The Mets’ Single-A affiliate is trading season tickets for LeBron James Heat jerseys

By Bill BaerJul 11, 2014, 6:05 PM EDT
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The Mets’ Single-A affiliate, which calls St. Lucie, Florida home, is trying to put those LeBron James Miami Heat jerseys — no longer wanted by a majority of fans given the superstar’s decision to return to Cleveland — to good use.

The St. Lucie Mets are willing to swap tickets to all remaining home games this season (25) for fans’ James jerseys. The Mets are also throwing in a cup and a t-shirt to sweeten the deal.

What are they going to do with all of those jerseys? They’ll donate them to Goodwill. Seems like a win-win all-around.

Minor League Baseball eclipses 40 million in attendance for 14th consecutive season

Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
By Bill BaerSep 19, 2018, 9:03 PM EDT
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Minor League Baseball announced on Wednesday that, for the 14th consecutive season, the league has eclipsed 40 million in total attendance. 20 teams set single-game attendance records and seven teams set franchise records for single-game attendance in their current parks.

ESPN’s Keith Law, who has been covering the minor leagues for quite a while, did the math:

Minor League Baseball president and CEO Pat O’Conner, whose most prominent stint in the public eye involved him disingenuously justifying the underpaying of his players, said, “Minor League Baseball continues to be the best entertainment value in sports, and these numbers support that. For us to top 40 million fans for the 14th consecutive season despite the weather challenges our teams faced in April and May is a testament to the continued support of our loyal fan bases and the creative promotions and hard work done by all of our teams across the country.”

Major and Minor League Baseball are quite happy to make money hand over fist on the backs of their players, but are too cheap to pay them adequately for their labor.