Nick Cavanaugh and Wikie Gonzalez Named Golden Baseball League Safeway Players of the Week

July 28, 2008 - Golden Baseball League (GBL) News Release


(Dublin, CA. July 28, 2008) The Golden Baseball League (GBL) announced today that RHP Nick Cavanaugh of the Long Beach Armada has been named Safeway Pitcher of the Week while C Wiki Gonzalez of the St. George Roadrunners has been named Safeway Player of the Week for their performances during the ninth week of the 2008 Golden Baseball League season, ending July 27th. This selection was for an extra-long "week" as it included the three days in the preceding week that followed the All-Star game. Dates for this selection include July 17 - 27.

Cavanaugh, 26, 6-3, 210 lbs is a right-handed pitcher who began his professional career in the independent Frontier League after playing collegiate baseball at the University of Redlands in southern California. During his second season of independent baseball his contract was purchased by the Houston Astros and he spent two years in their minor league farm system reaching the High-A Carolina League in 2007 as a relief pitcher. Released in the off-season he joined the Long Beach Armada and has been their closer all year. His performance in the last week included 5 appearances where he gave up no earned runs, only two hits, struck out five, walked none, and recorded three saves. For the season he has now lowered his E.R.A. to 1.27 and has only been scored on twice in 22 appearances. He leads the GBL in saves with 11 and has struck out 22 and walked only 6 in 22.1 innings pitched.

Gonzalez, 33, was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a 17 year old out of Aragua, Venezuela in 1992. Rising quickly through the Pirates system, he was acquired by the San Diego Padres in the 1996 Rule 5 minor league draft. He flourished in the Padres organization both defensively and with his bat hitting .300, .388 and .347 in three seasons before debuting in the big leagues in 1999. He spent the next five years in the majors with the Padres before being traded in a blockbuster six player deal to the Seattle Mariners for Bryan Sweeney, Jeff Cirillo and cash before the 2005 season. He played a year for Seattle and then played with the Washington Nationals in 2006 and spent all of last season with the Chicago White Sox' AAA team in Charlotte. Signed by the St. George Roadrunners in the off-season he had a spectacular week as he led the league in batting average as he hit at a .528 clip going 19 for 36 with two home runs and a league-leading 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored. The GBL All-Star catcher has now raised his season average to .387 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs in 48 games played.



Golden Baseball League Stories from July 28, 2008


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