×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Lowell Spinners season officially called off

By Tom King - Sports Writer | Jul 4, 2020

What has been a foregone conclusion in the minds of many has now become official: Minor League Baseball, which in the nearby area includes the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Manchester and the Single A Lowell (Mass.) Spinners, will not have a 2020 season, thanks to COVID-19.

That announcement was made late Tuesday afternoon. The Fisher Cats, the Toronto Blue Jays Double A Eastern League affiliate, have already missed three months of their season, while the short season New York Penn League Lowell Spinners, a Class A Boston Red Sox affiliate, were slated to open the middle of last month.

Basically, this means that the only ticketed baseball events this summer in the area will be Nashua Silver Knights games, in the amateur wooden bat Futures Collegiate Baseball League. That season begins Thursday night at Nashua’s Holman Stadium.

The FCBL has several alumni sprinkled through the minors, including former Silver Knights Mickey Gasper of Merrimack and Max Burt (North Andover, Mass.), who are in the New York Yankees system.

Many Major League teams, in an effort to save money, released several minor leaguers over the last few months to save money during the pandemic.

Major League teams are set to open summer camps today and start their seasons on July 23, and have several top minor leaguers on their camp rosters.

But now, for the minors, attention will eventually shift to the discussions of a new working agreement with Major League Baseball. Past discussions have threatened the existance of some franchises, including short season teams like the Spinners. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has made it well known he wants to cut down on the number of minor league teams beginning in 2021.

Tuesday’s move was certainly expected. In fact, Fisher Cats majority owner Art Solomon had revealed in a published report nearly two months ago that the team would not play this season.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *