Wednesday, October 14

Happy National Pierogi Day to you and yours. Did you know that pierogi, like deer or moose, does not have a plural form? I learned this important bit of information while visiting the Syracuse Mets. Welcome to the Baseball Traveler newsletter.

Crooked Numbers is a monthly column dedicated to Minor League Baseball on-field oddities and absurdities. Keeping track of the weirdness is a team effort, so get in touch if you've witnessed something out of the ordinary at a Minor League game (benjamin.hill@mlb.com).

Save the date

The Richmond Flying Squirrels found the perfect way to celebrate the first of September: Rally from a 9-1 deficit!

The Double-A Giants affiliate, facing the Akron RubberDucks, found themselves down by that calendrically appropriate score after two innings of play. They came all the way back for a 13-12 victory, however, with Jancel Villarroel’s RBI single breaking a tie with two outs in the ninth. Ryan Vanderhei closed it out in the bottom of the frame, giving Richmond its largest come-from-behind win since the franchise was founded in 2010.

And wouldn't you know it? On the same night that the Flying Squirrels won 13-12, their parent club lost 13-12. The Giants, like the Flying Squirrels, endured a nine-run inning from the opposing team but nonetheless rallied to tie the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-12 in the eighth. They gave up a run in the final frame – one in the ninth on 9/1 -- losing the only 13-12 game in the Major Leagues this season.

Back in my day
During the Sept. 1 game between the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners, Boston reliever Wyatt Olds entered the game with two outs in the fourth inning. The first batter he faced was, wait for it, Cole Young. Olds struck out Young in that at-bat and then retired him again on a fly out in the sixth.

Olds is no stranger when it comes to battling those with an opposite surname, as an even more memorable faceoff occurred when the right-handed reliever was in the Minor Leagues. On May 11, 2024, while pitching for the Portland Sea Dogs, he faced Binghamton Rumble Ponies second baseman Wyatt Young and struck him out. Yes, Wyatt Olds vs. Wyatt Young! (And, yes, Olds was the older of the two.)

Level up

 
On Sept. 10, in his first Triple-A at-bat, Lehigh Valley IronPigs outfielder Wuilfredo Antunez hit a triple. It was just the sensible thing to do.

Antunez has a knack for this sort of thing, apparently. Earlier in the season, on July 29, he made his debut with the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils and hit a double in his first at-bat. If he makes it to the Philadelphia Phillies, would it be fair to expect a home run his first time up?

An exclusive club

Astros prospect Jason Schiavone achieved one of the 2026 season's rarest statistical feats: a 30-30 season by a catcher. The 23-year-old backstop hit 32 homers and stole 32 bases across three levels of play, joining the 30-30 club on Sept. 15 as a member of the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys.

No catcher has ever enjoyed a 30-30 season at the Major League level. Schiavone was the first to do it in the Minors since Willie Royster (31 homers, 53 steals) accomplished the feat with the Charlotte O's in 1981.

Pennsylvania pulverizers

The Eastern League playoffs kicked off on Sept. 15, and how! The Erie SeaWolves matched their season high in runs scored in Game 1 of the Western Division semifinals, demolishing the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 18-6. SeaWolves catcher Luke Shliger blasted two grand slams, doubling his previous career high for RBIs in a game.

The SeaWolves weren't the only Keystone State club to clobber the competition. Over in the Eastern Division, the Reading Fightin Phils established a new season-high in runs with a 21-4 shellacking of the Hartford Yard Goats. The Fightin Phils scored 12 in the second inning, falling one short of a franchise record set in 2007.

It's no surprise that these two teams met in the Finals, but the offensive fireworks fizzled out in Game 1. Reading eked out a 1-0 win en route to a series sweep, their first outright championship since 1995.

Three centuries of winning

What do the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Rochester Red Wings all have in common? They are continuously operating single-city professional baseball franchises that have won a championship in three different centuries.

The Red Wings (Triple-A WAS), founded in 1899, are Minor League Baseball's oldest team. They joined the Cubs and Cardinals in the "three century club" after winning the 2026 International League championship, triumphing in a three-game series against the Memphis Redbirds. It was the Red Wings' first title in the 21st century, their 15th in the International League and 20th overall. Here’s how it breaks down.

19th century: 1899
20th century: 1901, 1909-11, 1928-31, 1939, 1952, 1955-56, 1971, 1974, 1988, 1990, 1997
21st century: 2026

The Red Wings' 2026 title run snapped a 29-year championship drought. This was the longest drought in the team’s history and had been the fifth-longest among all current Minor League teams entering this season. The team celebrated by partying like it was 1899.

That's what you get for leaving 

The 2026 Southern League Finals were played between a team that relocated to Huntsville, Ala., and a team that relocated from Huntsville. In the end, the Huntsville team won.

That would be the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Double-A LAA), who triumphed over the Biloxi Shuckers (MIL).

The Trash Pandas, based in the Huntsville suburb of Madison, played their inaugural season in 2021 after relocating from Mobile, Ala. Their arrival filled the void left by the Huntsville Stars, who moved to coastal Mississippi in 2015 and became the Shuckers. The Trash Pandas brought a Southern League title to Huntsville for the first time since the 1994 Stars won it all. Everything is connected.

What the H?

Fifty-five players appeared in a game for the Spokane Indians in 2026, and 13 of them had a last name that started with the letter H. What are the odds? Seriously, does anyone know?

2026 marked the continuation of a steady uptick of H surnames on the Spokane roster. In 2022, pitcher Robinson Hernandez was the lone H-man on the team. That number rose to four in 2023, five in 2024 and eight in 2025 before exploding in 2026.

The first rebrand of the 2026-27 Minor League Baseball season has arrived: The Springfield Cardinals, Double-A St. Louis affiliate, are now the Ozarks Springbirds. It's a conservative rebrand, as rebrands go, still keeping the parent club front and center while also acknowledging their larger region and the city they call home. The logos were designed by Studio Simon; one of the secondary marks references the Netflix show "Ozark."

READ ABOUT THE OZARK SPRINGBIRDS HERE

As mentioned in last week's newsletter, each offseason newsletter will feature stories and observations from my vast road trip archive. Get in touch with any requests, as Larry Cohen did last week: "You MUST re-run the 'Debacle in Durham' column."

This is a story of things not going according to plan, a ballpark soap opera of sorts, in which one Designated Eater led to another and then another. Larry, who admits his request was self-serving, plays a role. Check it out HERE.

Alright, gotta go. Let me know what teams or ballparks you'd like to see featured as I continue to dip into the archives (any Minor League team from 2010 on is fair game).

Get in touch anytime via email at benjamin.hill@mlb.com and please follow me on Instagram (@thebensbiz), X (@bensbiz) and Bluesky (@bensbiz.bsky.social). I enjoy hearing from you.

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