Ogden Raptors

DETROIT -- Prince Fielder was giving the Tigers a preview.

There he was, on a field in Lakeland, Fla., during spring training in 2002, a 17-year-old swatting baseballs over fences with such frequency that his father, Cecil, a slugger for seven seasons with the Tigers in the early 1990s, proclaimed afterward: "I'm giving the Tigers a preview."

But it was Prince hitting those balls and Prince turning those heads, much like he'd been doing throughout his childhood; first on Grosse Pointe, Mich., Little League fields, then at Tiger Stadium, then at Yankees spring training a few years later and then, on that February day in Lakeland, a few months before the plump prodigy would follow his plump parent into the major leagues.

DOVER, Del. -- The Los Angeles Dodgers filed a proposed bankruptcy reorganization plan Friday, a little more than a week after resolving a court fight with Fox Sports that threatened plans to sell the ball club.

The Dodgers said in court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., that the pending sale of the team should satisfy all creditor claims in full, either through cash payments or assumption of the claims by the new team owners.

The Dodgers intend to complete a sale of the team by April 30, as called for in a settlement with Major League Baseball. The April 30 date coincides with the deadline for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to pay $131 million to his ex-wife, Jamie, as part of their divorce settlement.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Brandon Weeden and Jordan Pratt can only chuckle now about their baseball connection.

The Oklahoma State quarterback and Stanford wide receiver spent a sweltering summer together in 2005 with the Class-A Columbus Catfish, the Los Angeles Dodgers' former minor league affiliate in Georgia. After practice or before games, they'd often take a break from baseball and play out another sports fantasy.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Grand Junction will soon be home to a Colorado Rockies' farm club.

The Grand Junction Rockies will begin play in 2012 at Suplizio Field after the city council approved a 15-year lease with stadium owners late Monday. The Pioneer League team will move from Casper, Wyo., where it's known as the Casper Ghosts.

The Monfort Investment Group, headed by Colorado Rockies general partners Charlie and Dick Monfort, bought the team in January.

Dick Monfort says the Rockies are excited to be bringing the team to the Western Slope.

OGDEN -- Another season of Raptors baseball is in the books and despite a less-than-perfect finish, the boys in blue earned their spot among the Pioneer League's elite.

Like its 2010 predecessors, Ogden made it to the postseason after capturing the division title at the halfway mark and defeated the Anaheim Angels affiliate Orem Owlz 2-1 for the Pioneer League South Division pennant.

OGDEN -- Turning a rapid-fire double play with runners barreling down the line is the easy part.

Turning a phrase of seemingly unintelligible slang into clear communication between teammates who don't speak the same language is harder.