White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 28, 2025

The Carolina Mudcats, who have shared leagues with three different White Sox affiliates over the last few decades, are in their final fortnight of existence. After the season, they'll relocate from Zebulon, N.C. to Wilson, where the Wilson Warbirds will open a brand-new ballpark as part of a $300 million downtown development.

I'd been to Five County Stadium a few times over the years, as it was the most convenient place to catch a White Sox affiliate in the Raleigh-Durham area whenever travels took me there. The first visit was in 2009, when I was enamored with the sound coming off Dayan Viciedo's bat during a 3-for-5 night, overshadowing a quiet night from Mudcats second baseman Todd Frazier. Other visits had bigger payoffs, as that's where I saw Dane Dunning and Dylan Cease in person for the first time.

It was kind of a misshapen park from the onset, and as one beautiful new facility opened up after another in the years that followed, it aged in hurry. But while it was aesthetically it was out of step, it felt in line for minor league baseball, or what minor league baseball used to be. "You get what you pay for" usually has a negative connotation when things don't cost much money, but if you just want professional baseball up close and have no need for first-class trappings, then going to a Carolina Mudcats game fit that bill.

But with Major League Baseball contracting 40 teams from the minor leagues and the remaining franchises required to provide modern facilities, Five County Stadium lost the ability to keep up. It needed at least $15 million of upgrades, and it would've been lipstick on a catfish, so to Wilson they go.

That's my Zebulon story, but to read a superior one, I recommend this piece from Raleigh News & Observer columnist Luke DeCock, which serves as real celebration of life as the Mudcats entered their last-ever homestand. The Mudcats' greatest legacy is a name that ushered in all of the unique minor league mascots that can sell caps across the country. But their demise is also characteristic of the current day.

This week, the Mudcats will host their final homestand in Zebulon at the conclusion of their 35th and last season there, the end of an improbable era of minor-league baseball in eastern Wake County that began in 1991 when businessman Steve Bryant decided Raleigh needed a team of its own and this was as close as he could get. There was always something a little off about the Mudcats, who carved out a place among old tobacco fields at an otherwise empty crossroads in the middle of nowhere, became a model minor-league franchise and then slowly withered on the stalk. [...]

As one man’s crazy baseball vision expires, the Mudcats have become quintessentially minor league — the way it used to be, before the Mudcats existed, the very thing private equity is bound to erase everywhere: regulars in the stands who all know each other, the sun setting behind home plate over a vista of small-town Americana, a skeleton staff holding things together, cheap beer, wide-eyed players who all look like overgrown kids.

Nashville 5, Charlotte 2

• Tim Elko wore the collar and silver sombrero.
• Sean Burke: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 38 of 62 pitches for strikes.

Knoxville 7, Birmingham 3 (10 innings)

• Rikuu Nishida was 0-for-4 with a sac bunt.
• William Bergolla, 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
• Sam Antonacci and Braden Montgomery both were 0-for-4.
• Wilfred Veras went 2-for-4 with a double.
• D.J. Gladney, 0-for-4 with a K.
• Shane Murphy: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 37 of 48 pitches for strikes.

Winston-Salem 4, Rome 3

• Samuel Zavala went 2-for-4 with a walk.
• Jeral Perez also 2-for-4 with a walk, but he doubled and struck out.
• Kyle Lodise was 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Ryan Burrowes, 1-for-4 with his first High-A homer and two strikeouts.
• Lyle Miller-Green doubled and struck out thrice.

Salem 5, Kannapolis 4

• Ely Brown went 3-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base.
• George Wolkow, 1-for-2 with a double, a sac fly and two walks.
• Anthony DePino hit his first professional homer, singled and struck out thrice.
• Colby Shelton was 0-for-2 with three walks and the plate, and 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
• Rylan Galvan wore the golden sombrero during an 0-for-5 night.
• Pierce George: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 15 of 27 pitches for strikes.

Highlights:

*DePino's meatball: