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1 hour ago, papalawrence said:

Very cool. Wonder if there were any tobacco or other cards produced of them? A quick Google came up empty.

Well... now that I did a bit of digging, this might not be the correct information. See here: 

 

The Cliff Notes version:

The Grand Rapids Rustlers (or maybe Rippers??) did exist in the Western League, but moved to Omaha, and then folded.

A separate team that was originally from Columbus moved, very briefly, to Grand Rapids, then to Cleveland.

 

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1 hour ago, papalawrence said:

Anyone hear an update on how Austin Meadows is doing? Haven't heard anything in over a year

Parker mentioned him briefly in the Have a Seat podcast. Just about competition between them and they play golf. No real update on how he is doing.

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This entry will be as random as random gets most likely but…

My wife and I are going to traverse to Kinston, NC tonight to say goodbye to an old baseball park. This weekend will mark the end of Grainger Stadium’s association with affiliated baseball. The park can’t be brought up to MLB’s standards so the Down East Wood Ducks (High A affiliate of the Texas Rangers) will relocate to a brand new ballpark next year in Spartanburg, S.C.
Grainger Stadium is in a flood zone to begin with so the writing has been on the wall a while now. As a big MiLB fan I hate to see the team leave. This will leave N.C. with nine affiliated teams in 2025. 
We’ve known the GM there for years and have to get down there one more time. I’m sure a summer league team will land there soon. 
As a perk, if you’d call it that, the Texas Rangers World Series trophy will be on display there tonight. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grainger_Stadium

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I grew up in Kentwood, MI and played little league there in the 70s. One of the adults who started the league was Dolly Konwinski. I knew her son and I got to know Dolly. She was extremely kind and giving, and she really knew baseball.

She played several years in the all-American girls professional baseball league, mostly for the Grand Rapids Chicks. She made a big impression on me in my youth, when most adults in my life were not so kind. She passed in 2018. So this post is given to honor Dolly. And to ask if anyone knows if there is a decent documentary out there that is focused exclusively on the GR Chicks? I've seen AAGPBL docs, and would love to see one specific to the Chicks. TIA

 

Edited by papalawrence
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Did you know that the Detroit Tigers almost moved to Pittsburg spelled without an H, Pennsylvania in time for the 1903 season? They had the plan and they thought they had the money fronted for it and everything, until the money part fell apart at the last minute.

Why on earth would the Tigers have left Detroit to become a possible second-banana team in Pittsburg? It was because Ban Johnson's idea was to directly challenge the National League in as many cities as possible. That's why the Milwaukee franchise moved to St. Louis for the 1902 season; and also why when the Baltimore franchise shut its doors after the 1902 campiagn, it was reconstituted as the New York Highlanders for 1903 instead of restarting as another iteration of the Orioles.

Plus, at the time, Pittsburg, including the city of Allegheny which they annexed in 1907, was a bustling steel and iron metropolis of almost half a million people, whereas Detroit was basically a horse-and-buggy manufacturing town of less than 300,000, and since horse-and-buggies were going the way of the horse-and-buggy, why keep a major league team in such a minor league horse town? Why, that would be asinine—might as well put teams back in Troy and Altoona while you’re at it, amirite?

So, Detroit came thisclose from becoming a minor league city with an American Association or International League team for who knows how long?

image.png.512597cfa3d000d41dca91395554777c.png

image.png.f3b331963ce317035d9093e2705f89c7.png

 

 

Edited by chasfh
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14 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Nice to see Matt Boyd having a very successful comeback. Only 5 starts, but so far 2.20 era and .077 whip. Doubt we'll see another reunion, but maybe.....

 

Edit - should be in the 2024 mlb thread 

Yeah, it can be tricky for a lot of people to figure out what posts should go where. I expected to see a lot of that when I started this thread. Nothing can be really done about it, it’s just part of the forum landscape.

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On 9/12/2024 at 9:35 PM, Tiger337 said:

Gambling?

 

According to the ESPN story the guy just wanted the season to be over. They were fighting with the Flying Tigers for a playoff spot. The thing I found interesting is this:

Quote

Lakeland scored four runs in the second inning and won the game 6-0 to clinch the Florida State League West division and eliminate the Mighty Mussels from playoff contention after Fort Myers had held a six-game lead three weeks earlier.

So the Twins minor league team had a solid lead heading into the final weeks of the season, but blew the lead and let the Flying Tigers get ahead. That story seems familiar...

 

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As dramatic as that is, this one seems even more amazing:

image.thumb.png.0e4111f7028162d2370a0ef189c98ffc.png

 

On August 11th, we had a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs. In 47 days that changes rose 99%. On average each day during that span the Tigers added more than 2.1% to their chance of making the playoffs.

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6 minutes ago, chasfh said:

 

 

Reminder: Pete did not get a "lifetime ban". He was ruled permanently ineligible, which survives his death.

Sorry to hear this—one of the first MLB superstars I became aware of as a kid in the 70’s.  Such a complex legacy.  Truthfully, his inclusion in the HOF seems insignificant now.  

RIP Charlie

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