THANKSGIVING SHOULD HAVE SPECIAL MEANING TO R.J. SWINDLE

On this Thanksgiving eve, it appears former Northern League and Atlantic League hurler R. J. Swindle has something for which he can be really thankful.

It may be his own persistence, as a matter of fact.

Agent Paul Hunt told MLB.com nine teams were interested in his free agent client, including his former team, the World Champion Phillies. "He wanted a 40-man roster spot and the (Milwaukee) Brewers stepped up," Hunt told reporter Adam McCalvy.

The 25-year-old southpaw has been signed to a major league contract, a rarity for someone recently released and with only three appearances in the majors under his belt.

"He gets left-handed hitters out," Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin told MLB.com. "He's more of a situational guy, not necessarily a full-inning guy."

Swindle, a Canadian who now calls Charleston, SC home, is one of only two southpaw relievers on the Milwaukee roster at this time. He is anything but a hard thrower, but the Brewers were impressed with his record of a strikeout-per-inning and his stingy walk ratio (63 in 353.2 minor league innings) in his five professional seasons. He walked only eight hitters and fanned 67 in 53.0 innings between AA and AAA this summer.

One year after being drafted by Boston, Swindle found himself at Schaumburg, IL in the Northern League for the 2005 season. He was with the Flyers for time in '06, and with Newark, NJ in the Atlantic League for nine games in 2007.

What a 2008 for Swindle. He also pitched for Team Canada in the Olympics, debuted in the National League and now is in the Venezuelan League. Being signed by the Brewers could well top it all.

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DODGERS AND D-BACKS ADD FORMER INDY HURLERS TO COVETED 40-MAN ROSTERS

Please overlook any cheering in the offices of the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones (Northern League) and the Southern Illinois (Marion) Miners (Frontier League) today. They are allowed.

Both Independent Baseball teams had one of their graduates promoted to the prized 40-man rosters of major league teams, which means they are recognized as bonafide prospects and will be in spring training with the big boys in Arizona come February.

Travis Schlichting is a 25-year-old righthander with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Clay Zavada is a 24-year-old lefty with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Schlichting, listed at 6-foot-4 and only 190 pounds, was Tampa Bay's fourth round draft choice in 2003, and played third base in the minors for nearly four years with modest success. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim gave him a five-game look on the mound in the rookie Arizona League in 2006, and he became a nearly fulltime pitcher with the T-Bones a year later.

The Dodgers thought enough of his arm after 51 Northern League innings in 2007, despite 72 hits, 29 walks and 11 wild pitches, that he was on their Double-A Jacksonville, FL farm club by late May of '08. The hits went down to one an inning and the walks also slowed (18 in 59.2 innings) that with a 6-4 relief record and 3.77 ERA over 33 appearances were sufficient they knew the Round Rock, TX resident should be protected on the major league roster.

Zavada has even less professional experience, going 2-3 with a pair of saves and a 3.10 earned run average in the Pioneer League in 2006 in the D-Backs system, then coming back from a year off the diamond for personal reasons to limit hitters to a .137 batting average in the Frontier League in a month this summer. The 6-foot-1 resident of Streator, IL struck out 22 in 15.2 innings, and impressively walked only four in his dozen appearances out of the bullpen. Zavada posted a 2-1 record with four saves and a 1.72 ERA for Southern Illinois.

He was even more dazzling when Arizona purchased his contract and sent him to South Bend, IN of the Class A Midwest League. Zavada allowed a mere six hits in 35.1 innings while striking out 54 and walking only five. The .056 opponent batting average and 0.51 ERA combined with a 3-1 record and eight saves plus a perfect earned run average over the last 21 of his 24 appearances must have made it an easy decision to promote him.

WHICH CITIES WILL COME NEXT

We could not help but think as we finished Thursday's lengthy subscriber-only Independent Baseball Insider column in which we outlined the 2009 Independent Baseball map about some of the cities which have been mentioned in various quarters where Indy teams may one day play. It is not a short list.

Which--if any--of these cities will come next? Lee's Summit, MO, Ypsilante, MI, Topeka, KS, Burnsville, MN, Champaign-Urbana or Normal, IL and Brighton or Commerce City, CO all are among areas that pop up from time to time.

Our I.B.I. projection was for a minimum of 57 teams in '09 with the count potentially swelling as high as 66 if the United League returns and the Golden and Continental Leagues complete potential expansion.

We slipped up on one point, saying Avon, OH was replacing the Midwest Sliders in the Frontier League. The Sliders will continue until they become the Oakland County (MI) Cruisers in 2010. Avon, of course, replaces Chillicothe, OH, a charter member of the FL.

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AN ARRAY OF THOUGHTS FOR 98 RELEASED PLAYERS AND PITCHER/CANCER PATIENT GREG MONTALBANO

While more needs to be clarified, it appears both the Atlantic League and the Can-Am League will have the much-needed even number of franchises again next summer without resorting to a travel team to fill out the schedule.

The Atlantic has announced its schedule, which once again includes Newark, NJ, now that a contingent named the Bases Loaded Group has signed a letter of intent to purchase the Bears and pay off some debts. And the Can-Am has a media conference scheduled for Wednesday (November 19) in Ottawa, Canada, with every indication the Rapidz will play for a second season. Commissioner Miles Wolff will attend, and presumably will have something to say about who will foot the bill.

It is our hope to sort out as much of the total 2009 Independent Baseball lineup as possible by the time we finish our Independent Baseball Insider column next Thursday, although one would have to believe the status of the United League will remain unclear and the Golden, Continental and perhaps even the Northern League will not have placed a final stamp on their rosters of cities and produced schedules.

NEARLY 100 PLAYERS HAVE BEEN SET FREE

Our master list of former Independent players tied to major league organizations undergoes changes almost daily, with one version of that roster at present totaling exactly 250. That includes 23 players we show on major league rosters.

But nearly 40 per cent--98, by our calculations--are in no man's land these days now that the 30 organizations have conducted most of their annual trimming down of those they have under control.

Many of these released players will get an opportunity with another major league organization, and some will even end up with non-roster invitations to big league spring training camps. This will represent a fresh start and hopes of joining a system which will provide them with a major league opportunity. We can point out about 10 cases from '08 which resulted with a player appearing in regular season major league box scores for the first time.

Some will end up back in Independent leagues to continue perfecting their skills. Unfortunately, some of the 98 will not be heard from again on professional diamonds.

Names on the "released" list which many fans will recognize include Eliezer Alfonzo, Bobby Brownlie, Jay Gibbons, John Lindsey, Brian Mazone, Jason Phillips, Bret Prinz, Dan Reichart and Joe Valentine, the latter both signed out of the Atlantic League and released twice this summer.

TEAMMATES STEP UP; SO CAN YOU

Greg Montalbano told The Boston Globe recently "I am a tumor machine. I make tumors. I have no idea why".

Montalbano's story, unlike too many others that are not so widely told, was of special interest in New England in that he once was named Minor League Pitcher of the Year by the Boston Red Sox. Boston drafted him in the fifth round of the free agent selections in 1999.

Montalbano, 31, who last pitched in the Can-Am League for his hometown of Worcester, MA in 2005 and 2006, has fought one form of cancer or another since 1996. He is currently facing an experimental clinical trial cancer treatment.

Many friends and former teammates of the Northeastern University Hall of Fame lefty, including Ben Beck, who reached out to this typist, are getting together for "Monty Madness: The First Annual Corntoss for a Cure" in Brockton, MA Sunday afternoon, November 23. The fundraiser will be held at the Shaw's Center, which is connected to Campanelli Stadium, better known as the home of the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League.

Open to the public, the first 128 two-person teams may sign up at $100 per team to compete for cash prizes while everyone else pays $25 to watch the fun and support the cause. Beck encourages signing up via www.PayPal.com which has an account linked to his email address, benjamin_beck@ml.com. He can be reached via telephone at 617 270-5066.

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GARY CARTER AND BRIAN DAUBACH BACK ON FAMILIAR TURF

A potpourri of late developments plus thoughts, facts and quips, we just could not fit into this week's Independent Baseball Insider.

Gary Carter had to really, really want the Long Island (NY) Ducks managerial job in the Atlantic League when he surrendered what had to be a comfortable position of leading the Orange County Flyers in his hometown of Fullerton, CA. The Hall of Fame catcher had taken the Golden League position in part to be closer to some of his relatives, he had developed what from all accounts had been a great relationship with Flyers Owner Alan Mintz, and he brought the league title to Orange County in his very first season (2008).

This is not in any way to diminish the fact he now will be in a full-season league with more experienced players and the Ducks' reputation could not be much better with the nightly full house and the management team led by Frank Boulton and Carter's New York Mets teammate Bud Harrelson.

One can only hope Carter is not talking himself into the fact since he will be managing in the Mets' back yard he will be better positioned to one day take over the National League team, a role he has openly coveted in the past. The Mets already had his phone number and knew his credentials if they decided to hire him.

BRIAN DAUBACH TAKES THE REIGNS IN NASHUA

Add one more former major leaguer to the already lengthy list of Independent Baseball managers.

Brian Daubach will lead the American Defenders of New Hampshire, the previous Nashua Pride, in the Can-Am League under Dan Duquette. It was Duquette who brought Daubach to Boston as a free agent when he was the general manager of the Red Sox. Daubach drove in 73 runs in only 110 games when he was getting his first solid major league opportunity and trying to take up at least a good part of the slack for the departure of Mo Vaughn at first base. Daubach homered 21 times in each of his first two seasons.

A friend tells me Duquette was very open during a radio interview he and Daubach did on Boston's WEEI that he still hopes to get back into a major league position.

Duquette reminded this reporter recently before officially promoting Daubach from hitting coach to manager that this onetime effective left-handed hitter had played for and learned under two of the major league managers generally regarded as among the best in Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland.

THE FUNNY THINGS COSTE AND HINE DID IN FARGO

Steve Hine had so many funny and memorable things to say about things he and Chris Coste did when they were teammates at Fargo, ND in the Northern League. I could not fit them all into the Independent Baseball Insider, which I was interviewing the former second baseman for at his busy Steve Hine School of Baseball in Orange, CT.

The best story might have been about Coste ordering pizza loaded with sausage, bacon and extra cheese. The thing is, when the pizza arrived the health-conscious catcher would scrape everything off. "He would only eat the dough," Hine remembered. Why? "Too much fat", was Coste's response. The flavor in the dough had to be pretty tasty. I may have to try it.

Hine recalls of his friend back in 1998 and 1999 when they first played together, "to him, playing in Fargo was like he was playing in the big leagues."

And Coste soon will have his Philadelphia Phillies World Series championship ring as a reminder of everything he experienced along the way.

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