HERDchronicles

By: Brian Frank Grant Rogers might be firing pitches with his right arm at Sahlen Field these days—but, incredibly, he used to pitch left-handed. "I was pitching (right-handed) in my Little League championship game—and I was a big kid—I was 11, throwing maybe, like, 75 (mph). My elbow cracked, or something popped, and I went and got a first look—they said something I can't even remember. I went and got a second opinion. The guy said, just rest a year and you'll be fine. I res

By: Brian Frank Trey Yesavage, who rocketed through the Blue Jays' system last year, beginning the season at Low-A Dunedin and finishing it pitching in the World Series, returned to the Sahlen Field mound last night. Yesavage had a 3.63 ERA in six games for Buffalo last season. He was then promoted to Toronto, where he pitched in three regular-season games before pitching in six postseason games, including an 11-strikeout performance in the American League Division Series aga

By: Brian Frank Of all the legendary players who have passed through Buffalo in its long history of professional sports, none has had a greater impact on sports or society than Jack Roosevelt Robinson. In 1946, Jackie Robinson played nine games at second base for the Montreal Royals at Buffalo’s Offermann Stadium. Buffalo baseball fans witnessed history as they watched Robinson prepare to break the major league color barrier the following spring. In August 1945, Brooklyn Do

By: Brian Frank Every baseball journey has a beginning. Bisons hurler CJ Van Eyk’s earliest baseball memory came in his hometown of Lutz, Florida. “Probably going to signups for Little League with my parents,” Van Eyk recently told The Herd Chronicles . “I think I was six years old, and the first team I played on was the Rays at Lutz Little League.” That day began a baseball career that includes a Florida High School State Championship, a College World Series appearance, and