Appalachian Baseball League

[Bluebird]

You all live around here so I figure it would be a good discussion topic. http://www.appyleague.com

[swva_havok_fan]

I quit going to games when it no longer was a minor league.  I had season tickets for several years to Bristol Pirates games.

I was able to take in a game in every single Appy League park before it turned into the college league it is now with the exception of Pulaski's.

[Deleted Account]

I was a skeptic at first, but having seen a few of the games, I'm sold.

 

The overall caliber of talent is honestly above what you'd see in the old Rookie League.  For every Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Wander Franco that came through the ranks, you'd have 10 guys who were barely better than local high school players given shots based on nothing more than physical potential.  The new Appy League has legitimate D1/D2 talent that project over Rookie League value.  For example, Bluefield's 1B is a rising sophomore from Kansas State who hit .283 in the regular season with 5 HR, 22 RBI in 46 games.  If that young man progresses at all, he'll be drafted and project much better than the average Rookie League prospect.  And that's just an average player.  Bluefield's best player is a rising junior from Morehead State who hit .393 in 214 AB, with 16 HR and 51 RBI in 56 games.  For the stat geeks, his OBS is 1.184, which is astounding.  He's hitting .377 in the Appy League, so that's not a fluke.  That young man's a legitimate major league prospect, and unlike some of the other players in the pre-2019 days, he's not surrounded by guys who are essentially stiffs.

 

I like the new setup.  It has the feel of a "hometown team" as opposed to a corporate arm of an organization in Toronto or Baltimore.

[Account Deleted]

Traditional minor league baseball, the kind we grew up on, the kind Bull Durham was modeled after, barely exists anymore. The locally owned "mom and pop" teams have largely given way to corporate MLB as a means for the big clubs to hide financial losses and offset bad contracts. The new "Player Development License" structure each MLB team has with MiLB franchises essentially gives the MLB team autonomy in a way that MiLB doesn't have a chance to thrive. They likely won't fail but they will never thrive because the MLB team will absorb any substantial profit while funneling their own losses downward. An ESPN feature (E:60 maybe?) referred to MLB as "Bernie Madoff" in this deal.

The Appy League as a "Cape Code League, South" is far better off than being part of a legalized Ponzi scheme. 

Chris Canada is the model player for the new Appy League. Kid graduated high school in 2021 and spent his freshman season adjusting to college baseball as a member of the San Diego State Aztecs. In 44 college innings, Canada finished with a 2-1 record, had a 5.11 ERA, gave up 40 hits while walking 31. In 26 innings of Appy League ball, Canada is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA, given up 21 hits and walked just 3 while striking out 30. Pitchers can learn quickly and be far more effective with their "stuff" when batters use wooden bats. This kid is growing his draft stock by the inning!

[Deleted Account]

26 minutes ago, sixcat said:

Traditional minor league baseball, the kind we grew up on, the kind Bull Durham was modeled after, barely exists anymore. The locally owned "mom and pop" teams have largely given way to corporate MLB as a means for the big clubs to hide financial losses and offset bad contracts. The new "Player Development License" structure each MLB team has with MiLB franchises essentially gives the MLB team autonomy in a way that MiLB doesn't have a chance to thrive. They likely won't fail but they will never thrive because the MLB team will absorb any substantial profit while funneling their own losses downward. An ESPN feature (E:60 maybe?) referred to MLB as "Bernie Madoff" in this deal.

The Appy League as a "Cape Code League, South" is far better off than being part of a legalized Ponzi scheme. 

Chris Canada is the model player for the new Appy League. Kid graduated high school in 2021 and spent his freshman season adjusting to college baseball as a member of the San Diego State Aztecs. In 44 college innings, Canada finished with a 2-1 record, had a 5.11 ERA, gave up 40 hits while walking 31. In 26 innings of Appy League ball, Canada is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA, given up 21 hits and walked just 3 while striking out 30. Pitchers can learn quickly and be far more effective with their "stuff" when batters use wooden bats. This kid is growing his draft stock by the inning!

A perfect example I'm familiar with is Bennett Sousa.  The kid played 4 full seasons at Virginia and was hit like a drum the entire time.  His best ERA was 4.09 as a 3rd-year, and his advanced metrics were all sorts of terrible.  He ended up signing as a 10th-round pick for the Chicago White Sox in 2018, which was roughly 15 rounds higher than any Hoo fan expected he'd go.  He goes to the minors, and where the bats are wooden and not BBCOR, all of a sudden his ERA through A/A+/AA is under 2.50 with great advanced metrics.  He made his MLB debut this year, and is 3-0 with 1 save, despite some pretty wonky metrics. 

 

It's amazing what some of these guys can do with options.

[cityofRaven]

I go every night!

[Deleted Account]

21 hours ago, cityofRaven said:

I go every night!

I wondered why Bluefield was 12-17, now I know!  😉

[cityofRaven]

4 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

I wondered why Bluefield was 12-17, now I know!  😉

The broadcast is undefeated. 

[rvtne216]

On 7/6/2022 at 9:05 PM, cityofRaven said:

I go every night!

Doing stuff.

[Bluebird]

I think if they put an expansion team for the Appalachian league in Jonesville, Wise, or Grundy I feel it would help out the local economy in their area a little bit as it would give the people in those areas something else to do. 

 

Now I don't know how big those areas are but I feel it wouldn't hurt those areas one bit. It might help out the local economy.  Let me know what you think.  

[Liam McPoyle]

1 hour ago, Bluebird said:

I think if they put an expansion team for the Appalachian league in Jonesville, Wise, or Grundy I feel it would help out the local economy in their area a little bit as it would give the people in those areas something else to do. 

 

Now I don't know how big those areas are but I feel it wouldn't hurt those areas one bit. It might help out the local economy.  Let me know what you think.  

IMO, the Wise/Norton/BSG area would be the only viable place that could potentially support a team. UVA-Wise just broke ground for a new baseball stadium, which could possibly be used by an Appy League team. I know the Greeneville Flyboys play their home games at Tusculum University.