Wednesday, December 31

Hey Mister! It's National Produce Misting Day, so make sure to keep your fruits and vegetables well lubricated. Welcome to the Baseball Traveler newsletter, which, unlike your produce, you'll be glad not to have mist! Let's talk about Minor League Baseball.

Crooked Numbers is a monthly column dedicated to Minor League Baseball on-field oddities and absurdities. This will be the final such column of 2025, get caught up with the rest of the season here:
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Home field disadvantage: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (MIA) and the Las Vegas Aviators (ATH) faced off on Sept. 28 in the Triple-A National Championship Game, held at Las Vegas Ballpark. The Aviators came to bat in the ninth inning trailing by a score of 6-2 but then launched a furious five-run rally capped by Bryan Lavastida's three-run homer.

A thrilling walk-off win, right?

Wrong. The Aviators were the away team in their home ballpark, and in the bottom of the 9th, Jacob Berry hit a walk-off two-run home run to give the Jumbo Shrimp an 8-7 victory.

So how does a team get walked off in its own ballpark? Las Vegas was the preselected site for the Triple-A National Championship Game, and Jacksonville was the "home" team by virtue of having a better regular-season record. They went 89-61 en route to winning the International League championship while Las Vegas, champs in the Pacific Coast League, went 83-67.

The best team since us: The West Michigan Whitecaps, an unstoppable juggernaut, won the Midwest League championship after posting a 92-39 record in the regular season. The Detroit High-A affiliate's .702 winning percentage was the best in the Minor Leagues since 1997, when those very same West Michigan Whitecaps went a very same 92-39.

That the same franchise is responsible for the two best records in the Minor Leagues over the last 28 years is remarkable. That both of these rampaging Whitecaps teams played 131 games is just weird, as in 1997 the Midwest League schedule consisted of 140 games (as opposed to the current 132).

Nary a goose egg: 7-3-1-1-1-1-1-4-2. That's not a phone or social security number. It's the path that the Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A  COL) took on their way to scoring in every inning of a 21-10 win over the El Paso Chihuahuas (SD) on Sept. 10. While Minor League records are not available, this feat has only been accomplished 20 times in Major League history (and that includes instances of "only" scoring in the first eight innings, on account of being the home team).

Per Isotopes baseball information coordinator Joe Traub, the Isotopes set a franchise record with 27 hits in the contest (the most hits in a Minor League game this season), while the 21 runs were the most they scored on the road.

The longest single: In the Gameday account of the Sept. 4 game between the Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A ATL) and the Durham Bulls (TB), you'll see that Gwinnett's Connor Capel singled "on a sharp fly ball to right fielder Kameron Misner" in the bottom of the fifth inning. Two runs scored on the play, while Capel was summarily ruled out at second (with Durham first baseman Cooper Hummel getting credit for the putout).

That's true as far as it goes, but the full story is far weirder: Capel's "single" cleared the right field fence and looked for all the world like a home run. However! Jonathan Ornelas, the runner at first, apparently thought the ball would be caught and retreated to first base. Capel, in the early stages of a leisurely home run trot, was ruled to have passed Ornelas on the bases and called out. This improbable turn of events infuriated Capel, leading to his ejection from the game.

HODGETOWN Special: In June, the Amarillo Sod Poodles (Double-A AZ) managed to score 11 runs in an inning and still lose. In July, they scored 11 runs between the eighth and 11th innings to win a game. Things to continued to stay weird in the Texas Panhandle, as on Sept. 11 the Sod Poodles once again hosted an off-kilter classic at their all-capitalized HODGETOWN home. The visiting RockHounds (ATH) scored a run in the first inning, the first of five times they took the lead in the ballgame. But the Sod Poodles kept coming back to tie it -- 1-1 in the first, 8-8 in the seventh, 11-11 in the ninth and 12-12 in the 10th. Finally, the Sod Poodles won it in the 11th on Ben McLaughlin's RBI double. 

Every player in the starting lineup in this ballgame hit safely, and 10 of the 11 pitchers allowed at least one run.

All or nothing: It's a rare feat to pitch at every level of a Minor League system over the course a season, and it's even rarer to notch a win at each step along the way. Rarer still is to compile an undefeated record while doing it. 

Right-handed reliever Brandan Bidois did just this within the Pirates system this season, compiling an 0.74 ERA en route to an 8-0 record. The native of Australia began the season with Single-A Bradenton, appearing in one game and notching the win. He then went 2-0 over 16 appearances with High-A Greensboro (where he also sold tickets) and 4-0 over 14 appearances with Double-A Altoona before finishing up with a 1-0 record over the course of nine scoreless outings with Triple-A Indianapolis.

In his three previous Minor League seasons, Bidois compiled records of 0-0, 3-0 and 0-5. He has yet to record both a win and a loss over the course of the same campaign.

The do it yourself approach: The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A NYM) were threatening in the bottom of the ninth inning of their Sept. 11 game against Portland (BOS), with Chris Suero on second and one out in a one-run ballgame. Dreams of a rally were quickly snuffed, thanks to a game-ending unassisted double play by Portland right fielder Juan Chacon. 

Yes, the right fielder! William Lugo hit a scorching line drive and Suero broke for third on contact, but Chacon made the catch and casually jogged to second base to end the ballgame.

Nine-in-one: On Sept. 21, the last day of the Triple-A regular season, Louisville Bats (CIN) utility man Levi Jordan made his pitching debut against the Nashville Sounds (MIL) and took the loss. This gave him an almost certainly unprecedented distinction: A player who factored into a pitching decision during a game in which he played all nine positions while also maintaining a 0.00 ERA.

Jordan spent the first four innings working his way through the infield and the next three in the outfield. He took the mound in the 8th with the game tied, 4-4, and allowed a single before recording a groundout. The next batter reached on an error, and Jordan was then shifted back to third base. Both of the runners he faced came around to score, although neither run was earned. Jordan then caught the ninth inning as Eric Yang, usually a catcher, allowed five runs to score.

That was a weird way to end the season but, then again, baseball is weird!

The 2025 MiLB Awards aired on MLB Network on Monday evening. It was the television event of the year, but in case you missed it, a full recap (and the program in its entirety) can be found HERE. My standalone segment -- an awards show within the awards show -- starts around the 39-minute mark. I'll highlight that in a future edition of this newsletter. 

I'll close with a hearty congratulations to the Arkansas Travelers, who won the Best Alternate Identity Award for their Barkansas Dizzys alter ego. This award was determined via an online vote, and the results surprised me. I didn't think anyone could defeat the Erie Moon Mammoths, but once again I have been proven wrong.

READ ABOUT (AND WATCH) THE BARKANSAS DIZZYS BIG WIN HERE

The offseason has begun, but you have my sacred vow that the premium Minor League Baseball material found in this newsletter will continue apace. Please tell everyone in your orbit to subscribe. Also, please follow me on Instagram (@thebensbiz) and X (@bensbiz). I appreciate you.

Contact Benjamin Hill

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