**laxplayer81217** · 08-24-2005, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by runningshoes53

Buffalo Bisons

there ass is grass in a week! rochester red wings will be the suckiest team to make the playoffs

**laxplayer81217** · 08-24-2005, 12:53 PM

also i like the modesto nuts and the brooklyn cyclones

**amaral** · 11-29-2005, 01:20 PM

I grew up in Idaho, and have been a Boise Hawks fan since the early 90s. I've been a Cubs fan for many years as well, so when the Hawks became a Cubs affiliate in 2001, I became a Hawks fan for life.

**Okie_Fan** · 01-09-2006, 01:34 PM

Tulsa Drillers for some odd reason . . . I get to a game every now and again.Come see . . .

**icee82** · 02-11-2006, 02:28 PM

I really enjoy going to the Grasshoppers' games. The new park is beautiful. I live in Clemmons and I attend a lot of Warthogs' games. Myrtle Beach always brings it hard with a bunch of very good prospects.

**theAmazingMet** · 07-30-2009, 07:33 AM

Long Island Ducks (IND), Brooklyn Cyclones (NY-Penn) Buffalo Bisons (AAA)

**pgsuperfan** · 07-30-2009, 07:48 AM

Reno ACES PCL AAA

**fitzyfitzell** · 08-16-2005, 08:39 PM

They ruled the AA Eastern League for two years in the early 80's and then moved to God knows where.
Now I'd have to say the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod League. So many major leaguers have played Cape ball it's insane.
Although I do think the Albuquerque Isotopes have a great name.

'TOPES WIN!!! THE 'TOPES WIN!!!

**shoeless1920** · 08-17-2005, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by fitzyfitzell

They ruled the AA Eastern League for two years in the early 80's and then moved to God knows where.
Now I'd have to say the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod League.

The Holyoke Millers played from 1977-80 as a Brewers farm team and in 1981-82 as an Angels affilliate before the team was moved to Nashua.
The Chatham A's is an amateur collegiate summer league team and is not a Minor League Baseball team.