Happy Baseball Birthday... Casey at the Bat

Today we say Happy Baseball Birthday! to baseball's most famous poem, Casey at the Bat.




127 years ago today, June 3, 1888, the San Francisco Examiner first published the now famous baseball poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.

The poem has been printed, posted, acted, and recited more times than any baseball fan can count in 127 years.

I had a chance to pose with Mighty Casey outside Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida in March 2009.

Here in Jacksonville we're honored to have Peter Bragan Jr. , the owner of the Jacksonville Suns baseball team, who challenges local children in schools around the area to learn to recite the famous baseball poem.

"Pedro," as we all know him,  goes around to schools and recites Casey at the Bat.

Happy Baseball Birthday! "Casey at the Bat."

"...there is no joy in Mudville today, mighty Casey has struck out."

PLAY BALL!

Happy Baseball Birthday... Ben Geraghty

Ben Geraghty is a special person in Jacksonville baseball history.

The former big league ballplayer is today's Happy Baseball Birthday!

Benjamin Raymond Geraghty was born on July 19, 1912, in Jersey City, New Jersey.




Ben Geraghty Baseball Reference page.



Ben Geraghty SABR page.

Ben went to Villanova University, and signed as a free agent with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

On April 17, 1936, Ben made his big league debut with the Dodgers,  and played in 51 games for Brooklyn, collecting 25 hits in129 at bats.

Ben played in the minors from 1937-42, making it back to the big leagues with the Boston Braves in 1943.

Ben played in just 8 games with the Braves in '43, and 11 games in 1944.

His big league career lasted parts of three years and 70 games, with Ben collecting 29 base hits, 4 doubles, 9 RBI, in 146 at bats, batting .199.

In 1946, while playing for the Class B Spokane Indians of the Western League, Geraghty survived a horrific team bus crash that sent him flying out a window, and down a hill.

Nine fellow players and the teams manager were killed, and Geraghty's injuries ended his playing career.

He took over as the Indians coach in '46, and in '47 led the Indians to a 87 win season and second place finish.

1946 began a 17 year minor league managerial career, including eight years here in Jacksonville, as the manager of the JAX Tars, Braves, and Suns.

He won five pennants managing in Jacksonville between 1953 through 1959, including managing a skinny second baseman for the JAX Braves named Hank Aaron.

In 1951 Geraghty's JAX Tars beat the big league Boston Red Sox in an exhibition game.

Geraghty helped integrate proffessional baseball in the "Jim Crow" south, and fought for his players of color throughout his managerial career.

Aaron said  Geraghty was "...the kindest and best manager I've ever played for."



This Jacksonville Braves ballcap is the same design that Geraghty and Hank Aaron wore while with the Braves.


I'm going to have to add this cap to my collection of Suns baseball caps.

Geraghty won 1, 317 games as a minor league manager in Class A Sally League and the AAA American Association,   and his 610-457 record as a Jacksonville manager (including games managed), are all franchise records.

Geraghty led the 1962 JAX Suns to the 1962 International League pennant.

Ben Geraghty had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 50 on June 18, 1963, here in Jacksonville.

Ben Geraghty is enshrined in the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

This year the Jacksonville Suns franchise started the LEGENDS of JACKSONVILLE BASEBALL, and Geraghty was part of the inaugural class that included Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Phil Niekro, Hoyt Wilhelm, Peter Bragan, Sr., Sam Wolfson, and Dom Mullaney.

Legends of Jacksonville Baseball.

Happy Baseball Birthday! Ben!




Play Ball!

Happy Baseball Birthday...Roger Hoover

                                   Happy Baseball Birthday! 

                                            🎙UPDATE! 🎙

Today I thought I'd do an update HBB post to wish my friend Roger Hoover a very Happy Baseball Birthday! 


Roger, the voice of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, became an internet sensation when his laptop was destroyed by a foul ball.

I had the pleasure of meeting Roger and getting to see him around Bragan Field during the 2015 season in Jacksonville, and I  an honestly say there's not a better, nicer person in baseball than the 30 year old Tennessee native.


If you'd like to know more about Roger, head over go his site, Hoover Broadcasting.

                   Happy Baseball Birthday! Roger....watch out for those foul balls! 




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Today we celebrate the Happy Baseball Birthday! to Jacksonville Suns play by play guy Roger Hoover.

Roger Hoover was born in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Roger is in his third year as the Suns Director of Broadcasting and lead play by play announcer and has broadcast Southern League Baseball for five years, including three SL All Star Games.

All 140 Suns games are broadcast on the teams flagship station, Classic Rock 94.1, WSOS-FM and streamed live at jaxsuns.com

This season the Suns are broadcasting 11 home games on local TV, on CW 17.

Roger Hoover graduated from the University of Tennessee, and he served as color analyst for the Vols baseball games in 2012.

You can follow Roger on Twitter... @Roger_Hoover and the Suns on Twitter at @sunsbaseball

Give Roger a big Happy Baseball Birthday shoutout today, or at the the ballpark this weekend.

Happy Baseball Birthday! Roger! 

Go Suns! Never Been Hotter! 

Play Ball!

Thanks to the Jacksonville Suns for the info provided in this years game program, jaxsuns.com, and Tales from Bragan Field on sunsradio.com

JDRF Night with Jacksonville Suns

Join the Jacksonville Suns on June 7th in celebrating families with type one diabetes.

The Suns will be taking on the Tennessee Smokies at 7:05 pm.

Limited space is available.

Contact Candace Monroe at  (904) 739-2101, or CMonroe@jaded.org

Let's find a cure for diabetes..Play Ball!

Peter Bragan, Sr. heads Inaugural Southern League Hall of Fame

Today the Southern League announced the ten members of the Inaugural Southern League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Each one of the ten S.L. teams has a representative member in addition to former S.L. Commissioners Billy Hitchcock, Bobby Bragan, and Don Mincher, who were announced in July, 2013.

***The Inaugural 2014 Southern League Hall of Fame Class***

*Jacksonville Suns...Peter Bragan, Sr. (Sun's owner)

*Montgomery Biscuits...Alan Trammell(1977 Montgomery Rebels/1977 SL MVP)

*Mississippi Braves...Dale Murphy(1976 Savannah Braves)

*Mobile Bay Bears...Mike Darr(1998 Bay Bears)

*Jackson Generals...Bo Jackson(1986 Memphis Chicks)

*Birmingham Barons...Reggie Jackson(1967 Birmingham A's)

*Tennessee Smokies...Ryne Sandberg(2009 Tennessee MGR)

*Pensacola Blue Wahoos..Tim Wakefield(1991 Carolina Mudcats)

* Chattanooga Lookouts...J. Frank Burke(Lookouts GM)

*Huntsville Stars...Rosemary Hovatter(30 years front office)

As a Detroit fan I'm proud that the greatest shortstop in Tigers history is being recognized for his 1977 MVP season as a Montgomery Rebel.

Trammell hit .291 with a S.L. Record 19 triples.

I'm also very proud that Peter Bragan, Sr., the longtime owner of the Jacksonville Suns, will be honored in this first class.

Mr. Bragan, who passed away in 2012, bought the struggling franchise here in Jacksonville in 1984, and with his son, Pedro, made the Suns the standard for all minor league baseball.

The Sun's first ever Southern League Championship came under the Bragan leadership, in 1996, then the Double A Affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

The Sun's have won five S.L. titles under the Bragan's ownership.

More than the winning baseball, the Suns have become a Jacksonville love affair between the fans, players, and ownership.

I saw my first Sun's game in 1981, before the Bragan's ownership, and will always have a special place in my heart for Mr. Bragan, Pedro, his staff, the players, and the great baseball fans here in Jacksonville.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Bobby Bragan, Peter's brother, at the J. C. Penny store I was working at , in 1983, when Bobby was working for the Texas Rangers.

The Bragan's are the reason we have the beautiful Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, the Suns home since 2003.

The Suns had played in old Wolfson Park since the early 1960s.

After his passing, the Suns renamed their home Bragan Field at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

Congratulations to all the inductees, it should be a great ceremony at this year's S.L. All-Star Game, to be played in Chattanooga on June 17th.

Play Ball!

Baseball's Never Been Hotter with the Jacksonville Suns

The Jacksonville Sun's open their 2014 Southern League schedule tonight at Bragan Field.

The Sun's begin the season with a five game honest and with the Huntsville Stars.

This is the 30th year of Sun's baseball under the ownership of the Bragan family, who took ownership of the Sun's franchise in 1985.

This is my 34th baseball season living in Jacksonville, and I look forward to going to see the Sun's play again this year.

Happy Baseball Birthday...Kyle Skipworth

Today we say Happy Baseball Birthday to former Jacksonville Suns catcher Kyle Skipworth.

Kyle Trent Skipworth was born on March 1st, 1990, in Riverside,  California.

Kyle was the Florida Marlins 1st round pick, the 6th overall choice, in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft.

After playing in a brief two games for the Suns in 2010, Skipworth was a mainstay behind the plate for the Suns in 2011 and 2012.

In 2011 Kyle appeared in 106 games for Jacksonville,  collecting 82 base hits, smacking 11 home runs with 49 RBI in 396 at bats.

In 2012, Kyle appeared in 116 games for the Suns, smashing 91 base hits, with 21 home runs and 63 RBI, in 420 at bats.

Kyle moved up in the Marilns chain in 2013, making his big league debut at age 23, on April 10, 2013.

After appearing in 4 games for the Marlins,  Kyle played for New Orleans in the Pacific Coast League.

In 73 games played in 2013, Skipworth collected 45 hits, 11 home runs, and 30 RBI I. 239 at bats.

Happy Baseball Birthday Kyle!

Play Ball!