You’re likely not aware of this because hardly anyone pays attention to triple-A baseball beyond what it means for the prospects of the big league teams, but tonight is the triple-A national championship game. Squaring off: my hometown Columbus Clippers -- the defending triple-A champs -- against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Yeah, they really stuck with that name. I was rather shocked to be honest.
The format is weird for baseball -- it’s a one-game, winner-take-all kind of thing -- but it’s probably asking too much for a neutral site to fill a ballpark up seven times for minor league baseball. That neutral site is Albuquerque this year. After spending several years in a single location it rotates year-by-year now. I can’t think of what else I’d rather do if I were in Albuquerque this evening.
Mitch Talbot gets the start for Columbus. Sean O’Sullivan goes for Omaha. As is obviously the case with minor league baseball -- especially triple-A baseball -- there are a lot of guys here who weren’t on the teams during the regular season and vice-versa. No Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas, for example. And each team has some ringers. Kila Ka’aihue is one for the Chasers. Nick Johnson for the Clippers. Yes, he’s healthy.
The game will be televised on Versus starting tonight at 8PM. Yes, I would be writing about this even if I didn’t work for the company that owns Versus. Columbus represent, ya dig?
