The New York-Penn League: Bacon Edition

Aberdeen IronBirds

Link 1) Michael D. Griffin, the 11th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is from Aberdeen, Maryland where the IronBirds play. Kevin Bacon portrayed NASA astronaut Jack Swigert in the movie Apollo 13.

Link 2) Perhaps one of Aberdeen’s most famous residents is Cal Ripken Jr. who also owns the Aberdeen IronBirds with his brother Billy. Cal Ripken Jr. was chronicled in the documentary 2001: A Year With Cal Ripken Jr. The narrator was Edward Norton who also played a character called The Narrator in Fight Club alongside Brad Pitt. Pitt was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon.

Auburn Doubledays

Link 1) Model Kelly Brannigan is from Auburn, New York. She worked on Deal Or No Deal with Howie Mandel. Mandel was in an episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures  Of Superman with Dean Cain. Cain was in Rat Race with Cuba Gooding Jr. who was in Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise. Cruise was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Batavia Muckdogs

Link 1) Batavia, New York was mentioned in an episode of the Simpsons called The Twisted World Of Marge Simpson. In Season 8, Episode 11, the first order that came through for Marge’s new pretzel business was from the Meat Packers Union Hall in Batavia. Hank Azaria was credited doing several characters in the episode and he interviewed Kevin Bacon for his AOL Original Series Letting Go where he talks about fatherhood.

Brooklyn Cyclones

Link 1) One Brooklyn native is actor Scott Baio. He was on Happy Days with Ron Howard who directed Kevin Bacon in Apollo 13.

Link 2) Actor Corbin Bleu is from Brooklyn and while he is perhaps best known for High School Musical, he was also in the movie Mystery Men as a kid alongside actors such as William H. Macy. Macy was in Murder In The First with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Like Corbin Bleu, Steve Buscemi is also from Brooklyn and worked with William H. Macy. They worked on Fargo together and Macy was in Murder In The First with Kevin Bacon.

Link 4) Chuck Connors aka The Rifleman was also from Brooklyn. He was in Airplane II: The Sequel with Rip Torn. Torn and Kevin Bacon were both in a Season 5 episode of Will and Grace titled Bacon and Eggs.

Link 5) Brooklyn native Edie Falco was in the TV show Oz with J.K. Simmons who was in Patriot’s Day with Kevin Bacon.

Link 6) Jimmy Fallon was born in Brooklyn and he was in the movie Taxi with Queen Latifah. Latifah was in Beauty Shop with Kevin Bacon.

Links 7 and 8) Adrian Grenier is from Brooklyn and he was in The Devil Wears Prada with Meryl Streep. She was in The River Wild with Kevin Bacon. Anne Hathaway has the same link being from Brooklyn and starring in The Devil Wears Prada.

Link 9) If we’re getting even more specific, Arlo Guthrie is from Coney Island, close to where the Brooklyn Cyclones park is. Guthrie was on The Muppet Show for Season 4, Episode 8 alongside Frank Oz. Oz was in Star Wars II: Attack Of The Clones with Rose Byrne who was in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon.

Link 10) Brooklyn native Norah Jones was in Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock. Kevin Bacon starred alongside and directed Sandra Bullock in the movie Loverboy.

There are a lot of links that can be found through Brooklyn, so see if you can find more.

Connecticut Tigers

Link 1) Norwich, Connecticut is not only the home of the Connecticut Tigers but is also the birthplace of Costa Dillon aka the creator of Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes. It spawned several sequels including Return Of The Killer Tomatoes which starred a young George Clooney. He was in Ocean’s 11 with Brad Pitt who starred alongside Kevin Bacon in Sleepers.

Hudson Valley Renegades

Link 1) Fishkill, New York native Robert Kanigher was a comic book writer who wrote and worked on Wonder Woman comics for over 20 years. The new Wonder Woman movie has Chris Pine amongst the cast. He was in Into The Woods with Meryl Streep who starred in The River Wild with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Ryan Ruocco is from Fishkill and he currently works as a sports broadcaster in New York and is the secondary TV announcer for the Brooklyn Nets. Kevin Bacon has gone to several Brooklyn Nets games thus completing that chain of Bacon.

Lowell Spinners

Link 1) Lowell native Michael Chiklis was in American Horror Story with Kathy Bates. Bates was in About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson who starred alongside Kevin Bacon in A Few Good Men.

Link 2) Chiklis was also in the TV show Vegas with Dennis Quaid. Quaid was in Vantage Point with Matthew Fox who was in Party Of Five with Neve Campbell. Kevin Bacon was in Wild Things with Campbell.

Link 3) Another link through Chiklis is the movie Eagle Eye where he starred alongside Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton was in Jayne Mansfield’s Car with Kevin Bacon.

Link 4) Olympia Dukakis is another Lowell native. She was in In The Land Of Women with Meg Ryan. Ryan and Kevin Bacon were in the movie In The Cut together although his role is uncredited.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers

Link 1) Director Dominic Sena is from Niles, Ohio where the Mahoning Valley Scrappers play. Sena directed Janet Jackson’s famous Rhythm Nation music video but this connection is through a film he directed called Kalifornia. It starred Brad Pitt who went on to work with Kevin Bacon in Sleepers.

Linke 2) Sena also directed Gone In Sixty Seconds with Angelina Jolie. She was in Beowulf with John Malkovich who starred in Queens Logic with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Another film Sena directed was Swordfish which starred Hugh Jackman. Jackman and Bacon both appeared in X-Men: First Class.

State College Spikes

Link 1) Pixar animator Doug Sweetland is from State College, Pennsylvania. He was one of the animators on Toy Story which included the voice talents of Tom Hanks who starred in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Actor Joshua Leonard was born in Houston but grew up in State College. He was in The Shaggy Dog with Tim Allen who was in Toy Story with Tom Hanks. Hanks was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.

Staten Island Yankees

Like Brooklyn, Staten Island has many links to Kevin Bacon. I’ve only included a few below but see if you can find more.

Link 1) Jennifer Esposito is from Staten Island and she starred in Taxi with Queen Latifah. Latifah was in Beauty Shop with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) She was also in The Bachelor with Renee Zellweger who starred in My One And Only with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Staten Island native Alyssa Milano starred in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star with David Spade. Spade was in Reality Bites with Keith David who starred in Novocaine alongside Kevin Bacon.

Link 4) Comedian and Staten Island native Eddie Pepitone was in the movie Old School with Vince Vaughn. Vaughn was in The Dilemma with Queen Latifah who starred in Beauty Shop with Kevin Bacon.

Link 5) Actor Martin Sheen is from Staten Island was the narrator for the movie JFK which starred Kevin Bacon.

Tri-City ValleyCats

Link 1) Actor Robert Fuller is from Troy, New York where the ValleyCats play. He was in Walker, Texas Ranger with Chuck Norris for four episodes. Norris was in Dodgeball with Vince Vaughn who was in The Dilemma with Queen Latifah. She was in Beauty Shop with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Another Troy native is actress Maureen Stapleton. She was in The Money Pit with Tom Hanks who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) And yet another actor from Troy is Russell Wong who was in The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor alongside Tom Cruise. Cruise was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Vermont Lake Monsters

Link 1) Actor Orson Bean is from Burlington, Vermont. He had a recurring role on Desperate Housewives alongside Teri Hatcher. She was in The Big Picture starring Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Actor Will Lyman, best known for his voiceovers on the PBS series Frontline, was in A Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas who produced the Kevin Bacon movie Flatliners.

Link 3) Lyman was also the Award Ceremony Narrator in Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. who was in Due Date with Zach Galifiankis. Galifiankis was in The Hangover with Bradley Cooper who was in Failure To Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker. She starred in Footloose with Kevin Bacon.

West Virginia Black Bears

Link 1) The Black Bears are technically based in Granville but with a population of about 700 people, it was hard to find anyone notable enough to connect to Kevin Bacon. However, if we travel 10 minutes down the road to Morgantown, we find our connections there. James Hoover was born in Morgantown and went on to become an audio engineer who has won Grammys and collaborated with several well-known musicians including Beyonce. Beyonce was in Dreamgirls with Jamie Foxx who was in Collateral with Tom Cruise. Cruise was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Link 2) Another well-known Morgantown resident was Don Knotts. He voiced Mayor Turkey Lurkey in the Disney movie Chicken Little and Steve Zahn did the voice for Runt of the Litter. Zahn was also in You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.

Link 3) Knotts was also in the movie Pleasantville with William H Macy who was in Murder In The First with Kevin Bacon.

Williamsport Crosscutters

Link 1) Actress Trisha Rae Stahl is from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. She had a recurring role on Glee as Millie Rose and worked alongside Jane Lynch. Lynch was in a video short called 8 with Kevin Bacon.