Independent Baseball players who have had their contracts purchased by major league organizations seem to understand what a neat little fraternity they have. They are in the minority on affiliated minor league rosters with the norm probably only a couple of hopefuls on a 25-man team.<\/p>\n
Longtime Can-Am League <\/strong>first baseman Chris Colabello <\/strong>knew all about the past of two of his teammates on the Minnesota<\/strong> Twins’ <\/strong>Class AA roster at New Britain<\/strong>, <\/strong>CT<\/strong> <\/strong>when we were chatting about his initial season with an organization. He pointed, with what sounded like pride, to one recent Eastern League <\/strong>game when Andrew Albers<\/strong> (Quebec, <\/strong>Can-Am) got the victory, and another southpaw, Caleb Thielbar (St. Paul, MN, American Association)<\/strong>, <\/strong>recorded a save.<\/p>\n Oh yes, Colabello had a fabulous game with a grand slam and double and drove in all six runs in a 6-5 road win at New Hampshire (Manchester)<\/strong>. Thielbar has since been promoted to Triple-A Rochester, NY, <\/strong>taking a 2-0 record and 1.80 ERA with him, while another recent St. Paul pitcher, Dan Sattler<\/strong>, moved up to the team. Sattler also pitched for the Kansas City T-Bones <\/strong>before they left the Northern League<\/strong>.<\/p>\n What Colabello Is Learning<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Colabello, an unusual case for a player moving from the Independent ranks to a major league organization in that he played near his hometown of Worcester, MA <\/strong>for seven seasons (with a brief sidetrack for half a year to Nashua, NH <\/strong>in the same league in ’07), has an interesting perspective when comparing unaffiliated and affiliated baseball. “(Virtually) every player here (New Britain) has a track record”, which usually comes from being drafted and perhaps even getting a sizeable signing bonus. “There are more polished players”, the 28-year-old said, and nightly the pitchers have more velocity, “particularly out of the bullpen”. Can-Am League players run more of a gamut from those just out of college to others with affiliated experience, including a few who have been at higher levels.<\/p>\n Colabello is more than holding his own with a league-leading 47 runs batted in for his 61 games although his batting average is only at .227. He has hit 10 home runs.<\/p>\n WANT ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball. Fans may subscribe for 2012 at reduced rates at www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/span>, enjoy his blogs, www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/span> and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/span>, or comment to RWirz@aol.com<\/span>. The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/a><\/p>\n See www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a> and www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>The Owner Is Pitching<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>It is not every day when a baseball owner is the starting pitcher. But it happened for the Wichita (KS) Wingnuts <\/strong>this week, and probably is going to be the case every five days or so in the American Association. <\/strong>The shareholder happens to be left-hander Nate Robertson<\/strong>, a onetime starter for Detroit<\/strong>, who faced off against St. Louis Cardinals <\/strong>ace Chris Carpenter <\/strong>in Game 3 of the 2006 World Series. <\/strong>Now 34 and two years removed from his last major league appearance, the 57-time big-league winner was released out of Triple-A by the Chicago Cubs <\/strong>recently and came “home” to Wichita, where he is involved with the Wingnuts along with his brother, President\/General Manager Josh Robertson.<\/strong><\/p>\n Nate Robertson stepped in for an injured starter, going two scoreless innings in a 7-1 triumph against Amarillo<\/strong>, <\/strong>TX<\/strong> <\/strong>for Central Division<\/strong>-leading Wichita this week. Making it even more of a family affair, pitching coach—as well as another brother—Luke Robertson <\/strong>was activated since reliever Matt Nevarez <\/strong>had just been sold to Boston<\/strong> and another pitcher, Edgar Martinez,<\/strong> had departed for Mexico. <\/strong>Luke had pitched in the Oakland<\/strong> <\/strong>farm system, but that was eight years ago.<\/p>\n Wichita<\/span><\/strong>‘s .750 Win Percentage Ranks No. 1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Wichita<\/strong> <\/strong>clearly is doing a lot right because the Wingnuts have the best record in Independent Baseball at 24-8. The top teams by winning percentage:<\/p>\n Rank<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Team<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n League<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n W-L<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Pct.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Wichita,KS<\/p>\n<\/td>\n American Association<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 24-8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n .750<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 2.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Traverse City,MI<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Frontier<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 21-10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n .677<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n T3.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Quebec,CA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Can-Am<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 21-11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n .656<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n T3.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Grand Prairie,TX<\/p>\n<\/td>\n American Association<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 21-11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n .656<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 5.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Schaumburg,IL<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Frontier<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 20-11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n .645<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Independent Baseball players who have had their contracts purchased by major league organizations seem to understand what a neat little fraternity they have. They are in the minority on affiliated minor league rosters with the norm probably only a couple of hopefuls on a 25-man team. Longtime Can-Am League first baseman Chris Colabello knew all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4746],"tags":[19399,1804,542,4843,19401,871,2126,493,10508,2674,495,6247,19403,756,19397,19398,19400,12519,5160,379],"class_list":["post-21029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider","tag-andrew-albers","tag-baseball-players","tag-can-am-league","tag-class-aa","tag-fabulous-game","tag-first-baseman","tag-grand-slam","tag-independent-baseball","tag-initial-season","tag-league-game","tag-league-organization","tag-league-organizations","tag-man-team","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-minor-league-rosters","tag-new-britain-ct","tag-paul-pitcher","tag-sattler","tag-seven-seasons","tag-southpaw"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n
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