Minor league baseball in the Americas consists of a list of leagues that compete at various skill levels.  The minor leagues prepare players for the major leagues by providing for further maturity and talent development.  The leagues are divided into three league types: Class A, Double-A and Triple-A, with least experienced players competing at the Class A level.  Some of the other countries besides the U.S. that supply players to the minor leagues are Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

Being a minor league player in any sport is a very challenging and exciting experience for an athlete. Those that work hard and maintain complete focus on the finish line are usually the ones that make it to the major leagues. Sometimes it also takes a bit of luck and just plain being in the right place at the right time. If you can’t get that lucky break, you may get well-traveled throughout the minors. This was the case of Dale Holman, a minor league baseball player who is at the center of a very odd coincidence in baseball.

The story goes like this:

On June 30, 1986, Holman was playing for the Triple A club, Syracuse Chiefs. The Chiefs were playing another Triple A club, the Richmond Braves in an International League match.   Early on in the game, Holman doubled in two runs for the Chiefs. Later on, however, the game was suspended and postponed to be completed at a later date.

Soon after the game was suspended, Holman was released by the Chiefs and traded to the Richmond Braves. After several days passed, the suspended game was rescheduled and Holman was penciled in to play outfield for the Braves in the same game where he already doubled in 2 RBIs for the Chiefs!

Holman wanted to show up his former team, so he promptly hit a single and a double in his first 2 at-bats for the Braves. The suspended game was completed and when the statistics were tallied up, the box score showed something that never occurred before in minor or major league play – the same player listed on both sides with hits in the same game!

I don’t think SportsBettinginfo.com would give you the odds on the frequency of this event ever happening again, however, you can look them up for other probability data with regard to baseball.

Photo Credits:
TCMA International League via Amazon.com
Wikipedia Commons

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