Eastern Iowa Sports and Rec

CEDAR RAPIDS — Yes, Ryan Sweeney has seen “Moneyball.” He and his Oakland Athletics teammates attended the premiere for the ballyhooed baseball movie about their general manager, Billy Beane, in late September in Oakland, Calif. Sweeney and his wife, Natasha, got to meet the movie’s star, Brad Pitt, and get some photos taken. “Only talked [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — We’ll find out tonight who’s the winner of the Fan’s Choice Award. Word from those in the know is relief pitcher Dakota Robinson’s the guy. The Brent Del Chiaro Award, if you will, for most valuable Cedar Rapids Kernels player is being announced here. It’s infielder Ricky Alvarez. “On most teams, he’s [...]

Not terribly surprising considering the season they’ve had, but there were no Cedar Rapids Kernels players selected for the postseason Midwest League All-Star team, which was announced Monday. The lone possibility would have been left-handed relief pitcher Dakota Robinson, who leads the Kernels with 10 victories, to go along with seven saves and an earned [...]

South Slope Telephone Cooperative will carry MLB Network beginning Sept. 7 on channel 43 in SD and channel 443 in HD. South Slope serves several towns in Eastern Iowa, including North Liberty, Amana, Ely, Fairfax, Newhall, Norway, Oxford, Solon, Tiffin, Walford, Watkins and parts of Coralville.   MLB Network carries year-round coverages of Major League Baseball [...]

- Note: This is part of Matt Nelson’s “Ballparks of the Midwest” series. Wyoming. Population 563,626. The least populated state in the country. Population density…5.1 people for every square mile of land in the state (49th in rank). Oh, but they do have minor league baseball in the Cowboy State, even if it’s not exactly [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — Before life in the pros, the lofty prospect status and even loftier million-dollar contract signing bonus, there was the Little League World Series. Or as Randal Grichuk calls it, the highlight of his baseball career so far. “I remember everything about it,” the Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder said after he helped his [...]

This is part of Matt Nelson’s series, “Ballparks of the Midwest.” Is it “The Home of the Owlz,” or “Brent Brown Ballpark?” Brent Brown is a Toyota dealer down the street from the ballpark in Orem, Utah. The ballpark, located on the campus of Utah Valley University, is the subject of an unusual ballpark naming [...]