The Appalachian League: Bacon Edition

The next league on my list to get the Six Degrees treatment was the Appalachian League. Here’s a look at what I found.

Pulaski Yankees

Link 1) Former Pulaski coach Tony Franklin coached Joba Chamberlain with the Trenton Thunder in 2007 and 2012. Joba Chamberlain was on Man vs. Food with host Adam Richman. In the 15th episode of the second season, Chamberlain appeared at the Buffalo Cantina in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to cheer Richman on as he did the Suicide Six Wing challenge. Richman also acted on All My Children, which has had actors appear before they were household names like Sarah Michelle Gellar. Gellar appeared in The Air I Breath with Kevin Bacon to complete the chain.

Link 2) We’ll stay with the Richman/Bacon chain because Richman did an episode of Man vs. Food that was a baseball special. In the special, he visited three different ballparks including “The Joe” in Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston RiverDogs are the Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees. While there, Richman tried the “Homewrecker”, an 8-ounce foot-long hot dog with up to 25 toppings including chili, jalapeño cheese, coleslaw, pimento cheese, and pickled okra.

Link 3) In this chain we start with former Pulaski pitching coach Butch Henry. Henry got his first major league hit by putting a ball past Barry Bonds in left field for an inside-the-park home run. Bonds was in the movie Rookie Of The Year with Gary Busey. Busey was in The Firm with Tom Cruise who was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Link 4) David Justice played with the Pulaski Braves during his first year of professional baseball back in 1985. David Justice was played by Stephen Bishop in the movie Moneyball where he acted alongside Brad Pitt. Pitt was in Interview With A Vampire with Tom Cruise who was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Link 5) College football coach Urban Meyer played with the Pulaski Braves after he was drafted in 1982. Meyer appeared on an episode of The David Letterman Show with singer Ella Henderson. She also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon was in Fever Pitch with Johnny Damon who was on The Apprentice with Vivica A. Fox. Fox has appeared on Late Night With Conan O’Brien alongside Kevin Bacon.

Bluefield Blue Jays

Link 1) The Bluefield Blue Jays were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles from 1958 to 2010. One of the most famous players for the Bluefield Orioles was Cal Ripken Jr. He was in a film called 1 of 1: Genesis presented by ESPN and Marvel that compared athletes to superheroes. Another athlete in the film is Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk was in a movie called Lords of Dogtown which starred Emile Hirsch. Hirsch was in The Air I Breathe with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Outfielder Kevin Pillar played for the Bluefield Blue Jays during the 2011 season and is currently teammates with Josh Donaldson. Donaldson has a cameo in the History Channel series Vikings, a show that stars Gabriel Byrne. Byrne was in The Usual Suspects with Benicio Del Toro who was in Basquiat with Sam Rockwell. Rockwell was in Frost/Nixon with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Boog Powell played for Bluefield back in 1959. He was mentioned in the fourth episode of Cheers when Sam Malone says he retired Powell in both games. Sam Malone was played by Ted Danson who was in She’s Having A Baby with Kevin Bacon.

Bristol Pirates

Link 1) Bristol, Virginia is the birthplace of country music and where the Carter Family recorded music in 1927. One of the next generation of Carters is June Carter who married Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash was the narrator for the 2003 film The Hunted starring Tommy Lee Jones. Jones was in JFK was Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Musician Tennessee Ernie Ford was born in Bristol, Tennessee which is the twin city to Bristol, Virginia as the state line runs through town. Ford performed at The Ranch House in Dallas, Texas which was owned by Jack Ruby. Jack Ruby was portrayed by Brian Doyle-Murray in the movie JFK which also starred Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Grimm was born in Bristol, Tennessee. He’s teammates with Anthony Rizzo who sang on Saturday Night Live alongside Bill Murray. Murray was in Wild Things with Kevin Bacon.

Burlington Royals

Link 1) Actor Tequan Richmond was born in Burlington. He was in Everybody Hates Chris alongside Terry Crews. Crews was in The Expendables 2 with Bruce Willis who was in 12 Monkeys with Brad Pitt. Pitt starred in Sleepers alongside Kevin Bacon.

Danville Braves

Link 1) Survivor villain Johnny FairPlay aka Jon Dalton was born in Danville. He starred in a TV movie called Kill Reality with other reality TV stars including Stacie Jones Upchurch from season 2 of The Apprentice, a show led by Donald Trump. Trump was in 2 Weeks Notice with Hugh Grant who was in About A Boy with Nicholas Hoult. Hoult appeared in X-Men: First Class alongside Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Actor Skip Sudduth was born in Danville. He appeared in Ronin with Robert De Niro was who is Sleepers with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Staying with the Skip Sudduth chain, he was also in a TV series called Oz starring J.K. Simmons. He was in Patriots Day with Kevin Bacon.

Link 4) Another one of Sudduth’s Oz costars was Edie Falco. She was in The Addiction with Kathryn Erbe who was in A Stir Of Echoes with Kevin Bacon.

Link 5) Sudduth was also in a movie called Eraser with Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was in True Lies with Bill Paxton. Paxton was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.

Elizabethton Twins

Link 1) NFL player Jason Witten is from Elizabethan, Tennessee. He did a film for I Am Second. Many other celebrities have been in I Am Second Films including Kathy Ireland. She was in Necessary Roughness with Jason Bateman who was in Horrible Bosses alongside Jennifer Aniston. Aniston starred in the movie Picture Perfect with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) The link follows a similar pattern as before. Bateman was also in Horrible Bosses with Donald Sutherland. His son Kiefer Sutherland starred in the movie Flatliners with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Following the similar pattern from link 1, Kathy Ireland was also in a movie called The Player with Tim Robbins. Robbins was in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon.

Link 4) Fox Sports analyst and retired NFL player Charles Davis is also from Elizabethton. Davis has appeared on several Fox NFL broadcasts alongside former NFL star Terry Bradshaw. Bradshaw was in Failure To Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker who was in Footloose with Kevin Bacon.

Greeneville Astros

Link 1) Actress Park Overall was born in Greenville and she was in the movie Beer For My Horses with Tom Skerritt. He was in Top Gun with Tom Cruise who starred alongside Kevin Bacon in A Few Good Men.

Link 2) Overall also starred on a TV show called Empty Nest with Richard Mulligan. He was the voice of Einstein in the movie Oliver and Company. Another voice in that movie was Bette Midler who was Georgette. She was in Hocus Pocus with Sarah Jessica Parker who was in Footloose with Kevin Bacon.

Johnson City Cardinals

Link 1) Actor Timothy Busfield hails from Johnson City, Tennessee. He was in The West Wing with Rob Lowe. Lowe was in The Outsiders with Matt Dillon who was in Wild Things alongside Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Busfield was also in the baseball movie Little Big League with Ashley Crow. She was in Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. He was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Busfield was also in Field of Dreams starring alongside Kevin Costner. Costner was in JFK with Kevin Bacon.

Link 4) Kenny Chesney is from Johnson City and he was once married to Renee Zellweger. She starred in the movie My One And Only which also happened to co-star Kevin Bacon.

Link 5) Gilmore Girls heartthrob Matt Czuchry aka Logan Huntsberger grew up in Johnson City. He was in The Good Wife with Josh Charles who was in Four Brothers with Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg was in Patriots Day with Kevin Bacon.

Link 6) Actress Constance Shulman was born in Johnson City. She stars in Orange Is The New Black with Taylor Schilling. Schilling was in The Lucky One with Zac Efron. Efron was in Hairspray with Queen Latifah and she was in Beauty Shop with Kevin Bacon.

Kingsport Mets

Link 1) Country music artist Amy Dalley was born and raised in Kingsport. One of her songs, Dream Too Small, was featured on an episode of Dawson’s Creek which starred Katie Holmes. Holmes used to be married to Tom Cruise who starred in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) TV journalist John Palmer is from Kingsport. He joined the Today show in 1982 working with anchors such as Bryant Gumbel. Gumbel was in the movie The Weather Man alongside Nicholas Hoult. Hoult was in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Darryl Strawberry made his professional debut playing for Kingsport. He was on The Celebrity Apprentice hosted by Donald Trump. Trump was in 2 Weeks Notice with Hugh Grant who was in About A Boy with Nicholas Hoult. Hoult was in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon.

Princeton Rays

Link 1) Actor Kevin Sizemore is from Princeton. He was in Fear The Walking Dead:Flight 462  TV show with Brendan Meyer. Meyer was in Tooth Fairy with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He was in Hercules with John Hurt who was in Jayne Mansfield’s Car with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Another one of Sizemore’s costars in that show is Kathleen Gati. She was in Transformers: Dark Side Of The Moon with Josh Duhamel. Duhamel was in Win A Date With Tad Hamilton with Ginnifer Goodwin. Goodwin was in Big Love with Bill Paxton who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.