We wrote in last week's Independent Baseball Insider about the added interest Indy fans should have in the major league All-Star Game because of former American Association pitcher Aaron Crow of Kansas City being on the American League team. Crow had pitched in a few games for the Fort Worth (TX) Cats before signing with the Royals.
There was another tie-in since the Angels' Jered Weaver was the starting A.L. pitcher, throwing a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. While Weaver did not pitch in an Independent league he did train with the Camden (NJ) RiverSharks (Atlantic League) back in 2005.
Weaver and current Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew were in Camden while signing with major league organizations was up in the air. Drew, whose brother J.D. had played for the St. Paul (MN) Saints of the Northern League, got into 19 games, hitting .427 (35-for-82).
Wayne Krenchicki, who was Camden's manager at the time, told me later for the Insider the 6-foot-7 Weaver trained with the Sharks for "two or three weeks, throwing a couple of bullpens and working to get ready. It was a really good experience, at a very nervous time", Krenchicki explained, because a lot of money was on the table if the right-hander and the Angels could get together on a contract. Weaver ultimately signed on May 30 with his first Camden outing tentatively planned for two days later.
THIS WEEK'S 'INSIDER'
Topics we will examine in this week's Insider, which subscribers receive on Thursday, include the likely new Atlantic League franchise in Nassau County, NY (Long Island) now that Frank Boulton's bid has been chosen over a group that had wanted to place a New York Mets minor league team in that heavily-populated area and the chaos with Lake County (Zion, IL) maintaining its divisional lead in the North American League despite changing almost its entire roster virtually overnight.
There was another tie-in since the Angels' Jered Weaver was the starting A.L. pitcher, throwing a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. While Weaver did not pitch in an Independent league he did train with the Camden (NJ) RiverSharks (Atlantic League) back in 2005.
Weaver and current Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew were in Camden while signing with major league organizations was up in the air. Drew, whose brother J.D. had played for the St. Paul (MN) Saints of the Northern League, got into 19 games, hitting .427 (35-for-82).
Wayne Krenchicki, who was Camden's manager at the time, told me later for the Insider the 6-foot-7 Weaver trained with the Sharks for "two or three weeks, throwing a couple of bullpens and working to get ready. It was a really good experience, at a very nervous time", Krenchicki explained, because a lot of money was on the table if the right-hander and the Angels could get together on a contract. Weaver ultimately signed on May 30 with his first Camden outing tentatively planned for two days later.
THIS WEEK'S 'INSIDER'
Topics we will examine in this week's Insider, which subscribers receive on Thursday, include the likely new Atlantic League franchise in Nassau County, NY (Long Island) now that Frank Boulton's bid has been chosen over a group that had wanted to place a New York Mets minor league team in that heavily-populated area and the chaos with Lake County (Zion, IL) maintaining its divisional lead in the North American League despite changing almost its entire roster virtually overnight.
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