EL1 Eastern League

Trenton Alum Josh Hancock Passes Away

May 1, 2007 - Eastern League (EL1) News Release


The Trenton Thunder and the Eastern League are in mourning following the loss of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock. Hancock, 29, passed away early Sunday morning following a car accident on Interstate 64 in St. Louis.

"The pain our organization feels today is unspeakable," said Cardinals Principal Owner Bill DeWitt Jr. "Josh was a great competitor with a strong will to win. His fellow Cardinals will tell you that Josh was a consummate teammate with a terrific spirit that served him well on the mound and in the clubhouse."

Josh, who was a key contributor on the World Series Champion Cardinals club last season, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1998 and pitched part of two seasons as a member of the Trenton Thunder. In 39 appearances with the Thunder during the 2001 and 2002 seasons, Hancock had a record of 11-10 with 188 strikeouts and a 3.64 ERA in 215.1 innings of work.

The Thunder have plans to remember Hancock before their game on Tuesday at Waterfront Park against New Hampshire with a moment of silence, a video tribute and a display on the concourse.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Defenders Announce Auction Winner

Earlier this season the Connecticut Defenders teamed up with AuctionKings to present an eBay auction that would give one lucky fan the chance to host their own promotional night at Dodd Stadium. The auction was held over a span of 10 days prior to the start of the season and the winning fans is Kyle Evered. Kyle's father Stuart, a native of Ledyard, Connecticut placed the winning $3,500 bid that among other things will have a bobblehead made in his son's likeness to be distributed at Dodd Stadium before a game during the Defenders last homestand of the season from August 27-30. The timing for this special event could not be better, as Kyle turns nine years old on August 30th.

Kyle's father, Stuart, came across the auction while surfing on eBay. He wasn't looking for anything in particular and came across the unique offer. "I saw it and thought, wow, that's pretty awesome," said Stuart. "It was such an innovative idea." Kyle would probably be very excited to know about this, but don't tell him. "It's going to be a surprise," said Stuart. Kyle, a baseball fan and Little League participant will show up to Dodd Stadium in late August as an unsuspecting fan close to his ninth birthday to find 1,000 bobbleheads made in his likeness.

"We're delighted Kyle has joined us in enhancing our promotional schedule," said Defenders General Manager Charlie Dowd. "The Connecticut Defenders are looking forward to a great event and a great birthday party."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cliff Lee Rehabs In Akron

Cleveland Indians left-handed starter Cliff Lee returned to the Eastern League to make a rehab appearance with the Akron Aeros in their game against the Reading Phillies at Canal Park last Friday night. Lee, who previously made rehab appearances with Kinston and Buffalo while recovering from an abdominal strain, allowed just two hits and one walk and struck out seven batters in five shutout innings of work to earn the win for the Aeros.

Lee, 28, previously pitched in the Eastern League with the Harrisburg Senators in 2002 and with the Aeros in 2002 and 2003. In 20 appearances between those two seasons, Lee compiled a record of 10-3 with 136 strikeouts and a 3.37 ERA in 136 innings pitched.

It is expected that Cliff will make his season debut for the Indians in their series against the Toronto Blue Jays later this week.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trenton's Shawn Garrett Hits For The Cycle

Trenton Thunder outfielder Shawn Garrett became the first player in the 14-year history of the franchise to hit for the cycle when he went 4-for-5 with a single, a double, a triple and a home run in an 8-5 victory over the Harrisburg Senators at Commerce Bank Park on Saturday night. Garrett started his day with an RBI triple in the first inning, grounded out in the third, doubled in the fifth, singled in the seventh and finished his day with a solo homer in the eighth. Garrett is the first Eastern League player to hit for the cycle since Erie's Juan Francia did it against Akron on August 9, 2005.

Commerce Bank Park is a popular location for historical Thunder moments, as the ballpark was also the site of the first and only no-hitter in franchise history when Tyler Clippard blanked the Senators on August 17 last season.

Garrett is hitting .299 (20-for-67) with five doubles, two homers, seven runs scored, six RBI and six walks in 17 games for the Thunder this season. The 28-year old previously played in the Eastern League in 2003 and 2004 as a member of the Altoona Curve. In 255 games with Altoona Shawn hit .289 (277-for-957) with 53 doubles, 14 triples, 24 home runs, 140 RBI and 139 runs scored.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eastern league Team News and Notes

For the week ending 4/29/07

Akron Aeros

E.L. Player of the Week Jordan Brown is batting .516 over his last 10 games to raise his average to .319, which is tied for 11th in the league. SS Asdrubal Cabrera has at least one hit in 16 of the last 18 games he has played in this season, and has collected at least one hit in each of the eight games he has played at Canal Park, where he is batting .438 with eight runs scored this season. Cabrera also leads the league in runs scored, with 20.

Altoona Curve

1B/DH Randy Ruiz has reached base safely in 19 of Altoona's first 20 games this season. The two-time Eastern League All-Star is batting .333 (24-for-72) with five doubles, four homers and 18 RBI during that span. Brett Roneberg and Neil Walker's home runs in Sunday's loss at Binghamton marked the Curve's first multi-homer game of the season.

Binghamton Mets

Binghamton starting pitchers finished the week giving up only six earned runs in their last four games, good for a 2.53 ERA in 21.2 innings of work. The B-Mets took two of three from Altoona over the weekend to win a series for the first time in their last 14 tries. Binghamton last won a series August 1-3, 2006 at New Britain. The B-Mets have held a lead in each of their last five contests but have won only twice.

Bowie Baysox

INF Luis Hernandez went 0-for-4 on Friday in Altoona to snap an 11-game hitting streak. Hernandez hit .400 (18-for-45) with five doubles, a triple and 10 RBI during the streak. In 22 games for the Baysox this season, Hernandez is hitting .284, with six doubles, two triples and 16 RBI. RHP Felix Romero is 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA and a league-high 28 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of relief this season.

Erie SeaWolves

1B Jeff Larish has driven in a league-high 23 runs in 20 games for the SeaWolves this season. RHP Dallas Trahern gave up two runs in six innings of work to pick up his league-best fourth win of the season in Erie's 4-2 win against Akron last Thursday.

Harrisburg Senators

On Friday the Senators returned home with Mike Mussina scheduled to pitch for Trenton. Mussina didn't pitch because of the possibility of bad weather, but the team still drew over 14,000 fans to the three-game series, including a season-high 5,600 fans on Sunday.

New Britain Rock Cats

LHP Brian Duensing pushed his record to 2-0 on the season with a 3-1 road victory over the Defenders on Sunday. The 24-year-old went seven innings, the longest outing of the year for any Rock Cats hurler. The team has won all four games that Duensing has started this season. The Rock Cats had three walk-off wins last week, thanks to a three-run homer by 2B Luke Hughes, an RBI single by OF Matt Allegra and sac fly by INF Gil Velazquez.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

After starting the season by going 1-for-20, SS Sergio Santos has collected 17 hits in his last 45 at bats (.378) with six homers, nine doubles and 13 RBI in his last 12 games. Santos has already hit more homers this season than he did all of last year when playing for Triple-A Syracuse. The Fisher Cats completed their best April in franchise history with a record of 12-7. New Hampshire starters were 10-5 with a 2.98 ERA during the month.

Connecticut Defenders

Connecticut manager Dave Machemer is just one win away from his 1,200th career victory. RHP Chris Begg has pitched 21 straight scoreless innings and has not allowed a walk in his last 24.2 innings of work. The Defenders pitching staff had a team ERA of 2.12 last week but won just two out of their five games.

Portland Sea Dogs

OF Jacoby Ellsbury has reached base in 23 straight games dating back to last season and he currently has a 13-game hitting streak, the longest streak for a Sea Dog since Chris Durbin hit in 13 straight games from July 25-August 11 in 2005. Ellsbury's .455 batting average is the best in minor league baseball and his .507 OBP ranks third. OF Cory Keylor established a new career-high in RBI with five in Saturday's 10-5 win against New Hampshire.

Reading Phillies

SS Jesus Merchan is tied for the team lead with 13 RBI. Merchan, who also played in Reading last year, did not knock in his 13th run of 2006 until June 13th. RHP Anderson Garcia leads the league with six saves in six opportunities. RHP Bubba Nelson has not allowed a run in his last five appearances, striking out seven batters in 6.1 innings of work during that span.

Trenton Thunder

With their 5-1 win over Harrisburg on Sunday the Thunder tied the franchise record for wins in April (17). LHP Chase Wright came back to Trenton after making two starts with the Yankees and gave up two runs in six innings to improve his record to 2-0 on the year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transactions

Akron Aeros

None

Altoona Curve

Released RHP Jonathan Albaladejo

Activated RHP Mike Nannini from the DL

Placed LHP Josh Shortslef on the Temporary Inactive List

Placed OF Vic Buttler on the DL

Activated RHP Matt Meath from the DL

Sent INF Chris Truby to Indianapolis (AAA)

Placed RHP Mike Nannini on the DL

Sent C Milver Reyes to Indianapolis (AAA)

Signed INF Jason Bowers and Assigned To Altoona (AA)

Received C Carlos Maldonado from Indianapolis (AAA)

Activated LHP Josh Shortslef from the Temporary Inactive List

Binghamton Mets

Sent C Robinson Cancel to New Orleans (AAA)

Received C Mike Nickeas from Brooklyn (A)

Activated 2B Wilson Batista from the DL

Sent 2B Wilson Batista to St. Lucie (A)

Bowie Baysox

Sent INF Pete Maestrales to Frederick (A)

Received OF Ruddy Yan from Norfolk (AAA)

Placed OF Nolan Reimold on the DL

Received C Matt Pulley from Aberdeen (A)

Erie SeaWolves

None

Harrisburg Senators

Placed OF Tony Blanco on the DL

Activated INF Brandon Larson from the DL

New Britain Rock Cats

Received RHP Tristan Crawford from Rochester (AAA)

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Sent C Erik Kratz to Syracuse (AAA)

Received INF Juan Peralta from Dunedin (A)

Connecticut Defenders

None

Portland Sea Dogs

Received INF Iggy Suarez from Lancaster (A)

Placed INF David Bacani on the DL

Reading Phillies

Sent C Dusty Wathan to Ottawa (AAA)

Activated C Jason Hill from the Temporary Inactive List

Placed OF Branden Florence on the DL

Received OF Pedro Swann from Ottawa (AAA)

Trenton Thunder

None

Check out the Eastern League Statistics



Eastern League Stories from May 1, 2007


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central