Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for January, 2010

Former Fort Wayne Wizard and most recently a Pittsburgh Pirates’ farmhand, Ray Chang has signed a Minor League deal with the Boston Red Sox. He’ll probably play at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Related Ray Chang posts at BBIFW:

• Everybody Loves Raymond (Chang)
• Former Wizards Likely to Debut in 2009 – Part III
• Who the Heck is Ray Chang?
• Ray Chang Surprises with Perfect English

One Fort Wayne related player I have enjoyed following the last couple years is Josh Judy, a West Virginia native who played his college ball at Indiana Institute of Technology. IIT is hardly known as a hotbed of Major League talent, so the fact that he was drafted in the 34th round of the 2007 Amateur Draft was a bit of a surprise to many.

A two-time NAIA All-America, Judy posted an 8-1 record with a 1.63 earned run average and 84 strikeouts in 2007 before being selected as the 1034th overall pick by Cleveland.

But Judy didn’t remain in relative obscurity for long. Now, he ranks among the Tribe’s top prospects.

The latest stop on Judy’s get-to-know-me tour was the Arizona Fall League. In 11 relief appearances for the Peoria Saguaros, he went 2-2 with a 1.59 and 20 strikeouts. He gave up 13 hits in 17 innings . . . he went 12-1 and struck out 80 in 74-1/3 innings in 35 appearances for Class A Lake County. He also pitched seven games for Kinston (14 innings, 17 strikeouts).

Related BBIFW Josh Judy Posts:

• More Local Northeast Indiana Baseball Standouts Drafted
• Half Way There: A Mid-Season Look at Local Ties
• Josh Judy Lands on Top Prospect’s List
• Fort Fragments (Local Ties): Day, Parker, Chenoweth, Dygert, Judy 

Here’s an interesting one. The Oakland A’s acquired Kevin Kousmanoff and former Fort Wayne Wizard Eric Sogard for former Padre Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.

Sogard is seen as a Todd Walker type hitter that lacks range defensively but is gap-hitter with great contact rates.

Sogard, a former second round pick out of Arizona State, hit .253 with two home runs and 15 RBI in 22 games with the Wizards in 2007. He should fit in well with Oakland becuase he does not strike out a lot. In 2008, with Lake Elsinore, Sogard struck out just 62 times in 536 at-bats.  Last season, Sogard hit .293 with Double-A San Antonio and wiffed just 47 times in 457 at–bats.

Sogard, a second baseman, was idling on the Padres’ depth chart behind another former Wizard, Matt Antonelli, who held the position at Triple-A Portland. Somewhat ironically, Kevin Kousmanoff was originally acquired by San Diego in a 2006 trade for former Padres second baseman Josh Barfield.

The trade should also see former Wizard Chase Headley return to third base. As Friar Forecast points out:

With Chase Headley on the roster, the Padres had two third baseman, but were forcing one (Headley) to masquerade as a left-fielder.  Not surprisingly, Headley’s fielding was a major liability and zapped much of his value.  In the minors, Headley was considered an average fielding third baseman, and in the majors Headley has shown to be no worse than an average hitter.  In replacing Kouz with Headley at third, the Padres essentially break even.

Join us Saturday morning at 9:00 for Talkin’ Sports. IPFW does indeed have a hockey team and they are currently 14-2-1 on the season. We’ll talk with IPFW player Chris Treft about a home game coming up Saturday at McMillen Park Ice Arena. We’ll also talk local college basketball with University of St. Francis Mens coach Jeff Reckeweg as his Cougars prepare for a run at the conference crown. We’ll also be checking in with Komets President Michael Franke in our weekly Komets update as the K’s have another 3-game weekend of International Hockey League games.
We’ll be naming our PSI/One Eleven Design Athlete of the Week in the 4th Quarter of the show.

Any athlete (youth, adult, high school, collegiate, neighbor) can be a PSI/One Eleven Design Athlete of the Week. Nominations for the PSI/One Eleven Design Athlete of the Week can be submitted to this e-mail address or: jim@wowo.com.

Playing a little catch up on some Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana related notes:

Add LaTroy Hawkins to the Brewers’ roster of growing former Fort Wayne players. He’s signed to a two-year deal, joining him with Luis Cruz and George Kottaras, who joined Milwuakee earlier this off-season. Reportedly, he wanted to return to Houston, but wouldn’t settle for a one-year deal.

Luke Carlin has signed a Minor League deal with the Pirates. “Carlin, 29, hit .321/.430/.481 for the D’Backs’ Triple A club.  They still chose to outright him in early December.”

The Dodgers signed free-agent outfielder Michael Restovich to Minor League contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. The 31-year-old has played parts of six Major League seasons, most recently with Washington in 2007. He spent last season with the Triple-A Charlotte, slugging 21 homers.

The Twins have added right-handed reliever Clay Condrey to a one-year contract for the 2010 season. The 34-year-old became a free agent after he was non-tendered by the Phillies on December 12. In 2009, he went 6-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 45 relief appearances.

The Colorado Rockies have brought right-hander Juan Rincon back, signing him to a Minor League deal that calls for an $800,000 salary if he hits the big leagues. Rincon also got an invite to spring training.

Jon Link has gone to the Dodgers as part of the Juan Pierre trade. Link was 1-2 with a 3.99 ERA and 13 saves in 48 games at Triple-A Charlotte in 2009. He was acquired by the Sox in 2007 season in a trade with San Diego for Rob Mackowiak.

The Northeast Indiana Baseball Association Hall of Fame will induct four new members during an awards banquet on January 29, 2010 beginning at 6:30PM at the Allen County Public Library. The four honorees will be:

• Eric Wedge (Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians)
• Keith Shepherd (Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles)
• Gerry Tilker (35-year Wildcat official, FWUA Umpire)
• Thomas Pillars (1928 St. Louis Cardinals, Monroeville Little League Coach and Organizer)

Pillars honor is being given posthumously and family members will be on hand to accept on his behalf. Wedge will also serve as the evening’s keynote speaker. In addition to the new HOF honors, NEIBA will also present the Bob Parker Memorial Award, given to individuals who go above and beyond to be promoters and ambassadors of the game of baseball on the local level, and the Colin Lister Award, which is given to individuals who demonstrate commitments to local youth league organization and development.

The Bob Parker Award will be presented to Dona Schaefer (Fort Wayne Daisies and AAGPBL supporter/activist and Fort Wayne Turners). The Colin Lister Award will be presented to Chuck Itt (Wallen Baseball player, coach and leader) and to Dan Eash (player and founder of the Fort Wayne Men’s’ Senior Baseball League). Tickets to the event are $25 and parking is free. Tickets must be ordered by January 24th.

They are available at Sports Center, Inc. (5511 Coventry Lane – Fort Wayne), via mail NEIBA, PO Box 40224; Fort Wayne, IN 46804 or on NEIBAseball.org (click here to request your tickets).