Aaron Bates Named Eastern League Player of the Month
June 5, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
Portland, Maine- Portland Sea Dogs' outfielder Aaron Bates has been named the Eastern League Player of the Month for May. Eastern League Player of the Month award winners are selected through voting by Eastern League Mangers and media personnel. The Eastern League of Professional Baseball made the announcement.
Bates hit .370 (40-for-108) with seven doubles, six home runs, 28 RBI, 22 runs scored, 10 walks, a .456 on-base percentage and a .602 slugging percentage in 28 games during the month. The 25-year old reached base in all but two of the 28 games he played in during the month and collected multiple hits in 14 of the 28 games. His 28 RBI during the month was tied for the most in the league and also tied a franchise record that is also held by Kevin Millar (1997) and Ross Gload (1999).
Bates was selected as the Eastern League Player of the Week twice during the month. He won the award for the week of May 4th-10th by hitting .520 with 10 RBI in six games and also took home the honors for the week of May 25th-31st after posting a .464 batting average with three home runs and nine RBI in seven games.
Currently Bates leads all Red Sox Minor Leaguers in average (.345), RBI (38), and is tied for the lead in home runs (7). He is currently ranked among the Eastern League leaders in hits (67-1st), runs scored (39-2nd), batting average (.345-3rd), RBI (38-tied 4th), total bases (101-6th), OPS (.932-6th), on-base percentage (.411-8th), slugging percentage (.521-8th) and home runs (7-tied 10th). Bates is also tied for the longest on base streak in the league this season, reaching in 23 straight games from April 16th-May 14th.
Bates batted .276 with 26 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 68 RBI and 61 runs scored in 124 games with the Sea Dogs in 2008. He was a California League All-Star in 2007 before earning a promotion to Double-A Portland on August 10th. Bates was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft out of North Carolina State University.
The Portland Sea Dogs begin a three game series with the Trenton Thunder (Yankees) on Friday, June 5th 7:00 PM at Hadlock Field. Tickets are available for most remaining 2009 Portland Sea Dogs' home games. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500 or online at www.seadogs.com.
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