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About John Scott, a pro hockey player who got voted by the people (as a joke) to be the captain of the All Star team. The NHL didn't want him to play, so he got sent to the Minor Leagues. There wasn't a rule against a minor leaguer playing in it though, so he played, scored twice and won MVP.

A female minor league pitcher struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gerhig back-to-back in 1928. Her contract was voided; in 1952 MLB officially banned women, which was not rescinded until 1992.

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about Minor Leagues I managed to collect.

  1. The Albuquerque Isotopes (a minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies) named themselves after an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer finds out the Springfield Isotopes were moving to Albuquerque.

  2. Drew Carey, a minority owner of the Seattle Sounders, decided that they needed a marching band. Thus, the first and only Major League Soccer marching band.

  3. A minor league baseball player was once traded away for 10 bats, and he died six months later from a drug overdose.

  4. In 2003, Matt White, a minor league pitcher, purchased a parcel of land from his elderly aunt for $50,000. The land, he later discovered, contained a rock quarry of Goshen stone - a substance commonly used in sidewalks - with a market value of over $2 billion.

  5. Catcher Dave Bresnahan threw a potato to trick a runner home. The minor leagues kicked him out and was later quoted saying "Lou Gehrig had to play in 2,130 consecutive games and hit .340 for his number to be retired, and all I had to do was bat .140 and throw a potato."

  6. The Albuquerque minor league baseball team changed their name to the Albuquerque Isotopes after the Simpsons episode, "Hungry Hungry Homer" in which Homer prevents the Springfield Isotopes plan to move to Albuquerque with a hunger strike.

  7. The San Diego Padres resign 'Padre For Life' Matt LaChappa to a minor-league contract every year, and will continue to do so for the rest of his life.

  8. Dave Bresnahan - a minor league catcher who once sculpted a potato into the shape of a baseball, brought it onto the field of play, and faked an opposing runner on third base into coming home (where he held the baseball) by purposefully throwing the potato into left field.

  9. Jackie Robinson played for the Montreal Royals in Minor League Baseball in 1946.

  10. The American hostages in Iran received lifetime passes to any minor league or Major League Baseball game upon their return

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The Albuquerque Isotopes, a minor league baseball team, are named after the Springfield Isotopes from the Simpsons. In one episode they considered moving to Albuquerque.

There are two minor league baseball players that look similar and both share the same name, Brady Fiegl, and yet are not related - source

Minor League baseball player Anthony Giansanti used to leave a ticket for Rhonda Rousey for all of his games, she never showed - source

In 1946 Jackie Robinson played for the Montreal Royals in Minor League Baseball and a year later he was called up the Major Leagues.

In 2002, the Charleston Riverdogs Minor League Baseball team held a "Nobody Night" promotion, giving fans who bought tickets access to a party, while the baseball game had 0 attendees. They were trying to break the world record for lowest attendance at a baseball game. - source

The KKK had a baseball team that once played an all-black minor league team in Kansas. And lost. Of course.

The shortest professional baseball game was 31 minutes long. The 1916 minor league teams known as the Winston-Salem Twins and Asheville Tourists agreed to play a 2pm game as quickly as possible so that the Twins could catch their 3pm train headed home.

40 years ago this summer Bill Murray played minor league baseball between SNL seasons and Meatballs shoots

The Danbury Trashers, a minor league hockey team bought by a waste disposal magnate with mob ties. His 17 year old son was team president and GM and the team set records for penalty minutes and averaged 3 fights a game.

In 1933, a Minor League Baseball Team was so bad, they went on a road trip and never came back

There are many minor and major league baseball games held on the 4th of July each year.

Interesting facts about minor leagues

A minor league baseball umpire threw out the organist for playing 'Three Blind Mice'

Minor League baseball players are paid so poorly that many of them will live with a volunteer host family just to get by.

The longest professional baseball game was a 1981 minor league game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings. It lasted 33 innings. The first 32 were played April 18-19, and the final inning was played June 23. Pawtucket won 3-2.

Macho Man Randy Savage played minor league baseball, and after a home plate collision damaged his right shoulder he learned to throw left handed.

The Eisenhower Baseball Controversy, a series of allegations that Dwight D. Eisenhower played minor league baseball under an alias prior to joining the United States Military Academy.

Before Charley Pride was a successful country singer, he played baseball in the minor and Negro leagues and was once traded for a bus.

In 2014, MLB veteran Jeff Francoeur was signed to a Minor League deal with the Padres, and was convinced by his teammates that pitcher Jorge Reyes was deaf. They kept up the bit for months before telling him.

Only two baseball parks currently used by minor or major league teams in the entire U.S. face west. One is in Bakersfield, Calif. The other is in Pittsfield, Mass. Games at both stadiums are sometimes temporarily suspended while the sun sets.

There's a minor league baseball team called the Savannah Bananas

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter earned his nickname from a minor league manager for walking around the clubhouse buck naked

Joe Reliford, who simultaneously became the youngest player ever (age 12) in the history of professional baseball and broke the color barrier in the Georgia State League (a low-level minor league) in 1952.

A minor league baseball player was once traded for 10 bats. 6 months later he was found dead of an accidental overdose

When Michael Jordan returned to basketball in 1995, having spent the last year and a half playing minor league baseball following his father's murder, he announced it with a simple two-word fax: "I'm back."

The reason why in 1916 Georgia Tech def. Cumberland College 222-0 in football, was because Cumberland College hired ineligible players (such as minor league players) to beat Georgia Tech 22-0 in baseball earlier that year.

The oldest minor league stadium in the U.S. is Duncan Park Baseball Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The only Home Run Cycle in pro baseball history was made by Tyrone Horne playing for my hometown minor league team, the Arkansas Travelers.

17 year-old minor-league pitcher Jackie Mitchell struck out both Yankees aces Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in a row

The Denver Zephyrs minor league baseball team was moved to New Orleans, had a fan vote and was renamed to the New Orleans Baby Cakes in 2017.

Just when his acting career was taking off, Kurt Russell attempted to become a major league baseball player. A collision with another player ended his minor league career. He spent his final month with the Portland Mavericks owned by Bing Russell, an actor, former player and... Kurt's dad.

The Iowa Cubs, a minor league baseball team, are the only baseball team in the US that start their games at the :08 of the hour.

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