The Lexington Legends will have a new affiliate for the first time in franchise history when the South Atlantic League franchise opens next season. And beginning tonight, the Legends will have a new logo as well.

The Legends will unveil their new logo this evening as part of a local fundraiser in downtown Lexington. The team mascot, Big L, will don a new team new jersey when it joins other participants rappelling down the 410-foot-tall Lexington Financial Center. The Legends will have a booth set up outside the “Brave the Blue” event—a reference to the color of the building and a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts—with new hats and branded merchandise on display. The team will also be passing out free T-shirts bearing their new logo.

The logo change comes after the Legends parted ways with the Astros after 12 seasons during the offseason affiliation shuffle, which saw seven low Class A franchises (including six in the Midwest League) swap major league affiliates. The Legends will now team up with the Royals, which had spent the previous two seasons with Kane County (Midwest) but were displaced when the Cougars decided to sign on with the home-state Cubs.

"This truly is an offseason of change around the ballpark with our new affiliation," Legends general manager Seth Poteat told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "We're thrilled with the new color scheme and logos and feel all of our fans are going to love the new look of their Legends."

For Major League Baseball, the Fall Classic doesn’t just refer to Tigers vs. the winner of tonight's Cardinals-Giants game. It’s also about Democrats vs. Republicans.

Many corporations and labor groups have Political Action Committees in place as a way to donate money to political candidates they feel will act in their best interests. Major League Baseball is no different.

The Major League Baseball Commissioner’s Office PAC has been in existence since 2001. During that time, the PAC has raised more than $2.3 million.

MLB employs three lobbyists from the Baker & Hostetler law firm who serve as liaisons in Washington: Bill Schweitzer, Josh Alkin and Lucy Calautti. All three have a history of working in politics and are fans of the game. They spend their time meeting with politicians and political groups in an attempt to educate those groups on how legislation or potential legislation could affect Major League Baseball.

“Our interactions with elected leaders and other officials in Washington have addressed labor issues, security, immigration and taxation, among other topics,” MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said via e-mail. “Our Government Relations office, which stems from the vision of commissioner (Bud) Selig, allows us to communicate quickly and efficiently with leaders in Washington on significant issues and to provide another important resource to our clubs.

“For example, our presence in Washington has helped us navigate issues pertaining to ballpark security, the fortification of our joint drug policy, greening and other topics on which we have made great strides over the last decade. With the re-establishment of a major league franchise in Washington during this time as well, our expanded presence in the nation’s capital has been invaluable in many ways.” [...] Continue Reading »

The chances of baseball needing an extra game to set its postseason field dwindled last night after the Nationals and Tigers each secured division titles and the Athletics locked up at least a wild-card berth. But a Game 163 remains a possibility—the Orioles could catch the Yankees in the American League East, the Rangers have yet to pull away from the A's in the AL West, and the Dodgers could still catch the Cardinals for second National League wild card—and any extra action will be available for everyone to see.

No television blackout restrictions will be in place if major league baseball’s regular season requires overtime and extends to a one-game playoff on Thursday. Any such game will be televised exclusively by TBS and will not be subject to Major League Baseball’s blackout restrictions, an MLB spokesperson confirmed today.

A Game 163 would be considered part of the regular season, but will not be blacked out because local broadcast rightsholders will not be televising the game in addition to TBS.

“Even though the game would be considered a regular season game, it is broadcast along the lines of a postseason game,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

However, fans accustomed to watching baseball online or through mobile devices will have to put away their iPads and turn on their televisions, as a Game 163 would not be available through MLB's Extra Innings or MLB.tv services within the United States. According to Major League Baseball Advanced Media:  "Due to Major League Baseball exclusivities, any play-in game to determine the final team(s) to reach the MLB Postseason, i.e. a 163rd game, will be blacked out in the United States (including the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands)."