AA St. Paul Saints

Brian Sprout re-signs with Saints

Published on December 13, 2006 under American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - It was well worth the wait to see Brian Sprout in a St. Paul Saints uniform. Now manager George Tsamis hopes the encore will be just as good.

The 26-year old Lake City, MN native, who played his college baseball at St. Olaf, has re-signed with the Saints for the 2007 season. He is coming off the best season of his five-year pro career in which he flirted with the league lead in Batting Average before finishing third with a solid .350 mark. Although he didn't join the team until the season was four days old, he still set career highs for hits (118), doubles (28) and RBI (a team-leading 59). In addition, he was named to the American Association All-Star team and was the circuit's Batter Of The Month in July when he went 43-101 (.426 BA, 21 runs, 10 doubles, three home runs, 20 RBI).

"He had a terrific season in every aspect of the game for us," Tsamis said. "I expect him to be one of the cornerstones of our offense in 2007."

Sprout, who once hit for the cycle in home runs for St. Olaf in a game against Augsburg (solo, two-RBI, three-RBI and a grand slam shot) first worked out for the Saints in 2002. But then manager Jimmy Johnson decided against signing him. He signed instead with Fargo-Moorhead, moving to Joliet later in the summer. He was back in Fargo in 2003, where he hit .302 in 88 games. That earned him a contract in the Dodgers' system. In two-plus seasons there, he advanced as high as AA Jacksonville before joining the Saints in time for their May 15 home opener.

He played left field for the first half of the season before moving to his more familiar position of shortstop. From the start, he was solid at the plate. In addition to his high ranking in the batting race, he finished fifth in the American Association in On-Base Percentage with a .429 mark. In 408 games as a pro, he is a career .297 hitter (454-for-1528). He had a game to remember on June 7 when he went 5-for-5 and hit a pair of homers (including the winning three-RBI blow in the ninth inning) in a 9-7 win at Lincoln. His 12 total bases in that game tied a team record.

Tsamis, who will be in the Twin Cities for the team's annual Winter Camp December 26-29, says he expects to sign more players shortly. Two solid members of the 2006 team - IF Pat Scalabrini and RHP Ivan Hernandez - have retired. Scalabrini, who played 2B and 3B, batted .313 with eight home runs and 57 RBI. Hernandez started the final game of the season but worked the rest of the team in the bullpen. In 38 games, he went 3-2 with a team-leading 3.07 ERA.

NOTES - When the Minnesota Twins hired Kris Atteberry to be their studio host for their 2007 broadcasts, he became the third ex-Saints' announcer to get a big league broadcasting gig. Ryan Lefebvre, the ex-Gopher outfielder and now a member of the Kansas City Royals radio crew, got his start calling Saints' games in 1993. Anthony LaPanta, who called games here for 12 seasons on radio and television, works fulltime for Fox Sports North and was part of several Twins' telecasts in 2006. He also was on their radio team in 1999. In addition, Jon Laaser, who did games in 2005, has been hired to work on the broadcasts of the AA Altoona Curve (Eastern League) in 2007. Laaser served as the main radio voice for Yakima in the Northwest League in 2006.

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American Association Stories from December 13, 2006


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