2024 Season Wraps: Richmond Flying Squirrels

...Enjoy Your 15 Minutes!

As is the case every year around here, before we start looking ahead to the coming season, we need to take a moment to relive the past one. We’ll wrap up the season for each level, taking a look at the overall success of the season, memorable games and special accomplishments, and of course, we’ll take a look at which players made their case for There R Giants’ Top 50 list! We’ll start from the bottom and go level by level. Today we look at the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Previous Season Wraps:

• DSL Giants (Black and Orange)

• ACL Giants

• San Jose Giants

• Eugene Emeralds

Pity the poor Flying Squirrels’ fan (which there are a LOT of by the way — once again the club drew more fans than any other team in Double-A). They’re the fanbase that often feels overlooked and under-appreciated. The only affiliate in the system that’s never been able to celebrate a championship — and few enough playoff trips. The one that always seems to look around towards the end of the year wondering where all the talent is.

And then, when they finally get a hot prospect in a Squirrels’ uni — they’re gone in 15 minutes. At least that’s the way it seems. Fans at the Diamond almost literally spent more time discussing whether Bryce Eldridge would make it to the club than they did getting to watch him before he was promoted again. Consider the club’s recent history with highly anticipated prospects:

• Casey Schmitt: 29 games in Richmond

• Patrick Bailey: 14 games

• Luis Matos: 31 games (plus one more this year!)

• Marco Luciano: 56 games

• Hunter Bishop: 26 games

• Grant McCray: 50 games

• Bryce Eldridge: 9 games

“Hello! Here’s your hat! What’s your hurry?” You can barely cobble together one complete season out of that entire Frankenstein’s Prospect List. The Diamond Denizens seem to be perpetually anticipating the big talent to come…and never getting to enjoy it.

Well, pour one out for the long-suffering Richmond fans, because they didn’t have all that much to cheer for this year — or, at least, not for long! Hey, at least they did see NINE different former or future big leaguers this year! Of course, Kolton Ingram only threw one inning, and Ryan McKenna, Blake Sabol, Wade Meckler, and Matos only appeared for 17 games altogether (with Meckler accounting for 10 of those). But they were there dammit! And we’re gonna remember them! Because that’s what we do around here when we go Season Wrapping!