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Spirit Ace John Kelly Purchased by Mariners

August 9, 2004 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
North Shore Spirit News Release


Lynn, MA – The contract of North Shore Spirit pitcher John Kelly was purchased today by the Seattle Mariners. Kelly will report to Tacoma, WA to play for the Triple A Tacoma Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League.

Kelly, 31, was originally selected by the New York Mets in the 11th round of the 1994 MLB Draft. He also played with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners, making it as high as Double-A in Orlando in 1998. This is his third year in the Northeast League and second with North Shore.

Kelly, who was chosen today by SportsTicker as the Northeast League's Pitcher of the Week (for the third time this season), struck out a career-high 16 batters, one short of the league record, in North Shore's 5-0 victory over Bangor on August 4. Kelly was selected to the 2004 All-Star Team, and ranks first in the league in strikeouts (110), first in complete games (4), first in shutouts (3), third in wins (8) and fourth in earned run average (2.60).

Kelly is the fourth Spirit player to be signed by a major league organization, and the second this month after Jeremy Sugarman was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds.

With the loss of Kelly, the Spirit will activate RHP Klae Calvert. Calvert, who pitched for the Spirit in 2003, has served as bullpen coach thus far. For the Spirit, Calvert was 8-5 with a 3.94 ERA. He was signed as a nondrafted free agent by Red Sox on Dec. 5, 1995 and has spent the last six seasons in the independent leagues.

The Spirit have also signed RHP Edison Reynoso, 28, who spent the 2003 season with the Double A Trenton Thunder in the Eastern League. Reynoso has a 16-12 career record with a 4.83 ERA.

Tuesday is Sovereign Bank Rally Towel Night, where the first 1,000 fans through the Fraser Field gates will receive a complimentary rally towel, courtesy of Sovereign Bank. The World Famous Monkey Boy will also make an appearance on Tuesday night and Citizens Bank presents Two for Tuesdays. If you have a Citizen's Bank debit card, you can show your card at the Spirit box office and receive two tickets for the price of one.

You can catch all Spirit games, home and away, on the flagship station of the North Shore Spirit, WESX 1230 AM. All games are also broadcast via the Internet on www.northshorespirit.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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