MWL1 Kane County Cougars

MLB Postseason Includes Former Kane County Cougars

Published on October 6, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release


GENEVA, IL - The 2009 Major League Baseball Division Series begin Wednesday, and like most years the Kane County Cougars are well represented with some of their alumni in the hunt for a World Series title. Depending on the outcome of the tiebreaking game tonight between Detroit and Minnesota to decide the American League Central division, there could be as many as nine former Cougars participating in the '09 playoffs. Here is a breakdown of who is (or could be) participating:

Miguel Cabrera (Cougar in '01), IF, Tigers - Cabrera batted .323 in 159 games for the Tigers in the regular season with 33 homers and 101 RBIs. He finished 4th in the American League in both average and hits (196). Cabrera also batted .320 or higher for the fourth time in his career and posted his sixth straight season of 100-plus RBIs and 25-plus homers.

Nate Robertson ('99-'00), LHP, Tigers - Robertson missed significant time due to injury this season, going 2-3 with a 5.44 ERA in 28 games.

Mike Redmond ('93-'94), C, Twins - Redmond has been a full-time big leaguer for each of the past 10 seasons, the last five of which have come with the Twins. He appeared in 45 games during the regular season, serving as backup catcher to All-Star Joe Mauer.

The rest of the Cougars alumni in the '09 post-season...

Josh Beckett ('00), RHP, Red Sox - Beckett went 17-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 32 games in the regular season. It was the fourth time in five seasons he posted 15-plus victories, and he also threw four complete games in '09, behind only Roy Halladay and Zack Greinke.

Alex Gonzalez ('96), IF, Red Sox - Gonzalez was acquired August 14 from Cincinnati and batted .284 with five homers and 15 RBIs in 44 games for Boston, for whom he also played in '06.

A.J. Burnett ('98), RHP, Yankees - Burnett went 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA in 33 games in his first season with the Bronx Bombers. He logged 207 innings and totaled 195 strikeouts. This was also the seventh time in his career he has posted 10-plus wins, including the fifth in a row.

Huston Street ('04), RHP, Rockies - Street was one of the most reliable closers in baseball this season, saving 35 games in 37 chances for the Wild Card-winning Rockies. He worked in 64 games, and the 35 saves were two shy of his career high, which he established in '06 for the Cougars' parent club A's.

Andre Ethier ('03), OF, Dodgers - Much like he did in '08 for a playoff-bound club, Ethier showed a flair for the dramatic again in '09. In addition to batting .272 with 31 homers and 106 RBIs, he led the Dodgers and all of MLB with six walk-off hits, the most by anyone in one season since at least 1974. Four of the six walk-offs were homers, and Ethier has nine walk-off hits since the start of the '08 season, which also leads the majors. The slugger led the Dodgers this year in games (160), doubles (42), homers, RBIs and walks (72).

Ronald Belisario ('02), RHP, Dodgers - Belisario was one of eight former Cougars to debut in the big leagues in '09. He joined the Dodgers on April 7 as the 104th former Cougar to reach The Show. Over the course of the season he became one of manager Joe Torre's most reliable setup men, going 4-3 with a 2.04 ERA in 69 games.

Joe Blanton ('03), RHP, Phillies - Blanton went 12-8 with a 4.05 ERA in 31 games in his first full season with the defending World Series champs. He went 4-0 with the Phillies in the regular season in '08 before eventually pitching, winning and homering in Game 4 of the Fall Classic against Tampa Bay. Blanton logged 195 1/3 innings this season for Philadelphia and won 12-plus games for the fourth time in five major league seasons.

Scott Franzke ('99-'01), Phillies Radio - The former Cougars radio announcer is in his fourth season as a member of the Phillies' radio announcing team. Last year after the late Hall of Fame announcer Harry Kalas announced the final out of the Phils' World Series-clinching victory, Franzke was at field-level interviewing players amid the celebration. In '01 Franzke called Cougars games for the franchise's only Midwest League championship-winning club.

With more than 100 ex-Cougars having reached the Major Leagues in the past 20 years, there have certainly been some memorable postseason moments involving former Cougars. In 2003, a trio of young Cougars helped propel the Florida Marlins to the world championship. Twenty-somethings Josh Beckett (2000), Miguel Cabrera (2001) and Dontrelle Willis (2002) overcame a veteran-laden New York Yankees team that featured Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens and David Wells. Beckett earned the World Series MVP Award. Scott Podsednik (1997) had a flair for the dramatic in 2005 during his first go-round with the White Sox. Podsednik slugged a walk-off home run in Game 2 of the World Series against the Astros that fall, helping lead the South Siders to their first crown since 1917. Most recently, last fall's Phillies' squad was fueled in the World Series by Joe Blanton (2003). In Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Rays, Blanton provided six innings of precise mound work, and even slugged a home run - the first such World Series occurrence in 34 years.

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