Friday, February 04, 2011

WE HAVE TIDBITS ON MIKE TORREZ'S NEW JOB, THE 69 ORIOLES WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE ATLANTIC LEAGUE AND WHERE TO FIND CAREER RECORDS

Some leftovers on the day after another lengthy Independent Baseball Insider column...

FINDING CAREER STATS

If you get frustrated as I do in finding up to date career profiles, especially combining Independent and affiliated (sometimes even college) statistics, check out TheBaseballCube.com.

The Cube helped, for example, in tracking down details on 2010 Sioux City, IA (American Association) outfielder Jon Mark Owings, who recently signed with Arizona.

NO INVITATION FOR CASTILLO OR JAKUBAUSKAS

I may have been wrong in believing lefty Alberto Castillo and newly-signed righty Chris Jakubauskas would get major league training camp invitations from Baltimore. The O's, one of the last teams to reveal their basic non-roster invitee list, did not include either of these pitchers.

Our count remains at an impressive 26 non-roster invitations although there usually are some stragglers who will increase the number. We will run down the complete list of Indy players in big league camps in our February 17 Insider.

69 ORIOLES HAVE PLAYED IN ATLANTIC LEAGUE

Veteran baseball writer Lisa Winston, now working for Peter Kirk's Opening Day Partners, came up with a very impressive note. She determined no less than 69 Baltimore Orioles (these weren't minor leaguers, either) have played in the Atlantic League, with 17 of them in this eastern-based Indy league last summer.

MIKE TORREZ RETURNS

Who can forget Mike Torrez? The big right-hander, who did the Yankees two huge favors while pitching, is back at Newark, NJ, this time as general manager of the Bears, who have moved from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am.

Torrez won two games in the 1977 World Series for the Bronx Bombers, but is better remembered by many for giving up that famous playoff home run to the Yankees' Bucky Dent the next year, depriving Boston of going to the World Series.

Torrez, now 64, won 185 games during his major league mound duty.

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