Monday, July 23, 2012

WIN NO. 1,000 NEXT FOR SPARKY LYLE; TSAMIS GETS TO 500 WITH HIS CURRENT TEAM

This could be a major milestone night for longtime major league relief ace Sparky Lyle.

Not only are his Somerset (NJ) Patriots trying to challenge for a second half title in the Atlantic League, but the next victory will be No. 1,000 for the mustachioed lefty who has guided Somerset for every one of its 15 seasons.

Sparky got No. 999 Sunday--his 68th birthday--at Southern Maryland (Waldorf). The Patriots are home tonight, hosting Sugar Land, TX, which leads them by one and a half games in the second half of the Freedom Division race.

ST. PAUL SKIPPER GETS NO. 500

George Tsamis has not been managing quite as long as Lyle and he has always been in leagues known to play a short-season schedule--about 100 games compared to 140--but he collected his 500th win with the St. Paul (MN) Saints (American Association) over the weekend. Tsamis also has managed in Waterbury, CT and Little Falls, NJ (New Jersey Jackals) when both played in the Northeast League. The Jackals are now in the Can-Am League.

THE AXE FALLS

Jarrett Grube, Chris Pettit and Taylor Sinclair are the most recent former Independent players to get pink slips (releases) from major league organizations.

Grube pitched for Southern Maryland in the Atlantic League, and has been with Seattle's top farm club in Tacoma, WA. Sinclair started his pro career at Rockford, IL of the Frontier League and made it all the way to Arizona's Triple-A club in Reno, NV before losing out. Pettit, an outfielder, did not actually play Indy baseball, but he was set to do so at Bridgeport, CT (Atlantic League) before joining the Mariners. Like Grube, he was at Tacoma.

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