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the new baseball: it’s softball…but with dudes.

Sports fan not a baseball fan, I am fascinated with Banana Ball and Jesse Cole and that he was able to do something else very few have found success in and that's reimaging a popular sport. Look at Deestroying with his $10,000 tournaments. People are tired of old and boring and in an Instagram/Tick Tock/CZcams world slow and boring will lose to fast and exciting every time. I'd love to see those $20 Million MLB players catch a backflip fly ball to win a game like Coach RAC. There is some REALLY good baseball mixed in with the fun. All inclusive food and drink, if MLB did it they would sell out every game. I am nothing but inspired and excited to see where it goes.

I can confirm all of this is correct. Played professionally in the Frontier league for the WC Thunderbolts. Talent wise is equivalent to High A , Low AA ball. Guys who would get called up would go to AA, and even though these leagues are unaffiliated, there’s very much a partnership with professional clubs

Go Ballers!

Go Otters! #Otterball 🦦 ⚾️ Frontier League

Hagerstown PBP here. Great show!

How to search Atlantic league data in savant this year? It seems like a new website would not provide the game id for savant.

Hagerstown native/resident and new subscriber here! I appreciate your content here and on IG. Go Boxcars!

Wow, a diversity hire that failed?! Seriously, nobody saw this coming? The LLC was named "Gas House Gang". Gas as in "GASLIT" and "GANG" as in mug you and take your money. It was all in their name. They told Gastonia from the start what they were going to do to them. I guarantee that the diverse owner of the Gas House Gang LLC isn't broke. They probably bought a mansion next to the BLM founders with the money they extorted. I feel sorry for the taxpayers who were forced to pay for it, and I hope the new team turns it around for the community.

Ummm......Somerset is in Jersey.

Well now the Atlantic league has terminated the contract with the Honey Hunters over unpaid debts and the city says the stadium is falling into disrepair. It sure sounds like the Honey Hunters in their current form are finished. I attended games in all three seasons and every year it seemed like there were fewer and fewer concession options and outside of the addition of the play ground at the stadium there really weren’t any improvements that I saw and the crowds seemed to reflect that. All that being said I was still looking forward to next season particularly after the success of the last two years, but now I’m just hopeful that this hasn’t poisoned the well for baseball (or any other sport for that matter) at the stadium and that we can find a tenant.

The Explorers is just an X. That is the worst one.

The Empire State Greys is a travel team.

we still haven’t gotten paid TILL THIS DAY!!!

Many of this saw this coming from the beginning. I really miss Jesse & the Grizzlies!

Call in the SBI and follow the money. You would be surprised who probably got money in their pockets. Heads should roll this is not right at all.

There not even paying they're employees there.

My family and I have been there a few times last season. It really is a beautiful ballpark. Unfortunately, it is on the side of Gastonia that is dead and always has been. The park sits south of what is the worst part of Gastonia on the other side of the Norfolk Southern tracks. I have yet to see anything come to the “FUSE” District. The only entertainment between the ballpark and downtown is a strip club. There are a few restaurants downtown but you have to endure the homeless who wander up and down Main St. This is due to the homeless shelter that sits at the other end of Main St. It’s all about location, location, location. And the area they put this stadium at is famous for killings, shootings, drive-bys and prostitution. Anything west of US 321 is pretty much crap. I don’t know. Hopefully they will figure it out.

Nice article. It should be noted that even the team mascot name was rejected by many Gastonia citizens. Other teams in the league have names that actually relate to their city’s heritage. For example, the High Point “Rockers” pays homage to that city’s furniture manufacturing heritage. Gastonia was founded in 1877 as a textile town. It was known for years as “the city of spindles”. It was the world’s largest producer of combed yarn. “Spinners”, “Strikers” (triple entendre also recalling the 1929 strike, pitchers throwing strikes, and batters striking the ball), “Doffers”, “Weavers”, “Spoolers”, “Carders”, “Sidewinders”-all are textile machines. The old Gastonia High School yearbook was “The Spinner”. No mention of Buddy Lewis, Washington Senators player from here. No mention of Sammy Sosa who played here. Or the great textile mill teams and Gastonia High School championship teams, nothing about a great old baseball heritage in this old baseball town. I donated a Hammond Organ to the city and volunteered to play it when in town-just as a gift to Gastonia. While the organ remains city property, I was told that they wanted a “party atmosphere” and no room for live organ music. I’m part of “old Gastonia”. The management of the team obviously doesn’t know or care about Gastonia heritage. As a result, they failed miserably to connect to the residents who care about-and are proud of-a Gastonia history and heritage.

There seems to be a lot of Gastonia residents commenting here, but nobody is bringing up how Gaston County teachers went unpaid or incorrectly paid FOR OVER A YEAR due to an issue with the payroll company. This isn't just a baseball team problem, so let's make sure to tell what's really going on around here.

Got an email from the team at 2PM stating checks are not available today. WSOC-TV reported at 5PM that the team is $100K in debt to Gastonia Police and Gaston County EMS for officers and EMT provided to the games. GPD states they will no longer supply officers for security.

So glad the city dumped money into this 🙄. FUSE was a loser idea the moment it was announced. We've been here nearly a decade and Gastonia has no idea how to bring vibrancy and tenants into the dozens of decaying properties in the "downtown area". Additionally, when reading about the minority owner for the sake of having a minority owner, who had no experience running a sports/entertainment business, the ink on the wall was dried.

The team served its relationship with ADP. Paycom is the payroll provider currently being used. The outfield sign was sponsored not by Toyota, but a local Toyota dealership.

Great job with this style video.

A video shitting all over Veronica. I couldn’t be happier. Team had so much potential. PERFECT example of why you don’t let your friends, or lovers run your business…

Great job with this Ryan!

Well, the article put out by QC News said staff was paid today, Tuesday, July 25th. Total 🐮💩. Worse, they had the damn gall to call unpaid staff in to work a concert on their day off this Sunday. I work for the Gaston County School system and have dealt with payroll issues for 18 months caused by a switch in payroll systems they were told not to go live with and that state and federal authorities refused to take action on because it is a public agency. Let the team go past 10 days on a paycheck, and I know who will go after a private employer.

Employees need to contact Queen City news in Charlotte. Veronica is on there lying through her teeth. We need to get the truth out there!!!!!!

I was Bam the beginning of this season, she wanted him out the whole game but barely provided water, I would sit in the suit in 80-90 degree heat making it 110 degree in the suit but she pushed i be out with fans. In the beginning I was out there for almost the whole game, but once she wasn’t paying me I was only out 2 innings. She offered me a full time position after opening weekend and when I came in for my “scheduled” meeting she canceled, then scheduled another one to meet with HR to which I was told “you’ll have to wait for Veronica to approve” never heard back. I loved the team, and the fans but I hated working under her management, she was rude and disrespectful. She used the “minority” card to make you feel bad but truly she was just a negative person and a horrible COO.

Anything on the marketing company that Veronica runs out of the front office? I voiced my opinion several times last year through multiple peoples when I was with the team and the only response I got second hand from Veronica is that “we are a marketing company with a baseball team on the side”. I heard rumors last year of the bus company not being paid on road trips and issues with the clubhouse managers not being properly equipped and not being reimbursed for out of pocket purchases for players/coaches. Very upsetting with this after the opportunities that Brady and the coaching staff opened up for me when I thought my career was over.

My wife and I visited last year over Labor Day weekend. We caught three games in Charlotte, where I got to throw out the first pitch for attending my 1000th baseball game, and one HoneyHunters game. The stadium is great. But there's really nothing happening right around it. Hopefully that changes. I will say though, that it did feel odd there. But I chalked that up to it being just the second season and that they were still trying to figure things out. I did find it odd that they were playing the unedited versions of songs. We also participated in an on field promotion. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves. They did not have any hats in my size in stock, which I kind of expected since it was late in the season. I have checked their website numerous times this season hoping to order one. Either they just haven't updated their website, or they have not received any new stock because it shows the exact same hats as last season (I checked the website after we got home hoping they might have some in stock that weren't on display. It worked with other teams.) As for what's going on now, after watching this it totally sounds like the team is run by people who have no clue on what it takes to run a professional baseball team. Overall, things do not sound like they're on the up and up across the board. But I won't speculate about that, because it really could be that Veronica is just way in over her head and is afraid, or just doesn't want to tell Brandon what's going on. But I can't imagine that really is the situation. I really hope the situation can be sorted out for the sake of the team, the league, the city, the sponsors and the fans.

Makes me wonder if High Point Rockers method of running as a not-for-profit and proceeds to charity might be one of the better models out there.

Yeah it took over a month for me to get my final paycheck once they released me. And then they fedex it to my house when I literally live across town and could have stopped by and gotten it to save the overnight or 2 day shipping cost that was being shipped out of Charlotte. They waste way too much money on certain things and they don’t go out and try to get business to even provide meals and advertise it by saying who is providing the pre and post game meal. Most Indy ball teams thank the company’s that provide stuff and give them a huge shout out about it. But Gastonia doesn’t really do it at all.

I’ll still be at games cause I love baseball and get free tickets. But I refuse to give money to Brandon or Veronica, hopefully this team gets sold after the season to an ownership group that actually cares about it

League I don’t mind, but her. That was weak.

What a joke of a response.

The bank was “hacked” wow!

Absolutely horrible.

Gastonia loves our HoneyHunters. We totally support the coaches and players. They give us a tremendous baseball product, and the drama with ownership doesn’t diminish fan support for the team itself.

We need the Gastonia drop!! People are dying in that city to know what is happening to our team!!

Great video. I just discovered Indy Ball. Didn't know it existed until about a week ago. I look forward to learning more about it. Thanks for the explanation. 💯

MLB is better

Has Indy Ball Nation been shutdown?

So, what I'm hearing is, Josh Sale is going to be with the Round Rock Express for 2 more years before the Rangers give him a shot at their roster. :(

Even if a player moves up to the minors any level (AAA-High A) does the Indy team still receive that $ or?

thanks for this interesting and important info! Enjoyed it

Frank Bolton owns most of the ALPB

York and Lancaster used to play a two city double header. So that makes no sense.

Any word or coverage of the Frederick Press Conference?