ATLANTIC LEAGUER TO GET KEY START FOR METS AS CARTER, LANIER CELEBRATE TITLES

It appears the Atlantic League will be thrust squarely into the middle of the suddenly blazing National League East race Wednesday night. Pretty good for Independent Baseball, right?

New York Mets Manager Jerry Manuel says either Nelson Figueroa or Brandon Knight will get the ball that night to face the Washington Nationals. Both have pitched in the Atlantic League, with Knight at Somerset, NJ all of last year (12-5, 4.03) and earlier this season (0-2, 2.56 in six starts). Figueroa spent a little time with the Long Island (NY) Ducks in 2006.

MAJOR LEAGUERS GET LATEST INDY LEAGUE TITLES

How is this for big names on the major league stage winning Independent Baseball titles?

Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who has made it well known he would like to be a big-league manager, got to celebrate the Golden League championship this season when his Orange County Flyers pushed across two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the deciding fifth game for a 10-9 victory over Calgary. The Flyers are based in Fullerton, CA, which just happens to be Carter's former hometown.

And Hal Lanier, the 1986 Manager of the Year in the National League for leading Houston to a 96-66 record, took Sussex (Augusta, NJ) from worst-to-first in the Can-Am League. Lanier, a longtime fixture in the Northern League, brought the Skyhawks from a slow start this season to a 3-0 sweep of Quebec in the Can-Am Championship Series. Sussex won 6 of 7 in the playoffs with Matt Weston's three homers, 10 RBI and a .333 average leading the way.

Some excellent photos of Sussex's championship run can be found at http://www.njherald.com/.

Jermy Acey, who hit .374 with 21 homers and a league-record 97 RBI during the regular season, was a standout for Orange County with four homers, 12 runs batted in and a .357 average for the entire playoffs although this reporter cannot help but wonder what would have happened to this series if Darryl Brinkley had stayed with Calgary. The 39-year-old hit .399 for the Vipers one year ago and .351 with 60 RBI this season, but his last game was August 28. He joined Bridgeport, CT of the Atlantic League in early September (while Calgary was still playing), where he has been a part-time outfielder, hitting .250 (6-for-24) with two RBI.

WEATHER WOES IN MIDWEST

The Kansas City (KS) T-Bones and defending champion Gary, IN are scheduled to get their Northern League championship series, which stands at a game apiece, back on track in Gary Monday night. The teams have not played since Wednesday. In the Frontier League, three consecutive postponements have continued to push the start of the Windy City (Crestwood, IL) vs. Kalamazoo, MI finals back. The new start date in Kalamazoo is Tuesday evening.

WE JUMPED THE GUN

We apparently jumped the gun by saying International League Pitcher of the Year Charlie Zink was back with the parent Boston Red Sox, even though we saw it on a MLB transaction list. It must have been one of those "recalled, not to report" transactions since the knuckleball hurler remains on Boston's 40-man roster. That puts the total of former Independent players in the majors at 26, including disabled Luke Hochevar (Kansas City).

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LANCASTER'S WOODS LEADS OFF WITH HOMER EIGHTH TIME

My, how quickly things change.

No more had I written in my subscriber-only Independent Baseball Insider Thursday that Atlantic League Player-of-the-Month (August) Michael Woods had led off games with a home run for Lancaster seven times since July 25 when, wouldn't you know, he did it again that night to help keep the Barnstormers within four games of Freedom Division-leading York.

It was Woods's 28th birthday, too.

The two Pennsylvania rivals separated by less than an hour have a really neat day coming up Saturday, September 20. They will play a doubleheader with the day game (12:07) in York and the night contest (7:05) at Lancaster.

Every fan with ticket stubs from both games will receive free a limited-edition t-shirt commemorating the event although the supply is not unlimited. One of those fans also will win $1,000.

The games could decide the second-half title, too, with the regular season ending the next day in Lancaster.

TWO MORE INDY ORIGINALS BACK IN MAJORS

We also wrote yesterday at some length about 25 former Independent players being in the major leagues for the September stretch drive, with many of them on contending teams.

Add two more just 24 hours later, and both of these right-handed pitchers started their career in Indy leagues. San Diego picked up reliever Scott Patterson off waivers from the Yankees, for whom he had gotten into his first--and only--major league game June 1. Patterson was expected to be in uniform Friday night when the Padres host San Francisco.

Boston brought knuckleball hurler Charlie Zink, the International League Pitcher-of-the-Year, back up from Triple-A Pawtucket, RI. Zink had made his major league debut with a start on August 12.

Patterson spent considerable time with both the Gateway Grizzlies (Sauget, IL) in the Frontier League and Lancaster and Zink started out at Yuma, AZ when the current Golden League city had a Western League franchise. Patterson gives the Atlantic League 11 players in the majors for the stretch drive.

PENSACOLA SKIPPER NOW WITH METS

We send somewhat belated congratulations to Mac Seibert, who managed Pensacola, FL in the American Association the last two seasons, for his new job as a scouting supervisor with the New York Mets. Seibert is going back to familiar territory since he has about 12 years of scouting duties with three major league organizations already.

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STOCKING UP FOR THE PLAYOFFS IS BOTHERSOME; KUDOS TO SIOUX FALLS AND THE GOLDEN LEAGUE

Is it just me or is it wrong that Independent teams can bring in strong players from teams in other leagues who are out of the playoffs to reinforce their own postseason rosters?

This practice is not new although it seems to this corner the practice is increasing.

Sure, an Independent team should be able to fill out a roster depleted by injuries or a player who has to go back to school before the playoffs. It would not be fair for a team to have to play shorthanded, and Independent teams do not have farm systems.

But it seems some ruling needs to be considered so that a star pitcher or hitter is not added to roster merely because his team isn't going to be in the playoffs. Some organizations would take a financial hit to enter into this "bulking up" process. Besides, where is the fairness for a team good enough to make the postseason with its regular season roster to reach to the outside for a new star player in one of those "John Doakes was traded to Team A for a player to be named later"? Anyone in the know realizes that player to be named will likely be John Doakes going back to his original organization once the playoffs have ended.

How would anyone like it in the major leagues if some playoff-bound team could add Cleveland's Cliff Lee (21-2) or San Francisco's Tim Lincecum (16-3) only to have them return to their current team once the season is over? The screams would be heard from now until the Super Bowl was over.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SIOUX FALLS AND THE GOLDEN LEAGUE

It took 16 years (the duration of today's Independent Baseball), but the Sioux Falls (SD) Canaries now have a league title. Steve Shirley guided the Canaries to the American Association crown, and it must feel oh so good to everyone in the South Dakota city, one of three original Northern League franchises (along with Sioux City, IA and St. Paul, MN) still playing.

The Golden League has to be happy today to have its first major leaguer. Adam Pettyjohn has made it all the way back from the ulcerative colitis attack which nearly cost him his life to join the Cincinnati Reds. Pettyjohn, now 31 and 11 seasons removed from the 1998 campaign when Detroit made the lefty its second-round draft choice, led the International League with 15 wins for Louisville this summer. Pettyjohn's new lease on his pitching life took on encouragement in 2005 when he was 10-2 for Long Beach, CA in the Golden League. His original trip to the major leagues came in 2001 when he made 16 appearances, including nine starts, for Detroit.

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IT IS PLAYOFF TIME IN FIVE INDY LEAGUES, JUST AS FIVE MORE GRADS REPORT TO THE MAJORS

My thoughts are running on two parallel courses as we start this post-Labor Day period in baseball.

One is on the playoffs within Independent Baseball since five of the eight leagues will go a long way toward determining their postseason champions this week. After all, isn't this what is being competed for all season long?

At the same time, five more Independent players, including three who started their career in these ranks, are wearing major league uniforms. And, every one of the five is with a contending team. Not a single Independent player has been called up as part of the September 1 roster expansion so far unless his team is in the running to be on baseball's grandest stage next month.

It also seems noteworthy, if only coincidental, that all five of the players have joined National League teams.

The surprise of the group, at least to this corner, is seeing Josh Kinney back with St. Louis. Kinney, who we have talked about numerous times in this space and in our more expansive Independent Baseball Insider column, had not been in a regular season game in any pro league since the 2006 World Series until August 24. He was sufficiently recovered from his lengthy rehab from elbow surgery to work four times for Class AA Springfield, MO over a nine-day period, and the Cardinals brought him back onto the active major league roster. I would expect St. Louis to be on the cautious side over the next four weeks, and hope this 29-year-old, who started in the Frontier League (River City, O'Fallon, MO), will be back at full strength next spring. He was quite a find for the bullpen when he came up to help the Cardinals' championship run in '06.

The other recalls include Phillies infielder Mike Cervenak and Diamondbacks hurler Max Scherzer, who started in the Frontier League and American Association, respectively, plus pitchers Mark DiFelice (Milwaukee) and Brandon Knight (New York Mets, both of whom have worked in the Atlantic League.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES TIED--Sioux Falls, SD will be the site of the remaining games in the American Association playoff finale with the Canaries and Grand Prairie, TX tied at a game apiece in the best-of-five test. Grand Prairie, which ended Fort Worth's three-year championship run (one in the Central League and two in the AA), got even with Sioux Falls at a game apiece in a 6-3 matinee win today (Tuesday). The series resumes Thursday.

NORTHERN AND GOLDEN OPEN UP TONIGHT--Divisional playoff series begin in both the Northern and Golden Leagues Tuesday night, with the Can-Am starting Wednesday and the Frontier League later in the week. The Atlantic League does not finish its regular season until September 21.

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LET THE CALL-UPS BEGIN

This always is an intriguing time for those of us tracking the fortunes of players who have put in time in Independent Baseball because active major league rosters can expand from 25 players (up to 40) starting September 1 (Monday).

Five Indy grads were elevated last September, and the number could go even higher this time around. We will be speculating on some of the possible call-ups in our weekly Independent Baseball Insider column later today.

The New York Mets jumped the gun Wednesday by bringing two players back onto their 25-man roster for the National League East stretch, and USA Today floated Adam Pettyjohn in Thursday's editions as a possible addition for the Cincinnati Reds.

It would be great if it was Pettyjohn who got the call for an emergency start against San Francisco Saturday although I find it unlikely to happen since the southpaw would be working on three days rest after he pitched seven innings Tuesday.

If Pettyjohn surfaces either Saturday or in September we would waive the flag of happiness for two key reasons. First, it would mark the first time a player who has worked in the four-year-old Golden League had played in a regular season major league game. On a personal level, it would climax the comeback of the 31-year-old from Fresno State who had reached the majors with Detroit in 2001 (1-6 in 16 appearances, including nine starts) before a horrible battle with ulcerative colitis threatened not only his career but his life. He pitched for Long Beach, CA in 2005 (10-2, 3.92) and briefly in '06 (1-1) on his way back up the ladder, and is 14-6 (4.63) at Louisville this season.

It looks to me like Ramon Ramirez or Matt Maloney, both better rested, are more likely to get the Saturday start.

In the meantime, the Mets brought both catcher Robinson Cancel and right-hander Nelson Figueroa back to the majors Wednesday. Figueroa, who was 2-3, 5.12 in nine earlier appearances with New York, once played briefly for Long Island, NY in the Atlantic League. Cancel has been in 17 Mets games, hitting .233 with a homer and four RBI. He has played in the Atlantic League (Somerset, NJ and the traveling Road Warriors) and the United League (Edinburg, TX) during his career.

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