MADISON, AL – It was the shot that apparently wasn’t heard much around the baseball world.

Major League Baseball (MLB) made a seismic move during the season that involved Minor League Baseball (MiLB), announcing that the player’s union would now include those not in the big leagues for the first time in history.

But while MiLB players are now members of the “once-MLBPlayers Association (MLBPA) only club,” it happened suddenly and with few details relating to the ramifications for those in the minor leagues.

At least, that’s the take locally as the Rocket City Trash Pandas were focused on the second half of the Southern League South Double-A playoffs when the news broke.

Trash Pandas radio announcer Josh Caray said he was able to rub shoulders in the locker room with players for the first time this season since the locker room was off limits because of the pandemic in 2021.

“I didn’t hear a word about it,’’ he told the Huntsville Business Journal.

“I know what you’re talking about, but the thing is it was so quick. I think that happened in late August or early September. Here’s the thing – I don’t know (what the players think) because we haven’t heard what the owners are going to do in response.’’

Rocket City President/General Manager Garrett Fahrmann added that there are too many unknowns at the moment to assess how it might affect MiLB, which is owned by MLB.

“I think time will tell,’’ he said. “I don’t know how it’s going to affect (minor league players), I don’t know how it’s going to affect us. I don’t know how it’s going to affect Major League Baseball, the sport in general. I just think time will tell.’’

Fahrmann said, “Not one player has asked me anything. Nor the parent club – there hasn’t been any kind of dialogue about it.’’

Caray was surprised the unionization of minor leaguers even came about.

“I’ll tell you this much – I never thought it would happen,’’ he said. “But then again I never thought the Major League Baseball Association would give them the vote.’’

Before the 2022 season, MLB addressed a problem within MiLB that has existed since the game evolved – housing players. MLB mandated each parent club of all MiLB teams to pay for living arrangements for the players.

The Trash Pandas parent club is the Los Angeles Angels baseball team.

“It worked out very well,’’ Fahrmann said. “We got fortunate in that we found a brand new apartment complex that they’re going to turn into corporate housing in the offseason, and then we’re going to have their furnished apartments back in April.’’

“It makes it easier,’’ Caray said. “Say you’re a guy from Texas and you go to spring training in Arizona and suddenly you come to Alabama, and now you’ve got to find a place (before the current mandate).”

That was one issue minor leaguers have complained about. There are other issues, including a claim MiLB wages lag seriously behind growth in other professions. Some minor leaguers make as little as $10,400 for the season.

Union 17 representing 5,500 minor leaguers was formed Sept. 14, which was 17 days after the vote to allow it in late August.

“Minor leaguers will have the opportunity to bargain for changes that will dramatically improve their labor conditions,’’ sports litigation attorney Robert Pannullo told Forbes.

Meanwhile, the Trash Pandas held a press conference addressing the season that ended when the team, which cobbled together a Southern League-best 81-57 record in the regular season, was eliminated in the North Division playoffs by the Tennessee Smokies.

Rocket City also easily led the league in attendance with an average of 5,031 to give the team what Caray called a tremendous home-field advantage. The Trash Pandas went 49-20 playing at Toyota Field.

“Take, say, Chattanooga and other places throughout the league where they’re not drawing many fans, then come here and suddenly you’re playing in front of four-, five-, six-thousand fans any given night,’’ Caray said. “That makes all the difference in the world for the guys when they go on the field.’’

The Trash Pandas were set to play their inaugural season in 2020 before the schedule was canceled because of the pandemic. The 2021 season was shortened and Rocket City had just 48 home games. This year, the full schedule unfolded with 69 home games.

“What was weird about our very first season was we were selling tickets and partnerships and stuff like that starting in whatever it was, ’18 or ’19. For ’18, ’19, ’20 and ’21 it all got piled into ’21. In 2022, it was what we sold in the offseason,’’ Fahrmann said. “This is kind of our new benchmark, this is kind of what we can expect moving forward.’’

Local non-profits also benefited from the full season.

“I think this was finally a year where everything felt a little more like normal,’’ said Lindsey Knupp, team Vice President of Marketing, Promotions and Entertainment. “We were able to partner with over 50 local non-profits this season alone, giving just through our jersey auctions alone $50,000 in cash to local nonprofits. That doesn’t include all the things we do with our concession stands, dog days and other donations.”

“From a community standpoint we felt we really started to bridge the gap with getting ingrained with all of you out there.’’

The Trash Pandas’ 2023 season opens April 6 at Toyota Field against the Chattanooga Lookouts.