Monday, July 18, 2011

WITH ADDITIONS OF ALFONZO AND WILLIAMS, INDEPENDENTS EQUAL FINAL 2010 TOTAL WITH 30 PLAYERS IN MAJORS

A nice milestone for Independent Baseball was reached over the weekend.

Two players with fairly frequent visits to the major leagues got called up for the first time this season, and they became the 29th and 30th Indy grads to wear an American or National League uniform in 2011, thereby equalling the total for all of last year with more than two months still to be played.

Catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, who played for the St. Paul (MN) Saints before they moved from the Northern League to the American Association, and left-handed relief specialist Randy Williams both contributed right away, too. Williams, whose Indy time was with Edinburg, TX, then in the United League (and now in the North American), delivered three key outs for the Boston Red Sox in a still tight game at Tampa Bay Saturday. Boston eventually won, 9-5. Alfonzo went 2-for-6 in a pair of one-run Colorado losses against Milwaukee.

Alfonzo has a .238 career average for 170 major league games, going 124-for-522 with 16 homers and 58 runs batted in. Williams has appeared in 91 games with a 3-3 record and three saves while compiling a 5.67 earned run average.

ST. PAUL SELLS ITS 100TH CONTRACT

Another highly-impressive milestone came about when Saints outfielder Brandon Tripp's contract was sold by the American Association team to Philadelphia. It marked the 100th such sale since Independent play started in 1993. Tripp, who had previously been in the Baltimore and Florida organizations, left St. Paul with a .314average plus 48 RBI in 60 games. He joins the Class A Clearwater (FL) Threshers.

.403 GAP IN SOUTHERN MARYLAND ORDER

If ever there were big shoes to fill they belong to Southern Maryland (Waldorf) because the Atlantic League team lost shortstop Yunesky Sanchez to Pittsburgh, taking his .403 batting average and 40 RBI in 61 games out of the Blue Crabs lineup. Sanchez was dispatched to Class AA Altoona, PA.



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