{"id":5897,"date":"2010-06-18T13:09:36","date_gmt":"2010-06-18T20:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=5897"},"modified":"2010-06-18T13:09:36","modified_gmt":"2010-06-18T20:09:36","slug":"rare-home-run-feats-by-nava-and-guerrero-make-it-tough-for-others-to-take-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/18\/rare-home-run-feats-by-nava-and-guerrero-make-it-tough-for-others-to-take-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare Home Run Feats by Nava and Guerrero Make It Tough for Others to Take Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two extraordinary feats, both a few days old now, continue to take much of the thunder away from everything else that is happening in Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 They deserve the attention because the accomplishments were not predictable, will not likely happen again any time soon, and they sent everyone scrambling to baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s treasurer record books.<\/p>\n<p>The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happenings,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d if you will, were <strong>Cristian Guerrero\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>five home runs in five at-bats in a <strong>Northern League <\/strong>doubleheader and <strong>Daniel Nava\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues.\u00c2\u00a0 Each event seems to have taken place only once previously in the well over 100 years of professional <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/indylogo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2992\" title=\"indylogo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/indylogo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"165\" height=\"125\" \/><\/a>baseball although there is some chance others have hit five consecutive homers, and the scramble continues to prove the point one way or another.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel Nava <\/strong>distinguished himself in several ways even before his historic bases-loaded blast while debuting for the <strong>Boston Red Sox <\/strong>at fabled <strong>Fenway<\/strong><strong> Park<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He shook off being only 4-foot-8 and 70 pounds when he entered high school in the <strong>Bay Area, <\/strong>left <strong>Santa Clara <\/strong>after a season in which he was more team manager than player, ignored the fact he was left undrafted after his second stint with the <strong>Broncos<\/strong> and did not quit when he did not make the <strong>Chico (CA) Outlaws (Golden League) <\/strong>on his first try.<strong> <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>He became the <strong>Golden League <\/strong>batting champion (.371), Most Valuable Player, led the Outlaws to the league title the next season (2007), and <em>Baseball America<\/em> selected him the No. 1 prospect in any Independent league.<strong> <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Once signed by Boston prior to \u00e2\u20ac\u212208, he became a steady .300 hitter, and took a career .345 average that had topped out at Class AA into the 2010 season.\u00c2\u00a0 He still ranks No. 1 among all players at <strong>Pawtucket<\/strong><strong>, RI<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>this season in hits (58), RBI (38), runs (28) and home runs (8) while hitting .294 for the Triple-A team.<strong> <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Now, he stands as the first person who played his initial professional game in the Golden League\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand only the third overall\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto become a major leaguer.<strong> <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * *<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.atlanticleaguebaseball.com\/\">www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> ADDED TO <a href=\"http:\/\/www.indybaseballchatter.com\/\">www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * *<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Guerrero Just Misses a Sixth Consecutive Homer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With all of the justifiable hoopla over <strong>Cristian Guerrero\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>five consecutive home runs for <strong>Gary, IN <\/strong>during a <strong>Northern League <\/strong>doubleheader one can only imagine the clamor if the 29-year-old <strong>Dominican <\/strong>native and Independent Baseball veteran had run his string to six.\u00c2\u00a0 It almost happened, but <strong>Vladimir Guerrero\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>younger cousin had to settle for a sacrifice fly to the base of the right-center field fence in <strong>Rockford<\/strong><strong>, IL<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>on that trip to the plate.<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a feat never accomplished in the major leagues, mind you, and so far as research has shown only took place in another Independent game in 1996 in the long history of professional baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 <strong>Corey Parker<\/strong> of the <strong>Bangor (ME) Blue Ox <\/strong>managed five consecutive round-trippers in the old <strong>Northeast League. <\/strong>The left-handed hitter only had 11 homers that season. <strong> <\/strong>The feat was accomplished in a doubleheader, with home runs in his last two at-bats in the opener and the first three in the nightcap\u00e2\u20ac\u201don the only three pitches he saw. \u00c2\u00a0Guerrero, who also spent a portion of 2007 in the Atlantic League <strong>(Camden, NJ)<\/strong>, has only six homers on the season and has not homered in six games since the explosion although he has kept his average at .286 by going 6-for-21.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcCatfish\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Sweeney Makes Sparky Look Good<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Atlantic League <\/strong>Manager <strong>Sparky Lyle <\/strong>has been saying all season he thought <strong>Brian Sweeney <\/strong>would be back in the major leagues this season.\u00c2\u00a0 He liked the four pitches he saw in Sweeney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s limited time in his <strong>Somerset (NJ) Patriots\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/strong>training camp even saying earlier this week the right-hander \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reminded me of <strong>(Hall of Fame <\/strong>pitcher) <strong>Catfish Hunter<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, in the way he could rack up strikeouts without being overpowering.<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 32 strikeouts (eight walks) in 28.2 innings over 15 games at <strong>Tacoma<\/strong> (2-1, 2.51) impressed <strong>Seattle<\/strong>, which gave him his first major league time since 2006 this week.<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney, who got out of Independent Baseball in a hurry (to Seattle) after starting his pro career with a 6-0 record and 52 strikeouts in 49 innings for <strong>Lafayette, IN <\/strong>of what was the <strong>Heartland League <\/strong>in 1996, took a 3-0 career record with two saves and a 3.49 ERA over 49 major league appearances back to the Mariners this time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Jon Weber \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcExcited\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for Fresh Start<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fun at all\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, <strong>Jon Weber <\/strong>told us this week of his time with Triple-A <strong>Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre, PA <\/strong>after failing to stick with the parent <strong>New York Yankees <\/strong>after hitting a team-leading .483 during spring training.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m ready for a fresh start.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very excited.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>That fresh start was to begin Thursday night with the <strong>Toledo Mud Hens<\/strong> after <strong>Detroit <\/strong>signed the 32-year-old outfielder known for his heart and hustle despite the fact he is well under 6-foot tall.\u00c2\u00a0 Weber is one of the best known of Independent players <strong>(Canton, OH, Frontier League, <\/strong>and <strong>Fargo<\/strong><strong>, ND<\/strong><strong>, Northern League)<\/strong> who has done everything but break into the major leagues.<\/p>\n<p>(<em>This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.atlanticleaguebaseball.com\/\">www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.indybaseballchatter.blogspot.com\/\">www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a>, or <strong>comment<\/strong> to <a href=\"mailto:RWirz@aol.com\">RWirz@aol.com<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The author<strong> <\/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.<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two extraordinary feats, both a few days old now, continue to take much of the thunder away from everything else that is happening in Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 They deserve the attention because the accomplishments were not predictable, will not likely happen again any time soon, and they sent everyone scrambling to baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s treasurer record books. The [&hellip;]<\/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":[462,7904,589,7695,4843,8159,8530,818,8529,1568,2126,493,512,8528,8533,8531,112,4033,1115,8532],"class_list":["post-5897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider","tag-baseball-america","tag-batting-champion","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-chico-ca","tag-class-aa","tag-consecutive-homers","tag-cristian-guerrero","tag-doubleheader","tag-feats","tag-fenway-park","tag-grand-slam","tag-independent-baseball","tag-independent-league","tag-nava","tag-outlaws","tag-pawtucket-ri","tag-professional-baseball","tag-professional-game","tag-record-books","tag-second-stint"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}