AA Lincoln Saltdogs

Baseball America honors Saltdogs

Published on October 19, 2006 under American Association (AA)
Lincoln Saltdogs News Release


DURHAM, NC-The post-season honors continue to roll in for Lincoln Saltdogs pitching ace Lindsay Gulin, who has been named to Baseball America's 2006 All-Independent League first team. Gulin's Saltdogs teammate Pichi Balet earned second-team recognition as a first baseman.

In leading Lincoln to the best season in franchise history, Gulin finished first in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball with a 2.10 earned run average, second with 13 wins and third in strikeouts with 104. The southpaw allowed only 20 walks in 120 innings pitched and limited opponents to a .204 batting average as the Saltdogs finished with a league-best record of 65-31. In September, Gulin was honored by Sportsticker as the AAIPB's "Star of Stars", an award given to the player with the best overall statistical performance in their particular league. He was also named the top left-handed pitcher on the AAIPB's Post-Season All-Star team.

In posting a 13-2 record, Gulin set a franchise record for wins in a season and his 2.10 ERA is second only to Clay Eason's 1.70 season mark set back in 2001. His 104 strikeouts and 120.0 innings pitched rank third on the Saltdogs' season charts. Among his top performances included the win in the Saltdogs' victory over St. Paul on July 2 that secured for Lincoln its' first-ever first-half North Division title. Gulin also picked up the lone win for the Dogs in their divisional playoff series with the Saints. The resident of Issaquah, Wash., was a two-time Pitcher of the Week and the starting pitcher for the American Association against the Can-Am League in the 2006 All-Star Game.

In his second full season with Lincoln, Balet won the American Association's batting title with a .378 average, which ranked second among all Independent League hitters. He also finished first in the AAIPB in hits with 136 and RBI with 82 en route to being named the league's "Player-of-the-Year". Balet led the Saltdogs with a .528 slugging percentage and on July 31at Sioux Falls he became the only player in the league last season and just the second in team history to hit for the cycle. OF Of note, he recorded 45 multi-hit games and put together a 22-game hitting streak that ranked as the best in the American Association. An AAIPB Post-Season All-Star, Balet was named to Baseball America's All-Indy second team as a first baseman despite playing just 38 games at the position during the season.

FORMER SALTDOGS ALSO HONORED

In addition to the honors picked up by Gulin and Balet, three former Saltdogs were also selected by Baseball America for its' 2006 All-Independent League Team. Heading the list of former Dogs is outfielder Ian Church who was named the Indy League's "Player-of-the-Year". Church hit .317 and led all Independent hitters with 31 homeruns for the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League. He played a total of 65 games for Lincoln in 2003 and 2004 before being traded to Sioux City. Also making the first team was designated hitter Peanut Williams, who hit .308 with 20 homers and 75 runs driven in for Fullerton of the Golden League. Williams played briefly for Lincoln hitting .132 with a homerun in nine games in 2001. Joining Balet on the second team was San Angelo second baseman John Anderson, who played six games with the Saltdogs in 2003.

Others representing the American Association were Alex Llanos of Sioux City, who was the first-team second baseman, and Pensacola's Tony Pierce, who the lone relief pitcher on the top unit. Sioux Falls outfielder Chad Hermansen was named to the second team.

Check out the Lincoln Saltdogs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Association Stories from October 19, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central