Seven natives of Virginia made their MLB debut in 2025 – one less than in 2023. That year eight Virginia natives broke into The Show, which was the most for the state in one year in nearly 30 seasons.
Category Archives: Baseball
Washington Nationals hire new manager: 33-year-old Blake Butera
The new manager of the Washington Nationals is a 33-year-old guy whose on-field claim to fame, to date, is back-to-back Carolina League championships.
Harrisonburg was adopted home of two ex-Major Leaguers: One won a World Series ring
It was a clear, quiet evening on a recent Saturday in Shenandoah County. The cloudless blue sky made Massanutten Mountain clearly visible to the east, with the sound of a few birds the only noise breaking the silence just off Route 11.
Toronto Blue Jays coach Mark Budzinski reminisces on days with Lynchburg, UR
Mark Budzinski, 52, was a manager at one of the lower rungs of minor-league baseball, guiding the Single-A Lynchburg club in the Cleveland farm system.
Fall Classic: Virginia ties to the World Series champions over the years
The starting and winning pitcher in the first World Series game in 1903 – Deacon Phillippe – was a native of Rural Retreat in Southwest Virginia.
UVA Baseball | Pollard releases borderline embarrassing nonconference schedule for 2026
First-year UVA Baseball coach Chris Pollard isn’t exactly challenging his team with the nonconference schedule that he put together for 2026.
MLB: Toronto Blue Jays, other World Series contenders, have Virginia ties
Sean Ryan played baseball at the University of Richmond in the 1990s, and in his first year, his roommate was Mark Budzinski, now the first base coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Still playing for a ring | 2025 Nats, O’s still playing in the MLB Playoffs
Our Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles never sniffed the 2025 MLB Playoffs, but several of the guys who started the season inside the Beltway are playing in October, thanks to the trade deadline.
‘The kid did a good job’ | UVA Baseball alum Connelly Early was on the game’s biggest stage
Connelly Early, whose fastball topped out in the mid-80s when he arrived at UVA three falls ago, was sitting 94-95 on the gun in his start in the do-or-die Game 3 between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees on Thursday night in Yankee Stadium.
MLB | Virginia natives Justin Verlander, Cal Raleigh had historic seasons
Justin Verlander, the former Goochland High and ODU star, made his final start of the 2025 season on Sept. 27 for the San Francisco Giants, who had already been eliminated from postseason play. And it was an historic outing – on several counts.