Hagerstown has a minor league baseball
team. In fact, professional baseball has a long history in
Hagerstown. Municipal Stadium is one of the oldest minor league
stadiums in the country. Over the years, the Hagerstown team has been affiliated
with many different Major League teams and been a part of
different leagues. They joined the South Atlantic League in 1993.
In 2007, the Hagerstown Suns became a member of the Washington Nationals farm system. Currently, they are a class A team (low), which is in the middle of baseball's seven tiered system. From Hagerstown, the players usually go to the Potomac Nationals (high A), which recently moved to Fredericksburg (VA). They get promoted from the Auburn Doubledays (class A short season) in New York. Occasionally a player from the parent club will do a rehab stint in Hagerstown.
Dad and I went to our first Hagerstown Suns game in 2009. Steve Lombardozzi was the most notable player. He's from Fulton and went to the same high school as I did. He made it to the Majors, but never managed to stay for very long with any one team. He's no longer in the big leagues but still plays professional ball in an independent league. I like keeping track of some of the former Suns players.
Bryce Harper was drafted #1 by the Washington Nationals in 2010. He was paid big bucks and put on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He played for a half season in Hagerstown. More people seemed to come to the games when he played. The Suns started to be a good team. Dad always reminisced about how we saw Harper hit his first grand slam. We also saw him let balls go by him in the outfield. A former catcher, he was still learning to play the outfield. Harper may not have liked playing in rinky-dink Hagerstown, but we enjoyed watching him play his first season of professional ball. We were Harper fans when he played for the Nationals.
The best pitcher we saw play in Hagerstown was Lucas Giolito. He was another top draft pick of the Nats. He was coming off of Tommy John surgery when he played for the Suns in 2014. He went 10-2 with a 2.20 era. He was amazing. Unfortunately his innings were limited due to his surgery. Giolito debuted with the Nationals in 2016. He pitched four shutout innings, but struggled after that. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox at the end of the year. He had a terrible year with the Sox in 2018, but made the American League All Stars in 2019.
Some of the Nationals top prospects come from the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries. Juan Soto was the "cream of the crop." Soto had two short stints in Hagerstown in 2017 and 2018. In his first year he played for about a month before getting hurt and not returning. His stats were very good. In his second year with the Suns, he played about a month before being called up to Potomac. His stats were great. Everywhere Soto played that year, he played extremely well. He was eventually called up to the Nationals and the rest is history. He's one of the best players on the team and probably a future hall-of-famer. And still only 21. Dad liked Soto a lot. I regret not getting a picture of him donning a Suns uniform.
Victor Robles was another top prospect from the Dominican Republic. A center fielder, he played a half season in 2016 with the Suns before being called up to Potomac. With the departure of Harper, he became a starter for the Nationals in 2019, alongside Soto. He had a solid year. Roble's journey to the Major Leagues was slower than Harper and Soto and he hasn't broken out yet as a superstar, but I think he will. He has all the tools and is still only 22. He's an especially good fielder, having been a finalist for a Golden Glove in his rookie year.
Carter Kieboom is the National's current top prospect. He played for the Suns in 2017. He's a shortstop. His major league debut with the Nationals (in 2019) was less than spectacular, but he's got a lot of potential. He had a stellar year at Fresno (triple A). With the departure of Anthony Rendon, he was expected to get a lot of playing time this year. Carter's brother Spencer was a catcher for the Suns in 2014. He debuted with the Nationals in 2016, but failed to stick with the organization and became a free agent last fall.
The only time the Sun's stadium was ever packed was when Tim Tebow came to town. After Tebow's football career fizzled, he decided to give baseball a shot. He's a great athlete, but by all accounts, only a so-so baseballer. But he packs people into the stadiums and has been great for minor league baseball. The Suns had a four game series with the Columbia Fireflies, a New York Mets affiliate, in June 2017. We went to one of the games. We were lucky to get a parking place and seats. Tebow got a hit, but let a ball get passed him in the outfield. The Suns won the game.
In 2007, the Hagerstown Suns became a member of the Washington Nationals farm system. Currently, they are a class A team (low), which is in the middle of baseball's seven tiered system. From Hagerstown, the players usually go to the Potomac Nationals (high A), which recently moved to Fredericksburg (VA). They get promoted from the Auburn Doubledays (class A short season) in New York. Occasionally a player from the parent club will do a rehab stint in Hagerstown.
Dad and I went to our first Hagerstown Suns game in 2009. Steve Lombardozzi was the most notable player. He's from Fulton and went to the same high school as I did. He made it to the Majors, but never managed to stay for very long with any one team. He's no longer in the big leagues but still plays professional ball in an independent league. I like keeping track of some of the former Suns players.
Bryce Harper (2011)
Bryce Harper was drafted #1 by the Washington Nationals in 2010. He was paid big bucks and put on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He played for a half season in Hagerstown. More people seemed to come to the games when he played. The Suns started to be a good team. Dad always reminisced about how we saw Harper hit his first grand slam. We also saw him let balls go by him in the outfield. A former catcher, he was still learning to play the outfield. Harper may not have liked playing in rinky-dink Hagerstown, but we enjoyed watching him play his first season of professional ball. We were Harper fans when he played for the Nationals.
The best pitcher we saw play in Hagerstown was Lucas Giolito. He was another top draft pick of the Nats. He was coming off of Tommy John surgery when he played for the Suns in 2014. He went 10-2 with a 2.20 era. He was amazing. Unfortunately his innings were limited due to his surgery. Giolito debuted with the Nationals in 2016. He pitched four shutout innings, but struggled after that. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox at the end of the year. He had a terrible year with the Sox in 2018, but made the American League All Stars in 2019.
Lucas Giolito (2014)
Some of the Nationals top prospects come from the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries. Juan Soto was the "cream of the crop." Soto had two short stints in Hagerstown in 2017 and 2018. In his first year he played for about a month before getting hurt and not returning. His stats were very good. In his second year with the Suns, he played about a month before being called up to Potomac. His stats were great. Everywhere Soto played that year, he played extremely well. He was eventually called up to the Nationals and the rest is history. He's one of the best players on the team and probably a future hall-of-famer. And still only 21. Dad liked Soto a lot. I regret not getting a picture of him donning a Suns uniform.
Victor Robles (2016)
Victor Robles was another top prospect from the Dominican Republic. A center fielder, he played a half season in 2016 with the Suns before being called up to Potomac. With the departure of Harper, he became a starter for the Nationals in 2019, alongside Soto. He had a solid year. Roble's journey to the Major Leagues was slower than Harper and Soto and he hasn't broken out yet as a superstar, but I think he will. He has all the tools and is still only 22. He's an especially good fielder, having been a finalist for a Golden Glove in his rookie year.
Carter Kieboom is the National's current top prospect. He played for the Suns in 2017. He's a shortstop. His major league debut with the Nationals (in 2019) was less than spectacular, but he's got a lot of potential. He had a stellar year at Fresno (triple A). With the departure of Anthony Rendon, he was expected to get a lot of playing time this year. Carter's brother Spencer was a catcher for the Suns in 2014. He debuted with the Nationals in 2016, but failed to stick with the organization and became a free agent last fall.
Carter Kieboom (2017)
The only time the Sun's stadium was ever packed was when Tim Tebow came to town. After Tebow's football career fizzled, he decided to give baseball a shot. He's a great athlete, but by all accounts, only a so-so baseballer. But he packs people into the stadiums and has been great for minor league baseball. The Suns had a four game series with the Columbia Fireflies, a New York Mets affiliate, in June 2017. We went to one of the games. We were lucky to get a parking place and seats. Tebow got a hit, but let a ball get passed him in the outfield. The Suns won the game.
Tim Tebow (2017)
The Suns have the lowest attendance in the South Atlantic League. The stadium was usually only sparsely populated, especially after the Bryce Harper era ended. The push to move the team, in the absence of a new stadium, didn't help to attract fans. There were usually only a handful of people in the stands during the cool, spring months. Attendance during the summer was better, but still only about 800, give or take a few hundred. Dad and I preferred to go to games Monday through Thursday, so attendance was likely better on the weekends. We didn't mind the low attendance. It made for a more pleasant experience.
My baseball buddy. Oh, how I miss him.
2018 was the last year Dad and I went to games. He passed April 14, 2019. During his decline, I had promised him I would take him to the Suns' opening night, no matter what. But it never happened. It was his time to be with the Lord. Mom and I went to one game in 2019. She had wanted to go on June 11 on what would have been their 64th wedding anniversary. There haven't been any games in 2020.
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