AtL Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

The Great 'Dane' with Tampa

Published on July 22, 2011 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs News Release


Waldorf, MD - The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs saw their second former player this season reach the major-league level as former reliever Dane De La Rosa was promoted the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night after spending the entire 2011 season with the Rays triple-A affiliate in Durham, NC.

The Torrance, CA native pitched for the Blue Crabs in 2009 where he went 1-1 with a 1.11 ERA in 18 relief appearances while recording three saves.

De La Rosa's path to the majors was a circuitous one at best. The 28-year old was released by both the Yankees and the Brewers before playing for six different teams (including the Blue Crabs) in three independent leagues. In fact, he was out of baseball in 2006 selling real estate before returning to the game in 2007.

In his career, De La Rosa is 22-24 with a 4.04 ERA in 238 minor league games. He was 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 35 games for the Durham Bull before his promotion.

The right-hander made his major-league debut on Wednesday against the vaunted New York Yankees when he came on in the eighth inning for All-Star David Price. He wound up striking out he first hitter he faced; Mark Teixeira. Ironically, the Yankees were the first team to sign De La Rosa in the 24th round of the 2002 draft.

De La Rosa joins former Blue Crabs starter Mike O'Connor in reaching the majors this season. O'Connor, who also pitched for the Blue Crabs in '09 going 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA in four starts, appeared as a reliever for the New York Mets this season going 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA in nine appearances. He is currently pitching for the Mets triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, NY.

Southern Maryland and Somerset will square off in game two of a three-game series Friday at 7:05. The Blue Crabs will send righty Michael Schlact (4-1, 4.02 ERA) to the hill against southpaw Derrick Gordon (6-0, 1.60 ERA) of the Patriots. The game can be heard on www.somdbluecrabs.com.

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Atlantic League Stories from July 22, 2011


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