Skip to content

The Luck of the Irish Minor League Baseball Team

MOOSIC, Pa. — Baseball can be cruel. The higher up you go in the minor-league baseball system, the closer you get to the brass ring: a chance to play in the majors. But any stay in the minors increases the odds you’ll be subject to the gentle humiliation of having leprechaun facial hair photo-shopped onto your portrait.

Thursday was one of those nights for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees. The RailRiders, composed of a team just one level below one of the most successful sports franchises on the planet, had to face off against not only the Charlotte Knights, but PNC Field’s celebration of a twisted sort of Irish night, the marking of only one-half a year until St. Patrick’s Day. This involved digitally dressing up the RailRiders’ individual portraits on the Jumbotron with leprechaun costumes: red beards, green bowler hats, shamrocks.

 

The Scranton Wilkes Barre Rail Riders got dressed up for their game. (Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call.)
The Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders got dressed up for their game. (Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call)

Against a tough Charlotte team, and a manic Pinstripe Patrol spirit squad leading sing-alongs to the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” (a favorite of the Yankees’ arch rival Boston Red Sox), the RailRiders prevailed, 4-0.

Recent Stories

DHS tightens protocol for lawmaker visits to immigration facilities

Senate Republicans echo Trump allegations on Biden autopen use

At the Races: The politics of war

On Iran strikes messaging, Trump aides opt to run it up the flagpole

Anthony D’Esposito looks to go from cop to congressman to inspector general

Outlook darkens for Social Security, Medicare solvency