Tag Archives: baseball

Independent Ball

“The Shit Show” – The Pecos League and Reality TV

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The Pecos League, an independent baseball league located in the desert mountain regions of New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Colorado, and West Texas, gained some exposure through its reality TV show on Fox Sports 1 earlier this year.  The league, created in 2010, is at the bottom of the independent league ladder.

The players in the Pecos League play a very difficult and condensed schedule (70 games in 72 days) while battling harsh playing conditions and having less than ideal travel and sleeping arrangements.  They do all of this for $50 a week (which breaks down to $1.19 an hour), the opportunity to keep playing the game that they love, and a chance to be noticed by a better team or organization.  Essentially, they are in “The Shit Show” (as players affectionately call it), trying to get to “The Big Show.”  Only one player, Jon Edwards, has ever played in the Pecos League and made it to the major leagues. However, Jon only played 2 games in the Pecos League while in between playing time with 2 professional organizations.

The six episode Fox Sports 1 reality show, The Pecos League, follows the 2013 Trinidad Triggers on their quest for a championship.  Viewers are introduced to a whole cast of characters including manager JD, a Harvard Law graduate, former lawyer and musical theatre writer with no professional baseball experience, who quit it all to manage the Triggers.  The show also focuses on players Tony Smith, Sam DiMatteo, Jacob Fabry, Frank Florio, John Sullivan, Richie Serritella, and Andrew Azzopardi.

The Pecos League opens up with a look at the city of Trinidad, CO and the funeral home in town where “Triggers TV” is recorded in the basement garage.  The reality show focuses on the real part of independent league baseball, the type of stuff that casual fans aren’t aware of.  After making the team, the players are introduced to their host families. Most players just cannot afford to live on their own on $50 a week paychecks. These host families willingly open their homes to complete strangers and let them have a place to sleep, eat, and live while in Trinidad for the season.  Players grow close to their families, often times becoming big brothers to the kids.  They go to their little league practices, make them bat boys, and become a true member of the family. They know that even if they are only playing in the Pecos League, these kids still look up to them as role models.

The show does a great job showing that life is anything but glamorous in the Pecos League.  The Triggers travel on a cramped school bus for road trips that last 7 to 8 hours only to end up sleeping in fleabag hotels or places that were old rehab and homeless shelters.  Players are also responsible for maintaining their playing field. They are shown running a 4 wheeler to turn over the infield dirt before the game, as well as placing small “tarps” on the field and raking the dirt even during rain delays.

Often times, crowds are in the low hundreds at best.  Even when the team was in first place, one player counted only 37 people in the stands. The players endure listening to terrible fight songs and national anthems performed by Captain America while watching 90 year old ladies and nuns throw out the first pitch.  The league is full of poor officiating, umpires who seemed to have never opened a rule book, and scoreboards that don’t even show the correct inning or score.

So why would these guys play in the Pecos League if this is what they have to go through?  To them, the answer is simple:  They love baseball, and they love each other. Obviously here it is not about the money or fame.  It is about true heart and dedication to the sport that they have loved since they were young.  This single dream brings every player together as one.  Over those 72 days, the players become a family.  The one word that is said in every episode is “brotherhood.”  From the clips of the guys partying, hanging out, chasing mule deer, and trying to swim in a reservoir on their only off day, the viewers can see the true bond these guys have with each other. Throughout the season, the guys go through a lot of ups and downs, but they are all in it together.  Even though this reality show is about baseball, it is about so much more than just a game.

Pitcher John Sullivan wrote a song during the season that was featured on the show;  I think he says it best: 2014-10-15 13.17.55q

Listen to the full song here:

“We can make fun of the Pecos League all we want, but we’re still playing professional baseball.” – Frank Florio

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I had the pleasure to watch 2 of these guys in the Frontier League this year.  Tony Smith pitched for the championship winning Schaumburg Boomers, and Frank Florio played for the Frontier Greys (the team that I had “adopted” during the season.)  This show takes a great look at a special group of guys. I encourage every baseball fan, especially fans of independent ball, to check it out! Even though the show has already aired, the episodes are available On Demand.

*Update* See where these players are now in this post: https://indyballisland.com/2014/11/10/the-shit-show-pecos-league-where-are-they-now/

Independent Ball

Speeding Up the Sport. Should Baseball Have to Pick Up the Pace?

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This season, Major League Baseball and their newly established “pace of game committee” are using the Arizona Fall League (AFL) to implement new rules (or enforce rules that have otherwise been ignored in the past) that are designed to speed up the game.  The AFL is being used as a “try-out” to see if these rules would be the correct thing to put into place throughout baseball and the MLB.  As baseball has grown throughout the years, so has the average time of a game.  This year, the average game time was 3 hours and 2 minutes compared to just 2 hours and 33 minutes in 1981.  The ultimate goal is to quicken the pace and have games that end under 3 hours again.

These pace of game rules include:

Three “Timeout” limit.  Managers, coaches, and catchers are only allowed three visits to the mound during the game (excluding pitching changes or injuries.)

No-pitch intentional walks. Managers signal to the umpire for an intentional walk, and the batter takes 1st base without a pitch being thrown.

Batter Box Rule. The hitter must have one foot inside the batter’s box throughout the entire at bat unless there is a foul ball, wild pitch, pass ball, or a pitch that forces the batter outside the box, or if the hitter is granted time by the umpire.

2:30 pitching change. The max time for a pitching change is two and a half minutes.

2:05 inning break. The max time between innings is two minutes and 5 seconds.  The batter must be in the box at 1:45 or the umpire can call a strike. Also, the umpire can call a ball if the pitcher throws after the 2:05 mark.

20 second rule. (used at Salt River Field only.)  There is a 20 second clock posted in the dugouts as well as behind homeplate and in the outfield to prevent the pitchers from taking too much time. This is being used as a modified version of rule 8.04 that requires a pitcher to deliver a pitch within 12 seconds after receiving the ball with the bases unoccupied.

The rules that are being put into place in the AFL are nothing new.  Most of these rules have been used or discussed for future use in some capacity in the independent Atlantic League.

Along with the batter’s box rule, 12 second pitch rule, the no-pitch intentional walk, and the three timeouts, the Atlantic league also has rules to:

Enforce the rule book strike zone. Umpires must be consistent and use the strike zone listed in Rule 2.00 which states that the strike zone stretches from the hollow beneath the kneecap to the midpoint between the shoulder and batter’s waist.

Reduce the number of warm up pitches from 8 to 6.

Pinch Runners for catchers.  Pinch runners must replace catchers as soon as they reach base to ensure that catchers are suited up in time for the next half inning.

Extra innings are also being shortened around the independent leagues.  The American Association is looking to implement an extra inning rule that has already been in place by the Can-Am league.  After 10 innings, the batter before the leadoff hitter will be placed on second base.  The inning would then precede as normal. (If the runner scores, the runner will be given a R and the hitter batting him in would get an RBI, but the run will not be charged against the pitcher’s ERA.)  A version of this rule is already used in the World Baseball Classic and with the International Baseball Federation.

All of these rules are being established to speed up the game and pace of play.  Do you think these are good ideas or do you think it will ruin the sport?