Monday, September 13, 2010

SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CELEBRATES AMERICAN ASSOCIATION TITLE WITH FIVE MORE INDEPENDENT CHAMPIONS TO GO

A quick update on the playoffs for all five Independent leagues that have not finished:

Atlantic League: Defending champion Somerset, NJ has clinched a tie for the final spot with six games remaining. Long Island, NY and Newark, NJ, both with seven games to go, will be eliminated with one more Patriots win or their own loss. York, PA will be the other half of the Freedom Division matchup while Southern Maryland (Waldorf) and Bridgeport, CT will square off in the other series, which starts next week.
Can-Am League: Pittsfield, MA and Quebec are in the championship series.
Frontier League: Traverse City, MI is awaiting its opponent for the finals with Southern Illinois (Marion) leading River City (O'Fallon, MO), two games to one in the best of five series.
Golden League: Newcomer Maui meets Chico, CA in the finals.
Northern League: Kansas City, KS and Fargo, ND will square off in the championship round.

The latest champion is Shreveport-Bossier, LA. The Captains surprised Sioux Falls, SD in three consecutive games to take the American Association title. Shreveport-Bossier is celebrating this very evening (Monday) with a 7 p.m. party at the Fair Grounds Field Beer Garden.

Big Bend (Alpine, TX), in the Continental League, and Amarillo, TX, in the United League, won titles earlier this season.


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Friday, September 10, 2010

LINDSEY'S FAMILY GETS IN ON DEBUT, AND FORMER CAN-AM STAR SET TO START ON SATURDAY

John Lindsey continues to get a lot of attention for a guy with all of one official major league at-bat. It is understandable, of course, in that the 33-year-old with 16 minor league seasons is said to be the "oldest non-Asian" (USA Today) to debut since 2002.

Chris Coste, the five-year Independent vet, was 33 when he broke in with Philadelphia in 2006, but he was "only" 111 days past his birthday compared to Lindsey's 222 days since his January 30 birthday until he was announced as a pinch hitter Wednesday.

Lindsey finally got to the plate to pinch hit for Ted Lilly in the seventh inning of Thursday's Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 loss at Houston, and with 13 family members, including three-year-old son John, Jr. on hand, the big right-handed hitter flied out to center field.

"It's an awesome feeling," the former New Jersey Jackals star told CBSSports.com of having his family travel from Mississippi to be at the game. "My little boy to see his dad up there. For all I know, he was playing around up there (during the at-bat). It was truly a good feeling to know that they were there to support me."

Lindsey and his family will get an even better feeling on Saturday because Dodgers Manager Joe Torre says he plans to start Lindsey.

Jackals Manager Joe Calfapietra, whose team was dropping its first Can-Am League playoff game in Quebec, 7-4, about the time Lindsey got his first at-bat, has tentative plans to visit Dodger Stadium for the season-ending series against Arizona October 1-3.

"John worked at all aspects of the game" during his two seasons in New Jersey (2005-06), praised Calfapietra.

We went into depth on the continuing friendship between Lindsey and Calfapietra in Thursday's subsriber-driven Independent Baseball Insider column.

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Monday, September 06, 2010

FINALLY! JOHN LINDSEY NOW A MAJOR LEAGUER

It finally happened!

John Lindsey, the onetime star of the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League, is now a major leaguer, some 15 years and 1,445 games after starting his pro career.

He is the fourth Independent player called up to the major leagues in recent days. (See story immediately below this.)

Lindsey was expected to join the Los Angeles Dodgers in San Diego in time for the Monday night game. The 33-year-old won the Pacific Coast League batting championship with a .356 average for Albuquerque.

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti and Manager Joe Torre both praised the first baseman to MLB.com. "Well earned, well deserved," said Colletti. "He's worked hard to make his dream a reality." Torre said Lindsey would be used mainly as a pinch hitter. "It's a good story", the manager said. He's a strong young man. He's not the best defensive first baseman but the son of a gun works like crazy and tries hard. And he is a threat, there's no question, from the right side of the plate."

We will have much more on Lindsey and the other new major leaguers in this week's Independent Baseball Insider column.

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Sunday, September 05, 2010

MARLINS, RED SOX LATEST TO ADD FORMER INDEPENDENT PLAYERS

All of a sudden two more former Independent players are getting major league opportunities, bringing the total of additions this week to three. It also means 28 onetime Indy players have been on active rosters this season, equalling the total for all of last season with more likely to come since the Triple-A and Double-A leagues end their regular season on Labor Day.

Right-hander Justin James, who was with the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones in the Northern League earlier this season, is now with Oakland and he has been joined by catcher Mike Rivera with Florida and another righty, Robert Coello, with Boston. Rivera, with Milwaukee much of the last two seasons, played his Indy baseball with Atlantic City, NJ of the Atlantic League in 2005 and Coello played for both Edmonton and Calgary of the Golden League two years ago.

James and Coello are in the majors for the first time.

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