McKINNEY AMONG 20 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION GRADS IN MAJOR LEAGUE SPRING CAMPS
By Bob Wirz The story continues to get better. When Seattle announced it was bringing former Sioux City southpaw Ian McKinney to its major league spring training camp the total of onetime American Association players due to train with American and National League teams climbed to 20. That is three more than one year ago […]
NOGOWSKI, THIELBAR LATEST AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ALUMS HEADED TO MLB SPRING TRAINING
By Bob Wirz One is in his prime with a strong bat and glove while the other is veteran trying for a fresh opportunity. This describes the American Association’s two latest non-roster invitees to major league spring training camps that open the doors one week from now. First baseman John Nogowski, who continued to build […]
SIOUX CITY’S SERMO NABS TWO MAJOR AWARDS TO HIGHLIGHT WINTER SEASON
By Bob Wirz It is no small feat that the American Association is going to be so well represented when the prestigious Caribbean Series kicks off its week-long festival featuring champions from six countries on Saturday. Even though current and former major leaguers take up many of the roster spots, more than 20 players with […]
SNELTEN MAKES QUICK LEAP FROM CHICAGO DOGS TO MLB SPRING TRAINING WITH TAMPA BAY
By Bob Wirz It is not often when a player gets invited to a major league spring training camp right after spending a season in an Independent league unless he has some type of high profile history. The Chicago Dogs‘ D. J. Snelten, who had four brief relief appearances (4.1 innings) with San Francisco early […]
FORMER CANARIES BACKSTOP EDDY RODRIGUEZ LANDS MLB COACHING JOB WITH MARLINS
By Bob Wirz It does not matter where Eddy Rodriguez’s baseball career takes him in the future, the one highlight from the Cuban native’s 12-year playing career that everyone will want to talk about is the home run he hit off of Johnny Cueto in Cincinnati August 2, 2012. Rodriguez, the sturdy catcher already pretty […]
RED SOX FINDING SUCCESS WITH RAILCATS STARS
By Bob Wirz Call it whatever you want. Threesome. Triumvirate. Triad. Regardless of the choice, it is more than a little bit intriguing to notice that a trio–yes, that number–of former Gary SouthShore RailCats position players have gone on to the Boston Red Sox organization in recent times. All three are drawing some attention, too. […]
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION GRADS JOINING MLB ORGS; INDY PLAYER OF YEAR NOT YET AMONG THEM
By Bob Wirz While the steady tick of American Association players getting opportunities in major league organizations has been impressive the list has one noticeable omission. Where is Chicago Dogs first baseman Keon Barnum? All the young slugger has done within the last few months is break the league’s home run record with 31 bombs […]
BARNUM NAMED INDEPENDENT PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Release and photo courtesy Chicago Dogs Rosemont, Ill. — Chicago Dogs 1B Keon Barnum, the American Association’s 2019 Player of the Year, he has been selected as the top player in all of independent baseball, being named Baseball America’s Independent Baseball Player of the Year, the outlet announced. In Barnum’s first season with the Dogs, […]
AA PLAYERS MAKING THEIR MARK DOWN UNDER
Nearly two dozen current and former American Association players are spending their off-seasons in the Australian Baseball League. The league features a mix of players from Australia and New Zealand, as well as the rest of the baseball world. In his first season in the ABL, C Jeremy Martinez (pictured, St. Paul ’19,), one of […]
QUARTET OF FORMER SIOUX CITY HURLERS A STEP AWAY FROM MAJORS
By Bob Wirz When the subject comes up of trying to pinpoint the next group of American Association players who could join the major league ranks before long one certain indicator is to find those now in Triple-A, the top minor league level. Offseason rosters usually get set before the Winter Meetings, and looking at […]
