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Former Wizard, Headley Heads to San Diego
By Chad Gramling | June 15, 2007
Former Fort Wayne Wizard, Chase Headley was called up to the big club today as the San Diego Padres took on the Chicago Cubs. In three at-bats, he went hitless and stranded a runner.
Headley was leading the Texas League in hitting (.357) and was tied for second with 13 home runs and ranked second in RBIs (42) in 62 games for the [San Antonio] Missions. He was hitting .436 in June and impressed Padres general manager Kevin Towers, who recently was in San Antonio. [source: MLB.com]
Headley was selected by the Friars in the second round of the 2005 Draft out of the University of Tennessee. The switch-hitting third baseman hit .360 in April and .324 in May. Headley was 17-for-39 in June with five home runs and nine RBIs in 11 games.
Headley’s time in Fort Wayne was brief; playing in only 4 games for the Wizards in 2005. In 15 at-bats, he scored 2 runs, a run batted in and drew a base on balls once.
But there are more Fort Wayne connections to the story.
During the off-season, former Fort Wayne Wizards second baseman, Josh Barfield, was traded to the Indians. In return, San Diego got third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. It was his lower back injury that prompted Headley’s promotion. In another Fort Wayne tie, the manager of the San Antonio Missions who informed the young third baseman of his call-up is Randy Ready, who was also the skipper of the Wizards in 2004 through 2006. Another former Wizard, Paul McAnulty, was sent down to Triple-A Portland to make room on the roster for Headley.
[tags]Chase Headley, Paul McAnulty, San Antonia Missions, Randy Ready, Padres, Friars[/tags]
Topics: Alumni |