Ryan Raburn Named Topps IL Player of the Month

July 11, 2007 - International League (IL1) News Release

ST. PETERSBURG, FL-The Topps Company of New York, in conjunction with Minor League Baseball, announces the June Topps Minor League Baseball Players of the Month in the domestic full-season leagues.

Ryan Raburn (26) of Plant City, FL, was among the top six in batting average (.348), home runs (6) and RBIs (24) in the International League last month. The Toledo Mud Hens outfielder hit in 24 of 28 games, had five 3-hit games and scored 22 runs. The Detroit Tigers, who chose Raburn with their 5th round pick in 2001, brought him up to the big league club last week.

Ronny Cedeno (24) of Venezuela, spent all of 2006 and this April with the parent Chicago Cubs. He hit a respectable .281 in May after getting sent down to the Iowa Cubs. Last month, Cedeno tore up the Pacific Coast League with a .446 average, eight homers and 20 RBIs. The shortstop recorded 15 multi-hit games, including a 5-for-6 night with three doubles on June 26 against Albuquerque. The Cubs signed Cedeno, who raised his batting average nearly 100 points (.293 to .390) in June, as a non-drafted free agent in 1999.

Steven Pearce (24) of Lakeland, FL, led the Eastern League in the Triple Crown categories last month to claim its June award. The Altoona Curve first baseman hit .404 with 8 homers and 34 RBIs in 27 games. Pearce, who tied a Curve record by driving in a run in six consecutive games, plated five runs on two different occasions in June. He added a dozen doubles and a triple, resulting in an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of 1.229. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Pearce in the 8th round in 2005 out of the University of South Carolina.

Kevin Hart (24) of Plano, TX, rebounded from a winless May with a perfect 4-0 mark in June for the Tennessee Smokies. The right-hander posted a 2.54 ERA in six starts. His 38 strikeouts were second-best in the Southern League for June. Originally drafted by Baltimore in the 11th round in 2004 out of the University of Maryland, Hart was traded to the Chicago Cubs last December.

Landon Powell (25) of Longwood, FL, got off to a slow start this season hitting just .186 in April and .238 in May. However, Powell found his stroke in June for the Midland RockHounds. The switch-hitting catcher reeled off a 20-game hitting streak and led the Texas League in average (.425), homers (8) and RBIs (26). The Oakland Athletics, who drafted Powell in the first round out of the University of South Carolina in 2004, promoted him to Triple-A Sacramento after he played in the Texas League All-Star Game.

Chris Davis (21) of Longview, TX, hit in his last 20 June California League games and his streak is now at 28. The Bakersfield Blaze third baseman hit. .354 in the month with seven homers and a league-best 31 RBIs. The Texas Rangers tabbed Davis in the 5th round in 2006 out of Navarro College in Texas.

Kala Ka'aihue (22) of Failva, HI, hit 13 homers and had 31 RBIs for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 53 games in 2006. He almost matched those totals in June. Ka'aihue hit .378 with nine homers and 25 RBIs to win Carolina League honors. His homer and RBI totals were tops in the circuit, as were his 70 total bases. The cleanup hitting first baseman had an 11-game hit streak to begin June and plated at least a run in nine straight games from June 2-12, including four on two occasions. The Atlanta Braves signed Ka'aihue as a free agent in 2005.

Mat Gamel (21) of Neptune Beach, FL, had two hits in a May 28 game. Gamel added two more the next two games. He kept on hitting and hitting for the Brevard County Manatees the entire month of June. The third basemen wound up hitting in all 26 June games and 33 straight Florida State League games overall. Gamel hit .421 last month with a dozen multi-hit games, 12 doubles, four triples, two homers and 20 RBIs. The Milwaukee Brewers selected Gamel in the 4th round out of Chipola (FL) Junior College in 2005.

Gerardo Parra (20) of Venezuela, led the Dominican Summer League in batting average two seasons ago. Last year he finished in the top 10 in the Pioneer League. This year the South Bend Silver Hawks outfielder is fourth in the Midwest League with a .332 average. Parra hit a league-best .396 in June, thanks in large part to 14-multi-hit games, including seven 3-hit contests. The Arizona Diamondbacks inked Parra as a non-drafted free agent in 2004.

Desmond Jennings (20) of Birmingham, AL, proved to be the prototypical leadoff hitter for the Columbus Catfish in the South Atlantic League last month. The outfielder hit. 378, scored 20 runs in 22 games and was 14 for 17 in stolen bases. Jennings also had eight doubles, two triples, four homers and 18 RBIs. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted him in the 10th round in 2006 out of Itawamba Community College (MS).

PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH STATISTICS FOR JUNE, 2007

League Winner Club/Org. POS. AVG. HR RBI W-L ERA

International Ryan Raburn Toledo/DET OF .348 6 24

Pacific Coast Ronny Cedeno Iowa/CHI-NL SS .446 8 20

Eastern Steven Pearce Altoona/PIT 1B .404 8 34

Southern Kevin Hart Tennessee/CHI-NL P 4-0 2.54

Texas Landon Powell Midland/OAK C .425 8 26

California Chris Davis Bakersfield/TEX 3B .354 7 31

Carolina Kala Ka'aihue Myrtle Beach/ATL 1B .378 9 25

Florida State Mat Gamel Brevard Co./MIL 3B .421 2 20

Midwest Gerardo Parra South Bend/ARZ OF .396 1 15

South Atlantic Desmond Jennings Columbus/TB OF .378 4 18

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