Hold My Log - 49.78 - Greatest Rivalry in Sports

[7teen]

It's been dubbed the "Greatest Rivalry in Sports". Bigger than Ali-Frazier. Bigger than Duke-North Carolina. Bigger than Lakers-Celtics. Yes, even bigger than Portland-Vancouver. The greatest rivalry in sports today is Portland's farm system versus Phoenix's farm system. And the two systems are about to square off in the post-season.

And in case you haven't been paying attention, this rivalry isn't over which organization has the best young talent that will one day grace fans in the BBA with their splendid play. Oh no! The Portland-Phoenix minor league rivalry is something much, much bigger.

"It's about which organization has the best set of us old fuckers who refuse to quit playing this game we love" commented Alpine Valley centerfielder Juan Valverde.

"And it's about the pride of winning a championship, at whatever level that may be at" chimed in Wise's outfielder Brett White.

That's right. Because what you see in these two programs is a willingness to bring in some veterans to not only generate pride in the farm, but it also does mold the younger guys into being better players. And better team players as well. To much of the angst of many rival GMs around the league, Portland and Phoenix have shown the willingness to take that 33 year old veteran that no one wants, nab that guy up, and throw him down in a lower level farm system where he can both be a champion again and mold the youth.

"I love playing with these older guys, listening to their stories" commented 18-year old Tynan Potter, one of Portland's few young prospects who is in Single-A Wise. "And watching these guys buy into just playing baseball for the joy of it and to try and win a championship has been fun. And yes, they do buy into this rivalry that has begun budding it appears with Phoenix. Sure, it takes some time I guess, and they're only here for one season in some cases, but once they buy in, they're all in. It's been fun. Now we focus on the challenge ahead of us."

And that's where the challenge has gotten us. It appears that in both Single-A and Double-A, Portland and Phoenix's farm clubs are set to square off against one another in the opening rounds of their respective post-seasons.

In the hotly contested Single-A level, Wise at 92-47 appears set for a Wild Card spot in the post-season which would have them taking on Toledo (Phoenix) in the opening round. Toledo currently has the Single-A's best record at 115-24. But that doesn't phase Wise.

"We beat them last year" commented Natanael Barral, "and we'll do it again this year. We already have once." Barral referencing the 3-game sweep Wise just handed Toledo last month. However, Toledo owns the season series 5-4.

Over in Double-A, both Alpine Valley (Portland) and Medicine Hat (Phoenix) have won their divisions and are set to square of as the 2-3 seeds in the Drake League post-season. Alpine Valley has the same 5-4 lead over Medicine Hat that Toledo has over Wise.

So it's easy to say that with a rivalry this hot, all eyes will be on the Farm the next week or two!

[jiminyhopkins]

Hey we gotta have hope somewhere! A lot of these guys would be languishing in FA anyway. Why not play them, and keep it interesting. Its not like Phoenix is slopping over with young talent anyway. So why not let guys like Joey Newhouse, Martin Marin, Luis Lucero, and Jerome Delage play ball and have some fun.

[CTBrewCrew]

Lol nuthin like a bunch of 30 something age players getting it done! Sounds like a softball game….whens the beer inning?

[Dington]

Top of the standings in every level. Hope to bring home a couple titles, but AAA might take a hit with some call ups.

[7teen]

Phoenix won both series! Boooo

[Dington]

Phoenix won both series! Boooo

I have them in at least one of my upcoming series.

[Fat Nige]

Minors are always fun, through all my losing years the minors were the only thing that sustained me. Won very little there too