Oakland’s Justin James makes jump from Indy to MLB

September 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

oakland-a's

It was not such usual candidates as Michael Ryan or Scott Richmond or John Lindsey or Randy Williams, but Independent Baseball has had one interesting promotion in the first couple of days since major league teams started taking advantage of the opportunity to expand rosters in September.  This ranks right up the excitement level with some of the affiliated all-star selections which have come out of the Indy ranks.

Oakland’s elevation of right-handed pitcher Justin James is a landmark case, actually, in that the Northern League believes it is the first time in its storied 18-year life when a player has gone from the league to the major leagues in the same season.  It is the second time this has happened for an Independent player in 2010, with the first also with the Athletics because outfielder Matt Watson started the season at Lancaster, PA of the Atlantic League and was playing in McAfee Coliseum in Oakland a short time later.

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Mexican League Stars finish out season in Indy Leagues

August 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

mexican

It is not uncommon early in an Independent Baseball season to see a number of quality players opt to play in Mexico or an Asian league where they can make more money.  But the Mexican League ends early so some of those who have been prominent do an about face and come back to the United States or Canada to extend their season.

I cannot say for certainty that 2010 is unusual, but among those who have returned from Mexico this year are the Triple-A league’s top three hitters, an all-star who drove in 96 runs and a 12-game winner.

First baseman Willis Otanez, who won the batting title with a .393 average, had a .470 on-base percentage and hit a dozen home runs to boost his career total between the major and minor leagues to 326, has signed with Long Island, NY, and after missing a few days to handle a personal matter is expected to play this weekend as the Ducks continue an uphill battle to make the Atlantic League playoffs.

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Max Scherzer, Joe Thatcher do Indies Proud in Majors

August 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

max-scherzer

A solid argument can be made that the Independent graduate having the best major league season is lefty Joe Thatcher, a key part of the superb San Diego bullpen that could help carry the Padres into the postseason.

Thatcher, who played his first season and a half for River City (O’Fallon, MO), was signed by Milwaukee right after the Frontier League All-Star Game in 2005, and was in the National League part-time two years later.  He is a major leaguer full-time now, where his key function is to sidearm left-handed hitters to sleep.

Thatcher, 28, pitches frequently (42 games) to get a key hitter out or for an inning, and he has given up only 11 hits and four walks in 26.0 innings while striking out 35.  That adds up to a fancy 1.38 earned run average and a victory in his only decision.

Max Scherzer, who debuted in an Indy league (Fort Worth, TX, American Association), also is having a strong season, especially since a short stint in the minors.  Although injuries probably have derailed Detroit’s postseason hopes, the 26-year-old seems likely to top last season’s nine-win season at Arizona. He is second on the staff in wins (8-9) with a decreasing 3.86 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 137.2 innings.

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Jay Gibbons Returns to MLB with L.A. Dodgers

August 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

jay_gibbons

Jay Gibbons has struck another harmonious chord for Independent Baseball with his splashy re-entrance into the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

A longtime Baltimore Orioles outfielder (2001-2007), the left-handed Gibbons emerged from a brush with being named in the infamous Mitchell Report to start cleansing his reputation with the Long Island (NY) Ducks in the Atlantic League in ’08, and did all of his playing in ’09 with the Newark (NJ) Bears.

Then, after auditioning his still-potent batting skills in winter ball and at Triple-A Albuquerque (.347-19-83), he made an impressive National League debut with a run-scoring pinch single on Sunday, the day he joined the Dodgers.  After a day off and a cross-country flight, the 33-year-old broke out with a three-RBI game (homer and two singles in four at-bats plus an outstanding catch) as LA swamped Philadelphia, 15-9.  He only played the first 5 ½ innings.

“Right now, it’s all about winning games,” Dodgers Manager Joe Torre told MLB.com when he kept Gibbons in the lineup the next night over regular Matt Kemp. “To have the game he (Gibbons) had last night, we’ll ride that as far as we can.”  Gibbons went 0-for-4, but the entire team was blanked by Roy Oswalt and the Phils’ bullpen.  He is 4-for-9 for his first three games.

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Mark Prior on the Comeback Trail!

August 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

prior

One time projected major league phenom Mark Prior has recovered sufficiently from long-time shoulder woes to try a comeback at age 29 with the Orange County Flyers of Fullerton, CA in the Golden League.

A strong name like Prior, the No. 2 free agent draft choice behind all-everything Joe Mauer in 2001 who has a 42-29 major league record, including an 18-6 campaign with the Chicago Cubs in ’03, could help rescue interest wherever he plays although Flyers Manager Paul Abbott says he will be used as a set-up man.

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Not Your Normal No-Hitter: Year of the Pitcher Continues

August 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

southern-maryland blue crabs

Only the third no-hitter in the 13 years of the Atlantic League was registered Wednesday night when the pitching-dominant Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (Waldorf) bested Newark, NJ, 3-1.  Joe Newby needed three-out help from league saves leader Jim Ed Warden, who entered the road contest with a major mess.

Newby (4-3) walked three of the first four hitters he faced in the ninth inning and hit the other one before Manager Butch Hobson went to Warden, who already had 19 saves.  Warden retired all three hitters he faced to leave the bases loaded.

“I don’t think I’ve had one (save) this special,” said Warden. “It’s weird because it probably is the most special, but also probably the first one I actually didn’t want to come in for.  We had guys warming up in the bullpen starting in the seventh in case he ran into trouble, but we were all rooting for him to get out of every situation he was in and keep it going.”

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Kevin Costner describes Lake County Field as “Perfect”

July 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

kevin_costner_field

“I don’t know many words higher than that, but I am content to say ‘perfect’”, was Kevin Costner’s description to The Daily Herald when he got his first look at the incomplete stadium in Zion, IL where he is co-owner of the Lake County Fielders. The actor flew in from Aspen, CO to flip the switch that turned on the lights for the first time.

Costner said shortly before he arrived the sky reminded him of a scene from “Field of Dreams”, one of his three baseball-themed movies:  “I’ve just created something totally illogical.”

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First career HR of A’s Matt Watson great story on Multiple Levels

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

matt_watson

What made Matt Watson’s first major league home run on Wednesday remarkable was the fact the 31-year-old outfielder, who was playing in the Atlantic League (Lancaster, PA) as recently as May 28, had only one at-bat since July 7, a span of two weeks on the Oakland Athletics bench.

“It was nice to finally get one,” Watson told The Associated Press. He has nearly 100 career homers in the minor leagues plus Japan and Korea.  Watson now has 78 major league at-bats (seven this season), with most of them with the New York Mets (2003) and Oakland (2005).

“He is very professional”, said Tom Herr, the longtime major league infielder now leading Lancaster.

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Kevin Costner owns Baseball Team in Far North Chicago Suburb

July 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

kevin_costner_baseball

It had to feel like the old days in the Northern League this week.  The league, which deserves lion-sized credit for putting Independent Baseball on the sport’s map in the first place, had a major announcement.

It will have a new franchise in the northern most part of Illinois—upwind about 40 miles from downtown Chicago—starting in 2010.  What’s more, it has a marquee name, actor Kevin Costner, in a major ownership role along with Schaumburg, IL boss man Rich Ehrenreich.

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Next two years will see boom in Independent Baseball Franchises

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lake County, Rockford Baseball Clubs put on Offensive Show

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

lake-county-fielders

With reports that at least 10 major league scouts were on hand to watch, the Northern League jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first three innings and never looked back in taking a 9-3 victory over the Golden League in the only All-Star Game between two Independent leagues in front of a reported 4,625 fans in Tucson, AZ Wednesday night.

The Northern’s two newest teams provided the biggest offensive output with Rockford, IL outfielder Jason James taking MVP honors with a 2-for-3 performance that included a double and two early RBI while Lake County (Zion, IL) infielder Amos Ramon broke the game wide open with a three-run triple in the seventh.

As an important side issue, the Golden League may move future home games of the new Tijuana Cimarrones to Yuma, AZ because of what The Arizona Star is reporting are “poor field conditions.”  Commissioner Kevin Outcalt, according to The Star, said the decision will be made before Tijuana’s next home game which is scheduled for July 23.  There would be irony to such a move since The Yuma Sun reported this week pay to Yuma Scorpions players has been late to the point they could become free agents.

Interim Manager Contributes All-Star Homer

With host Southern Illinois, which has dominated the season with a 39-9 record, having Manager Mike Pinto and 10 of his Miners in uniform, the West broke out to a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning to blitz the East 9-2 before 4,426 fans at the Frontier League All-Star classic in Marion, IL.  Tim Grogan stretched the Most Valuable Player streak for Florence (KY) Freedom players to four years in a row with a first-inning home run and three RBI overall.  One of the losing team’s highlights came when outfielder Matt Maloney, who also is interim manager for Kalamazoo, MI, homered.  One would think the all-time baseball record book might take a beating to find another active manager with an All-Star round tripper.

This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.  Fans may subscribe at WirzandAssociates.com, be sure to enter promo code THE SPORTS BANK.

Now in its eighth year, the Independent Baseball Insider covers every Independent league.  It is written by Bob Wirz, whose lengthy career in sports includes serving as Chief Spokesman for Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth from 1974-85.

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4 former Independent Leaguers reach the Majors

July 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

matt_watson

Any week we can report on Independent League players reaching the major leagues is a good one so two new promotions and two additional repeat selections during the early days of July represent the type of fireworks Independent Baseball should always celebrate.

The elevation of outfielder Matt Watson to the parent Oakland Athletics could be looked at as the highlight since he was at Lancaster, PA in the Atlantic League as recently as about five weeks ago (May 28).  That should buoy the spirits of most any Indy player since virtually everyone on any of the 64 teams will tell you his goal is to reach “The Show.”  Watson, who had not been in the majors since 2005, went 0-for-3 in his debut with the A’s Wednesday.

This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.  Fans may subscribe at WirzandAssociates.com, be sure to enter promo code THE SPORTS BANK.

Now in its eighth year, the Independent Baseball Insider covers every Independent league.  It is written by Bob Wirz, whose lengthy career in sports includes serving as Chief Spokesman for Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth from 1974-85.

[Read more...]

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