Baseball in Fort Wayne

Catcher Jeremy Brown, a first-round pick in 2002, who was the central figure in Michael Lewis’s Moneyball, has retired due to what the Oakland A’s say are “personal reasons.” Moving quickly after the surprising decision, the A’s signed former Wizards catcher, Matt LeCroy to a minor league contract.

The 32-year-old LeCroy, has a career .260 batting average and 60 home runs to his credit and has appeared in 476 Major League games. LeCroy spent most of 2007 at Triple-A Rochester in the Minnesota Twins organization where he batted .194 with three home runs and 25 RBI in 80 games. He was was called up to the Twins in September and went 3 for 20 in seven games

He was selected in the first round (50th overall) by the Minnesota Twins of the 1997 draft. While a member of the Wizards in 1998, he appeared in 64 games. He hit .276 with 9 home runs and 40 runs batted in and drawing 34 walks over 225 at-bats. LeCroy made his big league debut with the Twins in 2000 and played them until signing with Washington as a free agent prior to the 2006 season.

He joins a team that has a catchers corps that also includes Fort Wayne native, Rob Bowen.

You can read more about Matt LeCroy in Baseball in Fort Wayne on page 110. Photograph courtesy of the Fort Wayne Wizards.

In other Wizards alumni news, The Padres may be planning to trade Paul McAnulty.

UPDATE 2/16/2008 – 9:00PM: MLB.com posted “LeCroy Jumps at Opportunity

LeCroy said he knows he’s a long shot to make the A’s roster, but he has seen stranger things happen due to trades, injuries or performance, and he’s willing to play in the Minor Leagues.

[tags]Matt LeCroy, Fort Wayne, Baseball, Minor Leagues, Oakland A’s, Rob Bowen, Jeremy Brown, Moneyball, Minnesota Twins[/tags]