Batavia Muckdogs

In 2021, Major League Baseball downsized its affiliated Minor League Baseball system, cutting the number of affiliated teams from 160 to 120. They saved some money for the rich owners but robbed 40 small American towns of having their own minor league teams and all the dreams and fun and economic benefit that goes with it. I’m sure this isn’t news to many of you on this site, but being from Canada and not paying much attention to minor league baseball, I just reading about it now.

Author Will Bardenwerper wrote a great book (Homestand) about one of the towns which lost their minor league team, Batavia, a small town near Buffalo in upstate New York.

It’s partly a feel good story about the residents of an American town facing a big loss but making the best of it and supporting a new team in an independent league to replace the mlb-affiliated team that was taken away from them due to corporate greed. The other part of the book is a take-down of the decision-making process that led to minor league contraction, and a call to support small towns whenever we can. It’s a great read. Highly recommend it.

Meanwhile, I have an opening in one of my leagues (Bush League) and in honor of these 40 towns, I’ve renamed the vacant team the Batavia Muckdogs. Message me if you’re interested. It’s a great, weird league, reserved for players you’ve likely never heard of. All players have to have less than 500 career ABs or less than 200 career IPs. Lots of fun. To check out the league, click on my name and then click on Bush League on my league list.