Results tagged ‘ Charleston RiverDogs ’
Logo of the Month: Greenville Drive
Primary Logo:
Alternate Logo:
Affiliation: Boston Red Sox
League: South Atlantic League
Home Field: Flour Field
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Summary: The first team we are scheduled to visit on this years’ baseball trip is the Drive, as they host the Augusta Green Jackets. This will be my first time seeing this team, though I am familiar with the South Atlantic League. I’ve seen the Savannah Sand Gnats in Georgia, and the Charleston River Dogs in South Carolina back in 2009. I’m very excited to visit Flour Field, as it looks like a beautiful ballpark. It’s located right downtown, and the ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson museum is right next door, which we plan on visiting also. The Drive franchise started out in Shelby, NC, as the Shelby Reds. The team has also been the Columbia Reds, Columbia Mets, and the Columbia/Greenville Bombers. The Drive name comes from the fact that the U.S. BMW Manufacturing plant and Michelin plant are in the area. Apparently the locals really wanted the team name to have something to do with Joe Jackson, but they went with the Drive instead. The mascot is a big frog named Reedy Rip’it, who looks a little like Wally the Green Monster in Boston. I can see myself getting a majority of Brian’s souvenirs here, though. The Drive’s secondary logo even looks a tad Boston Red Soxish. Flour Field also has a version of the Green Monster wall, also. Again, I’m really excited to catch a game here, as I am our other destinations. More to come!
MiLB Teams Featured on ‘Man vs. Food’
Even though the Minor League Baseball season is over, you can still get a taste of it (hee hee) thanks to the Travel Channel series ‘Man vs. Food’. Their baseball special premieres on Wed. September 10 at 10 p.m. Host Adam Richman visits three baseball stadiums known to have some of the most unusual ballpark snacks in the country. He goes to GCS Stadium(Gateway Grizzlies), Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park(Charleston River Dogs), and Fifth-Third Ballpark(West Michigan Whitecaps). Should be an entertaining show, and I’m anxious to see it.
I visited the ‘Joe’ in Charleston, South Carolina earlier this year, but I unfortunately (or fortunately maybe) never tried the ‘Homewrecker Hotdog’. It looks good, but I’ll just stick to the normal ones for now. Fifth-Third Ballpark is my home field here in Michigan, but I still can’t see myself ordering a Fifth-Third Burger unless I had my family helping me eat it. It has five beef patties, chili, nachos, lettuce, and a whole bunch of other stuff. If you eat a whole one yourself, you win a free t-shirt, along with a free heart attack down the road I presume.
Here is Adam Richman eyeing up the Fifth Third Burger in Comstock Park, MI
Photo courtesy of the Travel Channel
From Bum to Yankee
This is a pretty good reason to watch independant pro baseball, and ‘feel good’ story if I every heard one. On Monday, Jeff Williams, a closer for the Frontier League’s Tr
averse City Beach Bums, had his contract bought out by the New York Yankees. He has been assigned to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League. Williams was signed by the Red Sox out of college (Colorado State-Pueblo) but never saw action in there system.
So Williams spent two and a half seasons playing independant pro ball with the Beach Bums. In that time he became the Bums single season career record holder for saves. He converted 26 straight saves dating back to June 6, 2008. That including 13 this season which is tops in the league. Williams was also and All-Star this season and even earned the save in that game by hurling a 1-2-3 ninth inning that included two strikeouts.
He also leads Traverse City this season with 23 appearanced and a tiny ERA of 0.78. Williams has not allowed a run in his last 16.2 innings of work, including 23 strikeouts. In 2008, he set a single season team record by converting on 15 saves out of 16 opportunities. He appeared in 39 games going 3-4 with a 3. 40 ERA. In 2007 he pitched 38 games and posted an ERA of 4.61 with 52 strikeout.
So, good luck Jeff, in taking your mid-nighties fast ball to the show. It’s a big step up from being a Bum in Traverse City (right in my back yard) to Charleston, SC (where I was training last month). It’s a small world, but then baseball has the habit of uniting the world.
Photo courtesy of the Traverse City Beach Bums
Making The Best Of It
While being sent away for training down south, all you can really do is make the bes
t of it. I did this by taking in some great Minor League Baseball action in some historic cities with great baseball atmospheres.
Charleston RiverDogs: I was able to make it to two games of the RiverDogs here in Charleston, South Carolina. They are Single A in the South Atlantic League. It’s always nice to be at a ballpark for the first time and ‘The Joe’ as they call it is a nice place to watch a game. It’s pretty big ballpark, but you still got a great view from anywhere. I was shut out at getting a game ball and the Dogs beat and lost to the Lexington Legends.
Savannah Sand Gnats: Luckily the Sand Gnats were also in town while I was down here, this time playing the Charleston RiverDogs (maybe they’re thinking I followed them). I love Grayson Stadium, though, as I was here back in 2005 when I was training in Brunswick then. Always a good time in Savannah, and the Gnats played well losing a close game Tuesday night and winning in extra innings the next. I’d love to bring the family down here at some point.
Sorry the picture quality is so bad, but had to pick up a desposable camera while down there. They’re better than nothing, I guess.
Photos property of MIB
Minoring In Baseball
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