Murphy embracing leadership role with Goldeyes

A tenure with the Winnipeg Goldeyes was an offer Max Murphy couldn’t refuse.

“I think when I first started playing for the Goldeyes, I was pretty much coming right into my prime,” the 33-year-old veteran said Wednesday before first pitch at Blue Cross Park.

Asked to take a trip down memory lane, the outfielder only had good things to say about his current club, even though the Goldeyes weren’t the first American Association rodeo for the longtime Fish — playing his first three seasons with the St. Paul Saints.

The Robbinsdale, Minn., product started back in 2021 with the Goldeyes, but pinpoints his big breakout moment with the club to the 2022 season when he launched 31 home runs.

Goldeyes attest game-day rituals help their focus on the diamond

It seems the words routine and superstition blend together for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

While the players have a set pre- and post-game timetable — whether or not they label all game-day routines as superstitions — it’s clear they have their own internal rules that must be followed.

For pitcher James Bradwell, though he believes he doesn’t have any crazy pre-game rituals that need to be upheld, he knows what works and sticks to it.

“I will always put my right sock on before my left, right cleat on before my left,” the North Vancouver product said, having only started these routines after joining the Fish.

Murphy helps Goldeyes battle back to beat Explorers

Max Murphy didn’t hesitate when asked to describe his season so far.

“It’s been terrible,” the veteran Winnipeg Goldeyes outfielder told the Free Press.

Murphy is admittedly critical of himself, the product of a high standard he’s set during a pro baseball career that began in 2014 and has included the past six years with the Fish, where he’s established new franchise records for home runs and RBIs.

So you can imagine the relief felt on Sunday when he looked a lot more like the Murphy of old in leading his team to a 6-2 comeback victory over the Sioux City Explorers to close out a six-game homestand at Blue Cross Park in front of a season-high crowd of 6,825.

Pitcher Bourassa picks up where he left off after return from Mexican club

Landen Bourassa didn’t need two months in Mexico to appreciate Manitoba. The Alberta product, who now lives here full-time, was already a big fan.

But a “unique” experience this summer certainly didn’t hurt.

The veteran Winnipeg Goldeyes pitcher took a professional detour to pursue an intriguing opportunity. Now he’s back on familiar soil, ready to help the Fish make a run at an American Association championship.

“It definitely was bittersweet to be leaving everybody here and leaving home, but you do things to be challenged. And that was a really good challenge,” Bourassa told the Free Press this week at Blue Cross Park.

Fish batter Canaries to climb atop division

You’ve got to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good — and the Winnipeg Goldeyes are living proof of that popular phrase these days.

Bringing home a Fish: Group of local baseball fans open doors to Goldeyes

There’s no place like home.

But what exactly does that mean for members of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, who typically find themselves hundreds or even thousands of miles away from family and friends between May and September, trying to keep their baseball careers alive while living on shoestring budgets?

For some, home is a modest downtown hotel room or small apartment typically shared with a teammate or two. For others, there’s a more personal touch — one that truly connects them to the community they happen to be playing in.

Welcome to the world of billets, a longstanding tradition in this market that dates back to when the Fish first took flight back in 1994. They are a unique and valuable tool for the American Association organization and its players, with a dedicated group of local baseball fans who open their doors and roll out the welcome mat year after year.

Fish ‘punch back’ to crush Canaries

The number sticks out like a sore thumb: 41. That’s how many wins the Winnipeg Goldeyes recorded during the 2025 season, tying an all-time low for the storied, 32-year-old franchise. What a difference a year can make.

Fish go cold as Saltdogs put end to franchise record win streak

The Goldeyes went cold for the first time in 13 games Saturday night in Lincoln.

The Saltdogs grabbed a 12-2 win over the visitors, stopping the club’s franchise win streak record at 13.

The Fish still boast a 40-32 record with 27 games left in the regular season. Last year represented a major step back, with a 41-58 record, which led to missing the playoffs entirely. This season, the club has its sights set on first place in the division.

The Goldeyes wrap up the road series on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. The Fish are back at Blue Cross Park on Tuesday, hosting the Sioux Falls Canaries to begin a six-game homestand.

Goldeyes win franchise record 13th consecutive game

The Winnipeg Goldeyes franchise record win streak continued Friday evening.

The Fish defeated the Lincoln Saltdogs on the road 6-4 for the 13th straight win.

On Thursday night, the club set franchise history with a 12th straight win over the Chicago Dogs at Blue Cross Park.

The Goldeyes are now within two victories of the American Association record of 15, set in 2010 by the Pensacola Pelicans.

Goldeyes win franchise record 12th consecutive game

The 2026 Winnipeg Goldeyes are swimming in uncharted waters.

A 7-5 comeback victory over the Chicago Dogs on Thursday night at Blue Cross Park was no ordinary affair. It marked the 12th straight win by the club, establishing a record for the 32-year-old organization.

“A little bit surreal,” manager Logan Watkins told the Free Press inside the clubhouse.

Historic, too. And maybe a bit shocking.

Goldeyes catcher Pelletier moonlights as team barber

Tucked inside the Winnipeg Goldeyes’ clubhouse is a no-frills washroom with a urinal, a pair of toilets and a trio of sinks beneath matching mirrors.

But when rookie catcher Raphael Pelletier drags in a well-worn black leather salon chair with cracked upholstery and lays out his clippers, trimmers and shears, the space transforms into something else: a barbershop.

While far from luxurious, it’s the type of haircutting experience that could only exist inside the wacky world of independent baseball.

“He keeps everyone looking good on the field, honestly. We needed this,” said third-year Goldeyes pitcher Derrick Cherry, while getting a trim on Wednesday ahead of the team’s game against the Chicago Dogs.

Goldeyes pitcher Boyd making most out of his visit to Winnipeg

Not that long ago it seemed very unlikely that Luke Boyd was going to turn into one of the American Association’s best pitchers.

He began the 2025 campaign with the Cleburne Railroaders but was released two weeks into the year after getting torched for nine runs in less than seven innings of work.

The Baylor University product was unsure if he would have a future in pro ball after that, but then, his old pal Logan Watkins — the manager of the Winnipeg Goldeyes — threw him a lifeline.

Watkins managed Boyd in Cleburne in 2023 before taking the job in Winnipeg.

Excited Goldeyes fans buzz over Manitoba Mosquitoes’ name change

BITE club has entered the ball park for a single game, filling the stands with mosquitoes — just not in the way you may think.

The Fish are participating an alternate identity takeover, one that many other teams in the minor baseball leagues have been having some fun with. The Winnipeg Goldeyes re-branded to pay homage to the province’s beloved summer creatures, the Manitoba Mosquitoes.

The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks had some fun with its alternative identity, doing a five-game name change to the Woodchippers, a fun reference to the 1996 film Fargo.

Other honourable mentions are the Chicago Dogs, who switched over to the Chicago Wieners, the Sioux Fall Canaries transformed into the Minnehaha Martians, Milwaukee Milkmen became the Franklin Benjamins, and the Lake Country Dockhounds swapped to the Wisconsin Dive Bars.