Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for the ‘TinCaps Alumni’ Category

Been a while since I’ve done a Fort Fragments post, so ths one may get a bit long. Here’s some news and info tidbits related to Fort Wayne:

Former Wizard and Major League, Cory Doyne has signed with the Long Island Ducks.

Doyne joins the Ducks for his first season in the Atlantic League . . . Prior to last season, the Florida native spent eight years in the minors toiling in the Astros, Padres, Cardinals and Orioles organizations, earning a call up to the Major Leagues on June 16, 2007. The former eighth round draft selection appeared in five games for the Orioles that season, pitching three and two-thirds innings, while striking out three. He has 29 career minor league victories with a 3.32 ERA in 586 innings pitched.

Norwell native and current Arizona Diamondbacks’ farmhand, Jarrod Parker is ranked number twevle on Baseball America’s top 25 Prospects list. He’ll also pitch in the Baseball Future’s Game.

After a quick whip through the high Class A California League, Parker moved up to Double-A Mobile, where he has shown a fastball that can sit 92-96 mph with a plus slider and the makings of a potentially above-average changeup. A line drive off his wrist slowed the 20-year-old Parker down a bit, but he’s on pace to be one of the youngest pitchers in the big leagues by 2010 [Baseball America].

TinCaps in Full Motion: If you haven’t seen the commercial yet, take a look here (John King of Metta Audio).

Former (and recently retired) Wizard, Shawn Garrett is helping to develop players on an American League League roster.

I didn’t get to cover any of his visits to Parkview Field, but like Kyle Day, Justin Parker was wowed by the park when he visited with his South Bend Silverhawks.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Parker said Sunday. “I heard a lot of nice things about it, but I had no idea it was going to be this nice. It’s a really nice place.”

Former Fort Wayne Daisies player, Dr. Lois Youngen has endowed a baseball scholarship in honor of her father (Elden “Ty” Youngen) at Kent State University.

Baseball was quite prominent among the Youngen household. “Ty” Youngen was a member of the Kent State baseball team from 1924-26, earning three varsity letters and was a captain for his final season. Lois would follow in her father’s footsteps of playing baseball as she was a pitcher and catcher in the All-American Girls Professional League for the Fort Wayne Daisies and the South Bend Blue Sox.

In a game that involved many former Wizards/TinCaps, the Lake Elsinore Storm scored a 33-18 win over High Desert in Adelanto during late June. The Storm set league marks for RBIs, time of game (four hours, 10 minutes) and hits. Former TinCap Matt Clark went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a homer, five RBIs, two walks and scored a record-tying seven runs. Former Wizard, Felix Carrasco was 4-for-7 with two doubles, a triple, six RBIs and four runs. 

Left fielder Brad Chalk (4-for-9, two doubles, three RBI) . . . right fielder Sawyer Carroll (4-for-7, double, homer, three RBI, four runs scored) . . . third baseman James Darnell (4-for-7, two doubles, homer, three RBI, five runs scored). Center fielder Dan Payne (4-for-6, double, homer, three RBI, four runs scored). Second baseman Andy Parrino (2-for-6, two doubles, two RBI) . . . Left-handed reliever Matt Teague picked up the win allowing three runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings. Storm starter Jeremy McBryde allowed 11 runs on 13 hits over 4 2/3 innings. But he departed with a 22-11 lead.

Last season, after being released from the Yankees, former Wizard LaTroy Hawkins didn’t go home. He quitely came back to Fort Wayne. While back in town, he reconnected with agent, Matt Kinzer:

Kinzer is more than an agent. He’s a former major league pitcher and scout, and through the years has become the person who knows Hawkins as well as anyone . . Together, they studied video, did some bullpen sessions and attempted to rediscover the command of a fastball that has helped keep Hawkins in the big leagues for 15 years.

Memorial Stadium is pretty much long gone. Just some rubble left. The auction brought in about $20,000.

About 200 people attended the auction Saturday. Stadium general manager Randy Brown says the grand total for the day was $210,588. Aluminum bleachers along the third-base line brought the most money, selling for $65,000.

Former Wizard, Todd Donovan collected two hits off of future Hall of Famer, John Smoltz while the pitcher was rehabbing before making his season MLB debut with the Red Sox.

The TinCaps’ Blake Tekotte was the Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week for the week eneded June 29, 2009:

.538 (7-13), 2 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 SB, 1.154 SLG
Currently on a 10-game hitting streak, Padres prospect Blake Tekotte put together another week of impressive plate appearances. The center fielder homered in consecutive games on June 25 and 26, amassing six RBIs in those two contests. He also recorded three multiple-hit games this week.

A couple transactions you might have missed. The Padres released Josh Alley and Derek McDaid while the Blue Jays called up Dirk Hayhurst. Alley was hitting .192 with Triple-A Portland at the time and has since signed with the St. Paul Saints. McDaid was 0-2 with a 7.42 ERA with Double-A San Antonio. He has since signed with the Quebec Capitales of the Can-Am League. Brockton (also of the Can-Am League) has released former Wizard Stevie Delabar. Hayhurst has quietly been productive with Toronto. In eleven appearances, he has a 1.84 ERA with nine strikeouts over 14.2 innings.

Three former Fort Wayne Wizards/TinCaps have been select as Mid-Season Minor League All-Stars by Baseball America.

Mat Latos: One of the minors’ most electric arms, Latos already has jumped to Double-A in his first year in full-season ball.

Lance Zawadzki: A switch-hitter with the fine plate discipline typical of a Padres prospect, Zawadzki has hit .371/.459/.543 since being promoted to San Antonio in late May.

Cory Luebke: The Padres tried to put Luebke on the fast track after drafting him in the supplemental first round in 2007 out of Ohio State. He wasn’t ready, and had to go back to the Midwest League last year, but he’s returned to form this year, earning his way to Double-A after going 8-2, 2.34 in the Cal League.

Two TinCaps/Wizards alumni were selected Monday to play in the Futures Game, which annually showcases the top prospects in all of Minor League Baseball. Right-hander, Mat Latos and outfielder Luis Durango are headed to Busch Stadium in St. Louis for the game which pits the top prospects from the United States against Team World, the best from across the rest of the globe

Latos played for the TinCaps earlier this season and breezed through the Midwest League. In four appearances with Fort Wayne this year, Latos went 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA, striking out 27 with just three walks in 25.1 innings. He has continued his dominance with the Double-A San Antonio Missions, where he is 4-1 with a 2.18 ERA in six starts and was also selected to play in the league’s All-Star Game. He sparked the Missions to a first-half division championship as they won 12 of 15 to charge into first place at the end of the half. Latos, a Florida native, will play for Team USA.

Durango, 23, is also a Texas League All-Star with San Antonio, batting .299 with 26 stolen bases and 46 runs scored in 68 games. Mostly deployed as a leadoff man, Durango played for Fort Wayne last year and hit .305 with a home run and 14 stolen bases in 93 games. Durango will play for Team World representing his homeland of Panama. He also played for Team Panama in this spring’s World Baseball Classic and went 3-for-5 at the plate.

“This is a testament to the type of talent we’ve had here in Fort Wayne over the last few years,” TinCaps president Mike Nutter said. “We thought Mat and Luis were on their way to becoming stars at the game’s highest level, and playing in the Futures Game only validates that thought.”

 Fort Wayne native, Jarrod Paker, will pitch for Team USA in the Futures Game. The 20-year old right-handed Parker is 4-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 10 starts with the Mobile Bay Bears this season. He’s third on the club with 49 strikeouts in 47.1 innings.

Named as the number one prospect in the D-backs’ organization by Baseball America in the offseason, Parker was 1-0 with a 0.95 ERA in four starts at Visalia before his call-up to Mobile. 

The 11th Annual XM All-Star Futures Game will be shown live on MLB.TV, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Sunday, July 12 at 1 p.m.