From a new Major League affiliate and Riley Park's cashless policy to experimental playing rules and a Myrtle Beach rivalry, a lot has changed since minor league baseball last appeared in Charleston in 2019. But Bill Murray might still show up.
Major League Baseball is making each minor league try out new ideas for MLB consideration. Which is why Charleston RiverDogs manager Blake Butera spent extra time working on pickoff plays and baserunning to prepare for the May 4 season opener.
Gene Sapakoff column: Blake Butera, a former Boston College infielder already in his third season as a minor league manager at 28, is on a Tampa Bay Rays fast track.
Gene Sapakoff: The Charleston RiverDogs, after sitting out the 2020 season for minor league baseball-mandated COVID-19 reasons, are determined to help Charleston "return to normal" via fun at Riley Park.
The Charleston Battery has announced its full schedule for the 2021 season, kicking off May 7 on the road against the New York Red Bulls II.
Gene Sapakoff column: The Atlanta Braves are bullish going into Opening Day on April 1 with a team coming off a National League Championship Series season.
The Battery's first game back in the new stadium at Patriots Point is set for May 14 against the Charlotte Independence, and fans will be allowed with a 50 percent capacity limit.
Gene Sapakoff column: Baseball America last week named the Rays, loaded again with major league prospects, as the top minor league organization. Tampa Bay’s draft and international signing success should make RiverDogs games more fun for “inside baseball” enthusiasts.
The S.C. Stingrays hockey team is increasing attendance to 50 percent capacity at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The 2021 Charleston RiverDogs' coaching staff includes veterans of the Tampa Bay Rays' minor league system.
Former College of Charleston outfielder Brett Gardner on Friday got what he was hoping for, another season with the Major League team that drafted him in 2005.
Charlie The RiverDog still has the same basic routine. The Charleston RiverDogs’ furry mascot will do his Riley Park thing and remains available for charity events, birthdays, bar mitzvahs.
The season will open on May 4 with protocols in place to meet COVID-19 health guidelines.
Charleston Battery defender Leland Archer will play for his home country of Trinidad and Tobago against the U.S. Men's National Team on Sunday.
The minor league baseball Charleston RiverDogs named their 2021 manager Friday and got a visit from the Tampa Bay Rays' general manager.
The Charleston Battery's Leland Archer will play for his home country in an international friendly match on Sunday against the U.S. Men's National Team.
Gene Sapakoff column: Augusta got the Braves, Greenville got a bump up to high-level Class A, Charleston lost the Yankees and Myrtle Beach dropped down to low-level Class A. Checking the South Carolina minor league baseball offseason shakeup scorecard with spring training right around the corner.
Gene Sapakoff column: Hank Aaron, the baseball star who died Friday at 86, is at once the best and most underrated player in Major League Baseball history.
Gene Sapakoff column: Not many 50-year-old professional sports executives go to school, but Stingrays President Rob Concannon wanted the college degree he wasn’t able to complete 25 years ago
GREENVILLE — The South Carolina Stingrays (3-0-1-0) won their first shootout of the season Saturday, defeating the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (1-3-0-1) 3-2 for their third straight win on Saturday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The start date for its 2021 season still is uncertain, but the Charleston Battery already is busy making plans.
The South Carolina Stingrays have added 13 more games to their 2020-21 schedule as the ECHL updated its hockey schedule on Monday.
It might look and sound a little different — and, at least in one respect, it might even be improved — but South Carolina Stingrays hockey will return for its 28th season on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The minor league Charleston RiverDogs have gone back to the Tampa Bay Rays as a Major League affiliate after working with the New York Yankees from 2005-2020
Charleston's professional soccer team partners with Hibernian FC, a 145-year-old club in Scotland's top division.
The minor league baseball Charleston RiverDogs likely will have a new Major League parent club for the 2021 season as a split with the New York Yankees appears imminent
The South Carolina Stingrays have announced the schedule for the first 10 games of their hockey season, including a Dec. 11 home opener against Greenville at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The South Carolina Stingrays will begin a 72-game season on Dec. 11, but with limited capacity at the North Charleston Coliseum due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gene Budig built an amazing resume before moving to Charleston and joining the RiverDogs' ownership group 14 years ago. He was a college president at Illinois State, West Virginia and Kansas, and was the last president of baseball's American League.
Former South Carolina Stingrays goalie James Reimer, whose Carolina Hurricanes are currently in the NHL playoffs, helped lead the club to the 2009 ECHL Kelly Cup championship.
Former College of Charleston star Leland Archer has become a leader for the Charleston Battery in just his third season with the club.
The ECHL announced on Wednesday that the league will delay the start of the 2020-21 season until December.
The Charleston RiverDogs say they haven't had to seek various types of loans or alter their lease with the city despite the cancellation of the baseball season because of COVID-19.
Nick Ciuffo, a former high school baseball star at Wando and Lexington, is in the Texas Rangers' player pool as Major League Baseball season begins.
Gene Sapakoff column: The craziest baseball season ever starts July 23 and while "fanless" scenes might look like a retro-Charleston RiverDogs' Nobody Night promotion, there's plenty of excitement inside (and just outside) the MLB bubble.
After a four-month hiatus, the Charleston Battery returned to the field Sunday night against Birmingham Legion FC. It was the first home match at their new facility at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.
The Charleston RiverDogs' Riley Park is one example of how baseball teams fit stadiums into metro areas and the creative control teams have when designing baseball fields.
Robbie Crawford played for the Glasgow Rangers Football Club in Scotland, one of the premier teams in Scotland. He paid his own way to tryout with the Charleston Battery and now will be a key midfielder for the Battery as they open their new stadium in Mount Pleasant.
Ryan Blair, who served as an assistant coach during the 2019-20 season, will replace Steve Bergin as the South Carolina Stingrays' next head coach.
South Carolina Stingrays head coach Steve Bergin, who last season was honored as the ECHL's coach of the year, is leaving the team.
Like every other minor league baseball team that lost its season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Charleston RiverDogs are now tasked with finding ways to maximize the use of their stadium.
How will the cancellation of the minor league baseball season affect players that were looking to develop this summer.
After the coronavirus halted the USL Championship season in March, the Charleston Battery will finally open up their new stadium at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant on July 19 against Birmingham Legion FC.
With the 2020 MiLB season officially canceled due to COVID-19, the Charleston RiverDogs are looking at how to handle the financial burdens.
The South Carolina Stingrays could be playing deep into next summer if the ECHL is forced to postpone the start of the 2020 hockey season.
There will be no Charleston RiverDogs games at Riley Park this summer with the official announcement Tuesday that the minor league baseball season has been canceled because of the coronavirus.
Three MiLB teams in South Carolina, along with a dozen others, have filed a lawsuit against insurance companies over financial losses due to the coronavirus.
A 2020 season for the Charleston RiverDogs and the rest of the minors is looking bleak as MLB and its players continue negotiations for a return to play.
The Charleston RiverDogs began summer baseball camps for kids on Tuesday under the direction of Chris Singleton.
The Charleston Battery soccer club held their first group training session on Monday at their Patriots Point facility in Mount Pleasant.
The USL approved a provisional start date for July 11 for returning to play for the Charleston Battery for the 2020 season.
Chris Singleton, the community outreach director for the Charleston RiverDogs, will head up the team's youth baseball camps. They'll also be offering a culinary camp for kids.
Charleston's minor league baseball park, as few other places in the Holy City, has reflected racial strife, pain and progress that is seen in local protests responding to the death of George Floyd. And potential, too.