Latest Independent Player to Reach Majors in One Year Sets Bar High for 2011 Signees

Erik Hamren has set the bar very high for those who follow in his footsteps such as premier American Association players Cyle Hankerd and Blake Gailen, who recently had their contracts purchased by major league organizations.  The same is true for 2011 grads who have made their way out  of the Can-Am, North American and Frontier Leagues and into any of the 30 organizations.

Hamren is not the first player to go from an Independent league one season to the majors the very next year, but most of the others either had stardom written all over their resume when they worked with an Indy team while a bonus contract was being negotiated or they had previous time at baseball’s highest level before returning to perhaps the veteran-laden Atlantic League to prove themselves once more.

The right-handed hurler, who does not turn 25 until later this month, was an everyday worker bee splitting time between Kansas City, KS and Joliet, IL, two communities that played in the Northern League, last season, hoping that his work would merit a higher level on the baseball chain.

While his numbers were not outstanding, they were good enough that Kansas City Manager Tim Doherty recommended him for an invitation only San Diego Padres tryout camp after the 2010 season.   After proving himself with Padres affiliates in both the California and Texas Leagues earlier this year the onetime position player from Saddleback Community College (Mission Viejo, CA) joined the parent Padres this week.

Big RBI Producer and Batting Leader Among 15 Recent Player Sales

We can account for another 15 Independent players having their contracts sold to major league organizations in the last two weeks alone, including the American Association sales of  two of its top offensive players in first baseman-outfielder Cyle Hankerd to Philadelphia, where he can see what the big RBI bat he wielded in Amarillo, TX will do in the Florida State League, and outfielder Blake Gailen to the Los Angeles Angels to see how close he can come to maintaining his pace while at Lincoln, NE in the Class AA Texas League. Hankerd already had 74 RBI in only 70 games while hitting at a .355 clip and sharing the American Association lead with 30 doubles at Amarillo while Gailen was pacing the league in hitting at .406 for Lincoln.

The Atlantic League accounted for one-third of the 15 recent player sales with four from both the Can-Am League and the American Association and one apiece from the North American and Frontier Leagues.

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What Major League Vets Learned in Indy Baseball

Mark Atlantic Leaguers Jeff Bennett and Angel Berroa down as two of the most recent major league veterans to find the mixed blessing of playing in an Independent league.  They are new teammates with Arizona’s top farm club in Reno, after having their contracts sold.  Bennett was at Lancaster, PA, Berroa at Bridgeport, CT. Neither player has been in the majors since ’09.

“There’s a lot of talent there, in Independent ball,” Bennett, who has pitched in 179 major league games, told The Reno Gazette Journal. “But it’s not where you want to end up.  You don’t think that’s (an Independent league) going to happen.  But when the free-agent markets haven’t gone as well the past couple years, I was fortunate to have a job in Independent ball.

“They play more like a big-league style.  They have a set bullpen and pretty much put the same lineup out there every day.  They’re not worried about pitch counts and whether a guy can throw back-to-back days.  You go out there trying to win every day.”

For his part, Berroa, a onetime American League Rookie of the Year, told the newspaper “I was excited” to learn from his agent his contract had been picked up.  “My family was with me.  They got more excited than me.  When I got that call, my wife was next to me and she was jumping before I (even) knew what team.  I said, ‘Baby, let me talk.’  But it was exciting.”

(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.  Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com, or comment to RWirz@aol.com.  The author has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)