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The anthem singer who mashed two home runs

February 9, 2025

CHICAGO -- Lamar Johnson performed the national anthem prior to Game 1 of a doubleheader between his White Sox and the Athletics on June 19, 1977, at Comiskey Park.

When a game was canceled because of a prison break

February 8, 2025

A version of this story first ran in February 2022.

6 Negro Leagues (and Major League) ballparks you can still visit

@NJ_baseball
February 7, 2025

A version of this story was originally published in June 2024.

Check out the newest Minor League team logos for 2025

@BensBiz
February 7, 2025

Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.

U.S. Mint had never made a Congressional Gold Medal like Larry Doby's

February 6, 2025

The United States Mint was unaccustomed to requests like the one made by Larry Doby Jr. For centuries, the bureau of the Department of the Treasury has been responsible for designing and casting the Congressional Gold Medal -- the highest civilian honor in the country. And as part of that

Super Bowl and the Minor Leagues? These players did both

@BensBiz
February 6, 2025

A version of this article was first published on MiLB.com on Feb. 1, 2018. The first Super Bowl took place on Jan. 15, 1967, when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won the Super Bowl again the following season, this time over the Oakland Raiders.

Did you know the Superdome was once home to a Minor League team?

February 6, 2025

On Sunday, one of the world’s most-watched sporting events will take place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Believe it or not, decades before Super Bowl LIX came to town, the same building was home to a Minor League Baseball team for one season. The 1977 Triple-A New Orleans Pelicans

He was the first Black player to homer at Yankee Stadium, and so much more

Negro Leagues royalty and a barnstorming star in Japan: The overlooked Rap Dixon
February 5, 2025

How do most kids start playing baseball? Maybe their dad played? Maybe they saw a game and wanted to hit long home runs like their big, giant heroes out on the field? Maybe they just had nothing better to do. Back in the early 1900s, a teenaged Rap Dixon decided

Get ready for spring in style with your team's 2025 Spring Training cap

@Spokes_Murphy
February 3, 2025

If you’re headed to your favorite team’s Spring Training complex in Arizona or Florida this year, make sure you go there in style. MLB unveiled the 2025 Spring Training caps for every club on Monday. These caps, designed by New Era, will be worn only during Spring Training.

The story of the 11-year-old fan who pulled one-of-a-kind Skenes card

@ByJasonFoster
February 1, 2025

The 11-year-old Los Angeles boy had one item on his Christmas list: a hobby box of 2024 Topps Chrome Update. But given the price of those 24-pack boxes -- around $320, if you're lucky -- his parents told him his only wish-list item would be his only present under the

Is this the year? These MiLB clubs haven't won a title this century

@BensBiz
January 31, 2025

Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.

It's superhuman Elly as you've never seen him before (in Claymation!)

January 30, 2025

CINCINNATI – It often feels like there is nothing that Elly De La Cruz can't do on a baseball field. In a new spot featuring the Reds' All-Star shortstop, a Claymation world was created where De La Cruz is truly able to do anything and everything. All of the figurative

Mariners add another right-hander named Luis Castillo (source)

@HarriganMLB
January 28, 2025

The Mariners are cornering the market on right-handed pitchers named Luis Castillo. Seattle reached a Minor League deal with 29-year-old Luis Felipe Castillo on Tuesday, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the deal, which includes a Spring Training invite. He’s not to be confused with

Superstar trio makes for one-of-a-kind MLB The Show 25 cover

January 28, 2025

Paul Skenes. Gunnar Henderson. Elly De La Cruz. All on one epic MLB The Show cover. The superstar trio were revealed as the MLB The Show 25 cover athletes on Tuesday. It will be a one-of-a-kind cover to celebrate the 20th anniversary of MLB The Show by showcasing the future

They own baseball's longest winning streak. The story doesn't end there

January 28, 2025

When he heard the story about the 1987 Salt Lake City Trappers, Kelyn Ikegami knew it was one that would resonate with baseball fans. And anyone with a dream. “How in the world,” he thought to himself, “do people not know about this?” Ikegami was a media arts student at

A parade back from the airport? The party is on when international MLB players go home

@MandyBell02
January 28, 2025

Imagine coming home from work to a parade that’s dedicated solely to you. Picture your hometown being so invested in your hard work that it’s prepared to shut down the city and line the streets when you get your biggest promotion. No one cares about holding up traffic. No one

Get ready to cheer for ... the Bathtub Donkeys?

@BensBiz
January 24, 2025

Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to The Baseball Traveler newsletter here.

The beach volleyball game that set Trevor Hoffman on a Hall of Fame path

January 23, 2025

SAN DIEGO -- Friday marks seven years since Trevor Hoffman got the call to the Hall. In 2018, Hoffman, one of the best closers in baseball history, became the third player to don a Padres cap in Cooperstown, joining Tony Gwynn and Dave Winfield. The inscription on his plaque begins

Roki Sasaki meets LeBron at Lakers game

January 22, 2025

Roki Sasaki is already mingling with the other stars in Los Angeles. Just days after the Dodgers signed the Japanese phenom, Sasaki was sitting courtside for the Lakers game Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, where he got to meet LeBron James.

Griffey surprises Ichiro after Hall call -- but why did Ichiro thank George?

@Spokes_Murphy
January 21, 2025

Ichiro Suzuki was a near-unanimous selection for the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday night. That was no surprise. What was a surprise -- at least to Ichiro himself -- was when a fellow Mariners legend and inner-circle Hall of Famer interrupted Ichiro’s interview on MLB Network to congratulate the

The wild story of how Billy Wagner went from righty to lefty

A natural right-hander made a career throwing 100 mph with his left
January 21, 2025

On January 21, 2025, all-time great closer Billy Wagner was elected to the Hall of Fame. A version of this story originally ran in December 2020.

FOUND! Kid collector pulls one-of-a-kind Skenes debut patch card

@AlexJStumpf
January 21, 2025

Ever since Topps released its 2024 Chrome Update Series in November, there has been a golden-ticket Paul Skenes card in the wild, one that is expected to have a six-figure estimated value. But the real value is the bounty the Pirates put on it in a trade, making a 1-of-1

The Costner body double who threw a perfect game ... sort of

January 19, 2025

NEW YORK – The closing years of the last millennium were a special time for pitchers at Yankee Stadium. On those hallowed grounds, David Wells set down 27 consecutive Minnesota Twins on a May afternoon in 1998, David Cone repeated the feat the following year against the Montreal Expos, and

Chris Sabo made goggles cool 

Happy 60th birthday to the Reds cult legend
January 19, 2025

Like all good ideas, it originated with his mother. Yes, Chris Sabo, the Reds third baseman with the iconic rec specs who gave hope to every nearsighted Little Leaguer (myself included), first got the idea to get his eyes checked from his mom. "I was in Triple-A and I was

Did you know these famous people played Minor League Baseball?

@BensBiz
January 17, 2025

This story was excerpted from The Baseball Traveler newsletter.