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MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Four Chiefs on MWL All-Star Team, Pevey Named Co-Manager of Year

August 25, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


August 25, 2009

Chiefs Land Most MWL Post Season All-Stars With Four

Ridling, Burke, Vitters and Harrison join skipper Marty Pevey with honors

PEORIA, IL- The Peoria Chiefs in conjunction with the Midwest League have announced that Rebel Ridling, Kyler Burke, Josh Harrison, Josh Vitters and Marty Pevey have been honored on the MWL Post Season All-Star Team. The first-place Chiefs are the only team in the league to have four players named to the squad and it is just the second time in their 27-year history the Chiefs have had four Post Season All-Stars. Pevey, as the MWL Co-Manager of the Year, is the second Chiefs skipped ever honored on the Post Season squad.

Named as the first baseman on the All-Star team, Rebel Ridling has been among the league leaders in RBI and extra base hits all season. He enters Tuesday's contest against Quad Cities with a .305 average (6th in MWL), 15 homers, 32 doubles, a league-best 89 RBI, 66 runs scored and a .468 slugging percentage. The Sentinel, OK native was named the Topps Company Midwest League Player of the Month in July as he hit .355 with five homers, 24 RBI and six doubles. He currently has a 13-game hit streak and is batting. 367 in August with 18 runs scored and 16 driven in. Ridling won the Home Run Derby as an All-Star in Clinton in June and is hitting .353 with seven homers and 44 RBI since the All-Star break. The 2008 25th round pick out of Oklahoma State has a team-high 45 multi-hit games and is already in the Chiefs top 10 single-season list for hits (148), total bases (227) and RBI (89). He was recently chosen by the MWL Manager as the best defensive first baseman in the league for Baseball America's Best Tools edition.

Kyler Burke is one of three outfielders on the Post Season All-Star team with a .304 batting average and 13 homers. He enters play on Tuesday seventh in the MWL in average, first in doubles with 41, fourth in RBI with 76, fourth in on-base percentage at .400, third in slugging percentage at .501, second in extra-base hits with 56 and fourth in runs scored with 83. The 41 doubles rank Burke second on the Chiefs single-season list with 13 games left, the record is 43 set last season by Jovan Rosa. Burke is also in the top 10 on the Chiefs single-season walk list with a team-best 67 and just outside the top 10 in total bases, slugging, runs scored and on-base percentage. Burke was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first supplemental round of the 2006 draft out of Ooltewah High School in Tennessee. He was traded to the Cubs in 2007 in exchange for Michael Barrett and played 35 games with the Chiefs last season. In addition to his offensive numbers, Burke leads the Chiefs with 13 outfield assists and has played all three outfield positions.

Despite leaving the Chiefs in a July 7 promotion, Josh Harrison still led the Midwest League in batting average until Monday. The Post Season All-Star outfielder hit .337 for the Chiefs in 84 games this season while collecting 17 doubles, seven triples, four homers, 33 RBI, 51 runs scored and 16 stolen bases. Harrison saw action in left field, second base, third base and designated hitter while slugging .479 and hitting in the top two lineup slots in 75 of his 78 starts. Harrison also led the Chiefs with nine sacrifice bunts and turned in eight outfield assists. When he was promoted to High-A Daytona on July 7, Harrison was first in the MWL in batting average and hits while also in the top five in triples, runs scored, slugging percentage and stolen bases. With Daytona he hit .286 with three doubles, 10 steals, 10 runs scored, nine RBI and a home run in 18 games. Harrison was traded by the Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 30 in the Jim Grabow/Tom Gorzelanny deal. In 22 games for Class A Advanced Lynchburg in the Carolina League, Harrison is hitting .289 with a home run, five doubles, four stolen bases, 12 runs scored and 11 RBI.

The fourth Chiefs player named to the Post Season All-Star team is third baseman Josh Vitters. Vitters, the Cubs #1 prospect heading into the season, was a first round selection in the 2007 draft as the third overall pick. Just 19 years old on opening day, Vitters hit .316 with 15 homers, 46 RBI, 42 runs scored, 12 doubles and a .535 slugging percentage in his 70 games with the Chiefs. A mid-season All-Star, Vitters was the May Midwest League Player of the Month with a .386 average, 12 homers, 27 RBI and 24 runs scored in 29 games. The 12 homers marked a Chiefs franchise single-month record and he tied a Chiefs record by homering in four straight games in Beloit May 16-19. He also collected three hits in five straight games from May 14-19 and left the Chiefs with 26 multi-hit games and a team-best 12 multi-RBI games. When he was promoted to Daytona on June 29, Vitters was second in the MWL in homers and RBI, first in slugging percentage, eighth in batting average, third in extra-base hits and first in total bases. With Daytona, he has battled a hand injury that kept him out of the lineup from July 28-August 8 and he has hit .237 in 37 games with two homers, five doubles and 15 RBI.

Manager Marty Pevey shares Co-Manager of the Year honors with Fort Wayne's Doug Dascenzo after leading the Chiefs to a 73-52 record and a current spot atop the Western Division standings. With 13 games remaining in the half, the Chiefs have an eight game lead over Burlington and their magic number for a playoff spot is at four heading into Tuesday's home game. In his first season with the Cubs organization, Pevey earns his third Manager of the Year Award. He was first honored by the Class A Advanced Florida State League in 2000 and then by the Double-A Eastern League in 2003. He is the second Chiefs skipper to be named MWL Manager of the Year following Roy Silver in 1996 when the Chiefs went 79-57, won the second- half Central Division title and lost in the semifinals to Wisconsin. Under Pevey's leadership the Chiefs lead the MWL in team batting average (.277) and home runs (103) while ranking third in team ERA (3.54), second in saves (41). The Chiefs currently hold the best overall record in the West this season and they are third overall in the MWL behind Fort Wayne (86-41) and West Michigan (76-51).

The Chiefs are the only team with four players honored on the MWL Post Season All-Star team. Great Lakes is next with three players, catcher Tony Delmonico, outfielder Kyle Russell and shortstop Dee Gordon. Cedar Rapids has two players with second baseman Alexi Amarista and left-handed reliever Andrew Taylor. West Michigan also has two players with DH Billy Nowlin and left-handed starter Casey Crosby. Kane County has right-handed starter Kenny Smalley and Fort Wayne has right-handed reliever Brad Brach to go along with Dascenzo as Co-Manager of the Year. Gordon and Russell were chosen as Co-Most Valuable Players while Gordon was named the Prospect of the Year.

With the addition of Ridling, Burke, Vitters and Harrison, the Chiefs have had 33 players named to the Midwest League Post Season All-Star team since their inception in 1983. The only other Chiefs team to have four players was the 1996 squad with Prospect of the Year Britt Reams (RHP), Kerry Robinson (OF), Andy Hall (2B) and Armando Almanza (LHP). Of the previous 29 players on the list, all but one have made it to at least Double-A while 22 advanced to Triple-A and 15 have played in the Majors.

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