Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Fort Wyane’

Former Fort Wayne Wizard outfielder, Kennard Jones has agreed to rejoin the York Revolution of the independant Atlantic League for the 2009 baseball season.

Jones joined the Revolution in June last season, and quickly became the sparkplug in the leadoff spot that helped lead one of the league’s most explosive offenses during the second half run. “K.J.” finished the season tied for fourth in the league with a .333 batting average, best in Revolution history, including a .408 clip during his final 25 games, leading the Revs’ playoff push. He also authored the greatest offensive performance in team history on June 30, going 6-for-6 with a three-run walk-off homerun, the Revs’ first-ever, in a ten-inning win over the Newark Bears. Jones led the club with 17 stolen bases last season.

Jones also played his college ball at Indiana University. He was drafted in the thrid round (number 85 overall) of the 2002 amateur draft. He palyed a total of 101 games in Fort Wayne during parts of the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Of those, 81 came during 2003 when he hit .307 with a .401 OBP, 61 runs 30 runs batted in and 20 stolen bases.

Here’s a look at early spring performances from some former Wizards who are in Padres camp this Spring:

• Kyle Blanks: In 15 games (40 at-bats), he’s hitting .325 with a .429 OBP, 3 home runs and 9 RBIs
• Will Venable: In 12 games (37 at-bats), he’s hitting .297 with a .333 OBP
• Drew Macias: In 15 games (36 at-bats), he’s hitting .278 with a  .350 OBP and a home run
• Chase Headley: In 10 games (30 at-bats), he’s hitting .267 with a .313 OBP, a home run and 8 RBIs
• Matt Antonelli: In 14 games (25 at-bats), he’s hitting .320 with a .433 OBP
• Cedric Hunter: In 15 games (22 at-bats), he’s hitting .227 with a .308 OBP
• Chad Huffman: In 14 games (21 at-bats), he’s hitting .333 with a .517 OBP, 2 home runs and 6 RBIs
• Nick Hundley: In 8 games (19 at-bats), he’s hitting .316 with a .350 OBP
• Brett Dowdy:  In 10 games (13 at-bats), he’s hitting .462 with a .500 OBP
• Mitch Canham: In 10 games (11 at-bats), he’s hitting .273 with a .500 OBP
• Colt Morton: In 7 games (10 at-bats), he’s hitting .300 with a .417 OBP
• Greg Burke: In 5 games (5.2 innings pitched), he has a 4.76 ERA with 6 K’s and a walk
• Mike Ekstron: In 4 games (3.2 innings pitched), he has a 14.73 ERA with 1 K and a walk
• Cesar Ramos:  In 4 games (5.2 innings pitched), he has a 9.53 ERA with 3 K’3 and 3 walks
• Nick Schmidt: In 4 games (4 innings pitched), he has an 11.25 ERA with 1 K and 3 walks
• Josh Geer:  In 3 games (7 innings pitched), he has a 6.43 ERA with 4 K’s and a walks
• Wade LeBlanc:  In 3 games (6 innings pitched), he has a 10.53 ERA with 6 K’s and 5 walks

In related Wizards and Fort Wayne ties:

• Dale Thayer (optioned to the Rays’ Triple-A Durham)
• J.J. Furmaniak (assigned to Phillies’ Minor League Camp)
• Freddy Guzman (assigned to Mariners’ Minor League Camp)
• Rob Bowen – Rumors are posted here and here as well as elsewhere that the Fort Wayne native has been placed on waivers by Oakland. The A’s assistant general manager, David Forst, disputed the report: “Don’t you think we’d put out a release on that?” Forst said. “That’s absolutely not true.”

I’ve noticed that many people have come to this site using “Ray Chang” as part of their key search phrases. Most likely, that is becuase very few have heard of him before this year. Had it not been for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and his inclusion as one of three players (Zhenwang Zhang and Kai Liu being the others) within a Major League club’s affiliation to make the China team, he’d still be a virtual unknown.

Chang primarily plays shortstop, which will likely cause the Chinese team captian, Yufeng Zhang, to move to first base for the WBC. Chang has played in the Padres’ and Pirates’ farm systems, and has a minor-league line of .258/.330/.375. Not eye-popping, but the pitching he’s seen on a regular basis is far better than what his teammates have seen.

The infielder came to the Padres in as an undrafted free agent in 2005 after trying his luck during an open try-out. He had been scouted while playing at Rockhurst University, but was labeled by scouts as having fielding skilsl that were “too latin.”

That year, he split time with the Arizona Fall League and Lake Elsinore. In 2006, he played 26 games with Fort Wayne, hitting .286 with 26 hits and 19 runs over 91 at-bats. He hit three home runs and drove in eight. That season he also played about a dozen games each in Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Portland.

In 2007, Chang split time between High-A Lake Elsinore where he hit .304 and Triple-A Portland, where he spent most of the season. After about 30 games split between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A POrtland, the Padres relased Change. He caught on with Pittsburgh late in the season before appearing in 5 games with their Double-A affiliate in Altoona.

Chang currently plays in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor league system, and has played as high as Triple-A ball. He was born in Kansas City and originally signed with the Padres as a non-drafted free agent out of Rockhurst University in 2005. In 2008, the Padres released him. The Pirates signed him and sent him to Double-A Altoona, where he appeared in five games.

Related BBIFW Posts:

• Ray Chang Surprises with Perfect English

Photo was pulled from MadFriars.com. I did not take it, nor do I claim ownership.