Golden Baseball League Players Named Baseball America All-Stars

October 10, 2005 - Golden Baseball League (GBL) News Release


Pleasanton, CA. October 7, 2005: The Golden Baseball League (GBL) is pleased to announce that three GBL players were named to the national Baseball America Independent Leagues 2005 All-Star Team today. Desi Wilson (OF), of the Surprise Fightin' Falcons and Grant Gregg (SP) of the Chico Outlaws were named to the first team while Adam Johnson (SP) of the San Diego Surf Dawgs was selected for the second team. The six U.S. independent leagues fielded 56 teams in 2005 with 1288 active roster spots that were filled by over 2000 players during the season. Of these, 14 players were selected for the first team and 14 for the second team. The first team was comprised of six players from the Northern League, two from the Golden Baseball League, two from the Atlantic League, two from the Canadian-American League, one from the Central League and one from the Frontier League.

Desi Wilson was selected as a first team outfielder following his Golden Baseball League MVP award and a fabulous season that saw him hit .411 and put together a 31-game hitting streak during the GBL's inaugural year. Wilson led all independent league hitters nationwide with his batting average and also with his on-base percentage of .477. The 36 year-old with 15 years of professional experience, including one year in the major leagues with the San Francisco Giants and one year in the Japan major leagues with the Hanshin Tigers, is one of the most prolific hitters in minor league history. He raised his lifetime minor league batting average to .314 with this season's performance and has placed in the Top Ten in batting average in eight minor league campaigns while winning his first batting title this year. He is one of only four players ever to be the very last pick in the MLB draft to make it to the major leagues (although he returned to college and was redrafted in an improved position the following year). The 6'7" lefty almost didn't play professional baseball as he turned down an offer from the Boston Red Sox out of high school to attend Fairleigh Dickinson University as a two-sport star both on the diamond and on the basketball court where he still holds the school's career records for points and rebounds.

Grant Gregg, 24, starting left-handed pitcher for the Chico Outlaws, was selected as one of the four first team starting pitchers. He was the dominant pitcher in the GBL for the season as he won the award for GBL Pitcher of the Year with his 12-2 record and 1.97 E.R.A. while pitching the Chico Outlaws to the final day of the playoffs. Leading most pitching categories in the GBL, Gregg's E.R.A. of 1.97 was also the best nationally amongst all independent league starting pitchers in 2005. In addition, he pitched six complete games, struck out 118 batters while walking only 31 and threw a shutout as well. The 24 year-old lefty, who has reached as high as AA with the San Diego Padres organization, was originally drafted in the 9th round out of high school by the Minnesota Twins after twice being named to the Texas All-State team, but chose college and played at Texas A&M before finishing at Abilene Christian University where he was selected as Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Year.

Adam Johnson, 26, of the San Diego Surf Dawgs was selected to the second team as a starting pitcher. The big righty was on his way to being one of the finest pitchers in all of independent baseball but had his Surf Dawg season cut short in mid-August as he impressed the Oakland Athletics. Oakland purchased him from the GBL and sent him immediately to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats where he went right into the starting rotation including starting and winning the playoff opener. He began his pro career as the first round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2000 out of Cal State Fullerton, the second overall pick in the draft that year. After 5 years in the Twins organization, including two stints with the big league club he was released after playing in Triple-A Rochester in 2004. The San Diego resident started the 2005 campaign with the Puebla Parrotts of the Mexican League but left early in the season to join the Surf Dawgs to continue his career and show major league organizations his abilities. Before being acquired by the A's his record in the GBL was 8 wins and 1 loss with a 2nd-best GBL E.R.A of 2.58. He averaged over 10 strikeouts per 9 innings with 87 in 77 innings pitched while walking only 25 batters. He was named to the GBL All-Star team and was selected was selected as GBL Pitcher of the Week on three occasions. Johnson was one of 13 players that the GBL has sold to major league organizations so far this year, but the only one to go directly to Triple-A.



Golden Baseball League Stories from October 10, 2005


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