Charlotte North Carolina Pitcher Beats Cancer Returns To Baseball
The reason I love sports is best personified by the story of Liam Hendriks this weekend. Hendriks is a former all-star pitcher with the Chicago White Sox. In January, he…
The reason I love sports is best personified by the story of Liam Hendriks this weekend. Hendriks is a former all-star pitcher with the Chicago White Sox. In January, he was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He entered treatment immediately and had his final round of chemotherapy on April 5. Hendricks posted he was cancer-free on April 20. Friday, Liam Hendriks returned to the pitcher's mound for the Charlotte Knights.
Honestly, I'm not as impressed by Hendriks overcoming batters in a baseball game. By the way, he retired all three that he faced (striking out one). No, I'm impressed by Hendricks doing this after striking out the disease that is the scourge of society. How inspiring is this guy?! Hendriks has gone from chemo back to pro baseball in a month? Wow.
As you might imagine, when Hendriks entered Friday's game, both teams gave him a standing ovation. His reaction, according to WCNC was interesting. Liam, although appreciative, feared the gesture but worried it would throw him off the task at hand. "Don’t get me wrong, it's really, really nice and I very much appreciated it. It made me very emotional. But I'm a guy who pitches on anger and it's really hard to get angry when you know the other team is full of nice people who would do something like that." Want some news that doesn't matter? The Charlotte Knights lost Friday night's game 2-0.
In baseball parlance, Hendriks is on a "rehab assignment" here in Charlotte. The Knights are a minor league affiliate of The Chicago White Sox. If all goes well, Liam Hendriks will be back saving games as a relief pitcher in the major leagues soon. However, while he's here, take the family out to see the Knights and give Henriks the admiration and support he's earned.
Do You Know Every North Carolina Minor League Baseball Team?
Baseball is widely regarded as America's pastime. Without a major league team closer than Atlanta or DC minor league baseball takes the stage in North Carolina. So it's a good thing that we have plenty of North Carolina minor league baseball teams to be a fan of! It can seem like there are so many teams that it's hard to make sense of what they all mean. It seems like every town has a baseball team. Are they all the same level?
The short answer is no. Minor league baseball is made up of several different levels. These are used for player development and getting players ready to hopefully one day compete in the "big leagues". Each major league team has 4 minor league teams affiliated with them for a total of 120 teams in the country. Additionally, there are other independent baseball leagues that players can play in and fans can take in games.
Minor league baseball can be a fun and relatively inexpensive outing for families and friend groups alike. Most tickets are very affordable with fun promotions as well as food and drink specials. North Carolina is home to 10 official minor league teams in the triple A, high A, and single A levels. We also have 5 independent baseball teams. Keep reading to learn a little about each of the teams, where they are located, their major league affiliate, and their level!
Triple A Teams
Triple-A is the level just under the major leagues. These players are often good enough to play in the major leagues but there just isn't space on them on the roster. They can easily be called up due to injury or other situations. North Carolina has 2 Triple-A teams.
Charlotte Knights
Major League Team: Chicago White Sox
Location: Charlotte, NC
Durham Bulls
Major League Team: Tampa Bay Rays
Location: Durham, NC
High A Teams
High-A formerly known as Class A-Advanced the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball. North Carolina has four High A Teams.
Asheville Tourists
Major League Team: Houston Astros
Location: Asheville, NC
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Major League Team: Pittsburgh Pirates
Location: Greensboro, NC
Hickory Crawdads
Major League Team: Texas Rangers
Location: Hickory, NC
Winston-Salem Dash
Major League Team: Chicago White Sox
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Single A Teams
Single A or Class A is is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball. North Carolina has 4 single A teams.
Carolina Mudcats
Major League Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Location: Zebulon, NC
Down East Wood Ducks
Major League Team: Texas Rangers
Location: Kinston, NC
Fayetteville Woodpeckers
Major League Team: Houston Astros
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (Formerly Intimidators)
Major League Team: Chicago White Sox
Location: Kannapolis, NC
Independent League Baseball Teams
North Carolina is also home to 5 teams that play in independent baseball leagues that are not part of Major League Baseball.
Burlington Sock Puppets
League: Appalachian League
Location: Burlington, NC
Gastonia Honey Hunters
League: Atlantic League
Location: Gastonia, NC
High Point Rockers
League: Atlantic League
Location: High Point, NC
High Point Thomasville HiToms
League: Coastal Plain League
Location: Thomasville, NC
Wilson Tobs
League: Coastal Plain League
Location: Wilson, NC
