{"id":7802,"date":"2010-09-02T15:53:46","date_gmt":"2010-09-02T22:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=7802"},"modified":"2010-09-02T15:53:46","modified_gmt":"2010-09-02T22:53:46","slug":"another-independent-player-gets-to-major-leagues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/02\/another-independent-player-gets-to-major-leagues\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Independent Player Gets to Major Leagues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It was not such usual candidates as Michael Ryan <\/strong>or Scott Richmond <\/strong>or John Lindsey <\/strong>or Randy Williams<\/strong>, but Independent Baseball has had one interesting promotion in the first couple of days since major league teams started taking advantage of the opportunity to expand rosters in September.\u00c2\u00a0 This ranks right up the excitement level with some of the affiliated all-star selections which have come out of the Indy ranks.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Oakland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>elevation of right-handed pitcher Justin James<\/strong> is a landmark case, actually, in that the Northern League <\/strong>believes it is the first time in its storied 18-year life when a player has gone from the league to the major leagues in the same season.\u00c2\u00a0 It is the second time this has happened for an Independent player in 2010, with the first also with the Athletics <\/strong>because outfielder Matt Watson <\/strong>started the season at Lancaster, PA <\/strong>of the Atlantic League <\/strong>and was playing in McAfee Coliseum <\/strong>in Oakland a short time later.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 James made his major league debut at Yankee Stadium <\/strong>Thursday, giving up three singles and a run in the eighth inning of a 5-0 loss to the American League East<\/strong>-leading Yankees<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 He also struck out Robinson Cano <\/strong>and Derek Jeter <\/strong>during his 28-pitch, 17-strike inning.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In James\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, the 28-year-old went from a mediocre season with the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones <\/strong>last summer (4-6, 5.73 in 34 games, including 11 starts) to a more dominant type start this year with the same team when he had a 1.69 earned run average and six saves over 11 relief outings in less than four weeks before Oakland purchased his contract.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was so much better this year because he understood his role (closer),\u00e2\u20ac\u009d praised T-Bones Manager Tim Doherty<\/strong>, who will take his team into the Northern League playoffs next week.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 While more call-ups seem likely when minor league play ends, 26 former Independent players have been in the major leagues this season, two less than in all of 2009.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> ADDED TO www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

Lindsey, Smith, Cochran Get Postseason Honors<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Former Independent standouts have earned three coveted postseason honors already with more almost certainly to follow.\u00c2\u00a0 John Lindsey <\/strong>and Corey Smith <\/strong>have been honored for their big bats, and stylish southpaw Tom Cochran <\/strong>has been named the top left-handed pitcher in the Class AA Southern League <\/strong>just two years after taking a similar honor on Baseball America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/em>all-Independent team after a standout season with the Worcester (MA) Tornadoes <\/strong>of the Can-Am League.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Two Varieties of Quesadillas and a Radio Broadcast<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 One has to applaud the gusto of the Pensacola (FL) Pelicans<\/strong>, who have set up a potluck dinner so fans can get together on the party deck and listen to Game 3 of the American Association <\/strong>playoff <\/strong>series against Shreveport-Bossier, LA <\/strong>Friday.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>It should help to know a quesadilla casserole\u00e2\u20ac\u201dboth spicy and mild\u00e2\u20ac\u201dalong with meatballs, scalloped potatoes, and cookies are among the items fans have promised to bring.\u00c2\u00a0 A little good fortune would not hurt since one more loss will end the Pelicans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 season.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at <\/em><\/a>www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, <\/em>www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/em><\/a>, or comment to <\/em>RWirz@aol.com<\/em><\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 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.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It was not such usual candidates as Michael Ryan or Scott Richmond or John Lindsey or Randy Williams, but Independent Baseball has had one interesting promotion in the first couple of days since major league teams started taking advantage of the opportunity to expand rosters in September.\u00c2\u00a0 This ranks right up the excitement level […]<\/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":[545,3555,10455,1035,10451,4375,493,10452,510,7391,7111,10453,1954,9553,7702,10454,7393,413,5563,1320],"class_list":["post-7802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider","tag-all-star-selections","tag-derek-jeter","tag-dominant-type","tag-eighth-inning","tag-excitement-level","tag-handed-pitcher","tag-independent-baseball","tag-independent-player","tag-independent-players","tag-john-lindsey","tag-kansas-city-ks","tag-landmark-case","tag-league-debut","tag-league-playoffs","tag-matt-watson","tag-mediocre-season","tag-michael-ryan","tag-robinson-cano","tag-scott-richmond","tag-yankee-stadium"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802","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=7802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}