{"id":4109,"date":"2010-04-10T06:10:06","date_gmt":"2010-04-10T13:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=4109"},"modified":"2010-04-10T06:10:06","modified_gmt":"2010-04-10T13:10:06","slug":"sweeney-returns-from-japan-and-rayborn-from-taiwan-to-bolster-somerset-southern-maryland-mound-staffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/10\/sweeney-returns-from-japan-and-rayborn-from-taiwan-to-bolster-somerset-southern-maryland-mound-staffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweeney Returns From Japan and Rayborn From Taiwan To Bolster Somerset, Southern Maryland Mound Staffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is only a little bit of a stretch to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153they are coming from around the world\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to play in the Atlantic League <\/strong>this summer.\u00c2\u00a0 Recent signees include a pair of 35-year-old right-handed pitchers who have spent the last three seasons working in Asian <\/strong>leagues. <\/p>\n

Brian Sweeney<\/strong>, whose first major league victory sent future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson <\/strong>into the losing column, is back from Japan<\/strong> <\/strong>to be part of the mound staff of the two-time defending champion Somerset Patriots<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 And, Kenny Rayborn<\/strong> has returned for a second stint with Southern Maryland<\/strong>, the only team he has played with that is outside of Taiwan<\/strong> since 2005.<\/p>\n

Rayborn, who has a masterful 61-34 record in United States<\/strong>-based leagues including an 11-2 mark in Triple-A in the Cleveland <\/strong>farm system (2003-05), was a solid 8-5, 3.06 in 17 starts for the Blue Crabs last year before returning to Taiwan one more time.\u00c2\u00a0 One cannot help but think what might have happened had the 6-foot-4 hurler been around to help Butch Hobson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>troops in last fall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s championship series.<\/p>\n

Sweeney, who never has been overpowering, will be making his first tour of the Atlantic League although the Yonkers<\/strong>, <\/strong>NY<\/strong> <\/strong>native got his professional start in an Independent league, going 6-0 for Lafayette<\/strong>, <\/strong>IN<\/strong> <\/strong>in what was the Heartland League<\/strong> in 1996 before Seattle<\/strong> <\/strong>purchased his contract.<\/p>\n

He last pitched in this country in 2006 when he was on the Opening Day roster of the San Diego<\/strong> Padres. <\/strong>His major league career record for 49 appearances is 3-0 with a pair of saves.<\/p>\n

Aldridge, Ryan in Heart of Salt <\/span><\/strong>Lake<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/strong>Order<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

I was anxious to see how Cory Aldridge (<\/strong>Newark<\/strong>) <\/strong>and Michael Ryan (<\/strong>Somerset<\/strong>) <\/strong>got out of the gate in the Pacific Coast League <\/strong>Thursday night after their disappointment of not sticking with the parent Los Angeles<\/strong> Angels of <\/strong>Anaheim<\/strong>.<\/strong> Their Salt Lake City Bees <\/strong>were limited to three singles in a 2-0 loss to Las Vegas<\/strong>, but the Atlantic League vets each had one of the safeties.\u00c2\u00a0 Aldridge, hitting cleanup, was 1-for-4, and Ryan, two spots lower, was 1-for-3 with a stolen base.<\/p>\n

Jacque Jones\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>return to affiliated baseball had a better individual result.\u00c2\u00a0 The 2009 Newark <\/strong>outfielder homered and walked in four plate appearances, but Rochester, NY (Twins) <\/strong>was toppled 11-3 by Pawtucket, RI (Red Sox). <\/strong>The homer came off Boof Bonser<\/strong>, who came to Minnesota <\/strong>shortly after Jones had moved from the Twins to the Chicago White Sox.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Subscriptions to the Atlantic League Notebook <\/em>are available on a monthly or seasonal basis via www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> or www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 Bob Wirz also writes a weekly column, the Independent Baseball Insider<\/em>, as well as a blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com. The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as chief spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is only a little bit of a stretch to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153they are coming from around the world\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to play in the Atlantic League this summer.\u00c2\u00a0 Recent signees include a pair of 35-year-old right-handed pitchers who have spent the last three seasons working in Asian leagues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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