MOOSIC, Pa. -- April 26, 1989 was an auspicious day for northeast Pennsylvania baseball fans, as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons played their first home game at Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose Stadium. This marked the return of Minor League Baseball to the region after a 35-year absence, and 11,000 fans packed the

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- One of the most enduring clichés associated with working in Minor League Baseball is the "wearing of many hats." Donna Kirby, longtime member of the Double-A Pensacola front office, embodies this jack-of-all-trades mentality. Kirby has pretty much done it all over the course of her Blue Wahoos

ALLENTOWN, PENN. -- Within a ballpark press box, many of the job titles are self-explanatory. The broadcasters broadcast the game, the scorers score it and the writers write about it. Similarly, the stringers string it. This last position, crucial and therefore ubiquitous, isn't as widely understood as the press box's

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Prior to the 2004 season, when Montgomery's new Minor League Baseball team announced they would be named the Biscuits, Richard Chamberlain was the first in line to buy team merchandise. When season tickets went on sale, he was, again, the first in line. "I tend to overdo

BINGHAMTON, New York -- Working in a Minor League Baseball front office is a world away, sometimes literally, from serving in the military. Richard Tylicki, director of stadium operations for Double-A Binghamton, nonetheless finds similarities between the two pursuits. "I think in Minor League Baseball you work a lot --

When you think of baseball in the year 1951, Rookie of the Year Willie Mays might spring to mind. Or his teammate, Bobby Thomson, hitting the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" to propel the the New York Giants to the World Series. A lesser-known baseball event from that year, but

BILOXI, Miss. -- Kaleb Bowman, a long-haired and compactly built right-handed reliever who pitches from various arm slots, is in the midst of his debut Minor League season. The now-26-year-old, a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization, began the year with High-A Wisconsin, and after six weeks, was called up

TACOMA, Wash. -- Like the beloved baseball team of his childhood, Chester Rito started out in Brooklyn before heading westward across the country. His eventual destination was not Los Angeles but Tacoma, Wash., home of the Seattle Mariners' Triple-A affiliate. Over the past 14 seasons, Rito has been a fixture

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- In 2018, Nino Mendez attended a Pensacola Blue Wahoos game that happened include a fireworks show. This seemingly innocuous occasion turned out to be the start of a new professional journey, and he is now in his fifth season as team photographer for the Double-A Miami Marlins

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- After a long stint with the Double-A club, Chris Adams-Wall finally got the call: He's going to The Show. He's going to the pre- and postgame show, to be exact, hosting both as the newest member of the Tampa Bay Rays broadcast team. Adams-Wall is a homegrown

HILLSBORO, Ore. – It’s a beautiful afternoon at the ballpark, and the ambient noise is delightful. The soothing sounds of the game gently intermingle with the buzz of the crowd, the enthusiastic exhortations of the PA announcer and the atonal, overlapping bleats of dozens of miniature rubber chickens. Wait, what?

WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. -- A light breeze wafted through Heritage Financial Park on June 3, complementing an overcast sky, temperatures in the mid-60s and, later, a rain shower. The calendar may have indicated otherwise, but the vibe at the ballpark was decidedly autumnal. How apropos, then, that this was the

EUGENE, ORE – On March 23, when the Eugene Emeralds announced their Exploding Whales alternate identity, they figured it would create some regional buzz. Those expectations were immediately blown out of the water. The Emeralds, High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, sold out their first batch of Exploding Whales

Garrett Spain grew up playing hockey in the United States, where baseball is the national pastime. These days, he's playing professional baseball in Canada. It's funny how life works out. Spain, an outfielder selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15th round of the 2021 Draft, is currently in

TACOMA, Wash. -- When Mike Ford told his current manager, John Russell, about his 2022 season, Russell had an apt response: "That's not a season. That's a career!" That about sums it up. Ford, a heavy-hitting first baseman and designated hitter, is currently a member of the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.

HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Dylan Ray and Conor Grammes have a lot in common, at least superficially. They're both right-handed pitchers in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization who currently play for the High-A Hillsboro Hops. They both occupy a spot on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 D-backs prospects list. And, most importantly for

EUGENE, OREGON -- Jill Cole didn’t apply for the job and had no prior experience. So how did she end up as public address announcer for the Eugene Emeralds, spending her evenings behind a microphone in the PK Park press box? It's kind of a weird story. “I came here

This article is excerpted from the latest edition of the Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter, which you can subscribe to HERE. Each Thursday brings a new installment filled with Minor League Baseball business and culture news.

In Minor League Baseball, the players come and go. The mascot remains. Mascots are beacons of stability and bringers of joy, and the combination of these two durable traits make them universally beloved. Picking favorites is a thankless task, and while no one has to do it, this writer will

Hungry? If not, you probably will be after reading this appetizing article. What follows is a by-no-means comprehensive roundup of notable concession items debuting in the Minor Leagues this season. There's more where this came from, so there'll be a second course if the public is hungry for it. For

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Morrie Silver, director of communications for the Rochester Red Wings, has a name that looms large in the city's baseball history. He's carrying on a multi-generational Red Wings legacy started by his namesake grandfather, whose biggest accomplishment was nothing less than saving the franchise. The Red Wings,

This post marks the first installment in a recurring Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter offseason series, detailing the concession highlights at each Minor League ballpark that I visited in 2022. At each stop of the way, I was joined in culinary solidarity by my Designated Eater, a local fan who consumes

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Brian Frank is on a mission that can be summarized in seven words: preserving the history of Buffalo Bisons baseball. When it comes to this storied franchise, there is a lot of history to preserve, arguably more than in any other current Minor League Baseball locale. Buffalo,

ERIE, Penn. -- Early in the 2021 season, just a few games into her new job as the Erie SeaWolves' on-field emcee, Cailyn Szelinski had an idea. "Makeup and costuming is a hobby of mine," she explained. "So I asked [the SeaWolves front office], 'Hey, look, I'm crazy enough to

WICHITA, Kansas -- As fans approach the entrance of Wichita’s Riverfront Stadium, home of the Wind Surge, they are greeted by a pair of friendly faces: Andrew Crane and his guide dog, Vaughn. Crane, who has cerebral palsy and was born blind, was one of the first gameday employees hired