AGRI Biz

Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, and Brian Jordan are well-known not only for their accomplishments in baseball but also football. They are the most recent two-sport stars. Little known to many in the sports world, Scott Radinsky, former Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers reliever from 1990  until 2001 was also a two-sport athlete, sort of. Originally drafted in the third round of the 1986 draft by ...

The Golden Baseball League seems to have this habit of generating headlines in a sport dominated by A-Rod, Derek Jeter, and the New York Yankees. On Saturday afternoon, during the Fox Saturday Game of the Week, the Boston Red Sox were playing host to the Philadelphia Phillies. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that the Phillies are in dangerous team slump where hitting and pitching have ...

Ryan Howard, arguably the face of the Philadelphia Phillies franchise, is now—on average—the second highest-paid player in the MLB, next to New York Yankees third baseman and arguably the game’s greatest, Alex Rodriguez. Is Howard worth a guaranteed $25 million a season? The numbers suggest yes. Since 2005, Howard has led the MLB in home runs (222) and RBIs (650). According to mlb.com, Howard is one of only ...

The new baseball season has not been kind to Scott Kazmir. After beginning the season on the DL, his first start of the season came against the defending champion, New York Yankees. Previously, I wrote that there was a possibility that Kazmir, once so hyped, full of potential, had reached his athletic peak. There comes a point in one’s career when you realize that it will not get ...

Ryan Freel, who played nearly 600 MLB games, recently signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Independent Atlantic League. Freel put together a career .268 average with over 500 hits and 140 stolen bases in eight MLB seasons. Freel’s most productive years came in the mid ’90s with the Cincinnati Reds. Specifically, ‘04 through ‘06 showcased his  innate ability to "get the job done”; he had a.286 average, ...

The Victoria Seals are having an all-star offseason so to speak. While first year manager Darrell Evans was terminated, the Seals did not take long in finding his replacement. The Seals hired former all-star second baseman Bret Boone to lead the club into the 2010 season. Everyone is familiar with Boone’s accomplishments: 4-time Gold Glove award winner 3-time All-Star 2-time Seattle Mariners MVP (2001, 2003) Cincinnati Reds MVP (1998) AL RBI Leader; 141 (2001) 252 ...

Dmitri Young, a 13 year veteran and career .292 hitter with most of his success coming with the Detroit Tigers in the mid 2000s, has been named vice-president of the Oakland County Cruisers of the Frontier League. “What you’re going to see is good old-fashioned baseball and people able to take their families to the baseball game,” said Young, who also signed autographs and ...

Baseball is a funny game. One minute you are considered the most lethal,  dominant closer this game has ever seen, next you are being booed by your home crowd, on your way to independent baseball. That is what makes this game so irresistible and endearing to its players and fans. Despite all the heartbreak one endures during a career, one’s competitiveness brings them back, wanting to prove naysayers ...

The Big Three; Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and manager Joe Girardi, it appears, will have to wait until the end of the 2010 campaign to restructure their contracts. "People just have to understand that everybody does business in a different way,” Steinbrenner said to reporters following Tuesday’s news conference to announce the details of the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl. “I just don’t believe in contract ...

With an overwhelming vote of 91 percent, The Association of Minor League Umpires (AMLU) will partner with Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO. This partnership will now be known as AMLU/OPEIU Guild 322, the 322 representing three balls, two strikes, two outs. The AMLU was created in 2000 as a way to protect the interests of everyone involved. Prior to æ00, umpires did not have representation. á According to the AMLU website, ...