After hearing yesterday that 50-year-old Roger Clemens is making a comeback in the independent Atlantic League on a team which features several former Major Leaguers, I was intrigued about what other stars of yesteryear I might find hidden throughout baseball’s various Indy Leagues. Independent leagues are minor leagues that are not affiliated with any Major League clubs, and Indy League rosters have a lot in common with the casts of direct-to-DVD movies: one or two recognizable names hidden amongst a pile of Jane and John Does.
Reading through the rosters of independent league teams can be a trip down memory lane. It can also be a trip that helps you discover the whereabouts of Jason Lane, the former Houston Astro who I found playing for Clemens’ new team, the Sugar Land Express of the Atlantic League. I quickly decided that the world needs to know about the Jason Lane’s still playing baseball in places like Newark, Bridgeport and Rockland, and I decided to take you on a light-heartened journey which highlights eight interesting, former Big Leaguers currently playing Indy Ball:
Angel Berroa, New Jersey Jackals, Can-Am League
How does the 2003 AL Rookie of the Year end-up in Indy Ball? Former Royal Berroa has no on-base skills (career .303 OBP) and he can’t field (career .965 Fielding %), and it’s a wonder that he actually lasted 8 seasons in the Show with stats like that. Berroa is posting a .902 OPS in Indy Ball this year, and has played left field, second base and shortstop. Somewhere, a National League team may have found their 25th man.
Pedro Feliz, Camden Riversharks, Atlantic League
Feliz always could hit for some power in the Show (4 seasons with 20 homeruns or more), but his career .288 OBP punched him a one-way ticket to Indy Ball in 2011. Feliz has an .836 OPS this year, but just 11 walks in 212 plate appearances, which is more of an indictment of Feliz’s legendary hacker tendencies than it is about the ease of hitting Atlantic League pitching.
Jose Canseco, Worcester Tornadoes, Can-Am League
What more needs to be said about baseball’s favourite juicer? At 47, Canseco is batting .194 with 1 home run in 20 games in the Can-Am League this year. Jose needs to start eating the type of corn flakes which made him such a feared slugger in the Majors, or else quit baseball before he loses any remaining shred of dignity. Even Satchel Paige eventually realized that he needed to retire from baseball.
Armando Benitez, Long Island Ducks, Atlantic League
Being a current or former closer for the Mets means that you are destined to continue playing well after you should have retired (John Franco), that you may have been charged with a committing a violent crime during your career (Frank Francisco), or both (Francisco Rodriguez). In Benitez’s case, his 5.96 ERA and 1.81 WHIP this year in Indy Ball should tell him loud and clear what he needs to do this offseason.
Gustavo Chacin, Rockland Boulders, Can-Am League
Chacin had a cologne fragrance named after him in 2006, one season after his only decent year in the Show (13-9, 3.94 ERA). Unfortunately, the former Jay has a different kind of smell associated with his pitching these days, as he has surrendered 115 hits and 11 bombs in just over 100 innings in Indy Ball. Yikes.
Shea Hillenbrand, Bridgeport Bluefish, Atlantic League
When Hillenbrand was traded by the Blue Jays in 2006, he wrote “the ship is sinking” on the team chalkboard as a parting shot. Ironically, Hillenbrand would last only one more season in the Show before he washed upon the shores of the Atlantic League in 2008. After 4 years away from the game, Shea is back, but he is getting “swamped” by Indy League pitching, posting a measly .590 OPS.
Tony Phillips, Edinburg Roadrunners, North American League
Yes, he’s that Tony Phillips. The 53-year-old had over 2,000 career hits in the Show, last played for Oakland in 1999, and is posting a .682 OPS with 2 steals in Indy Ball this year. As Lloyd Christmas stated in Dumb and Dumber, “senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose”.
Scott Kazmir, Sugar Land Skeeters, Atlantic League
If you thought Kazmir was done when he was released by the Angels in 2011 after posting an ERA above 17.00 in Triple-A, check out his stats this year in Indy Ball: 7.89 ERA, 1.99 WHIP in 8 starts. Don’t feel too sorry for Scott, he made nearly $31 million during his Major League career.
The Indy Leagues are not quite the garbage dump I have made them out to be. Some Indy Leaguers, such as Scott Richmond, have parlayed strong showings in unaffiliated baseball into Major League contracts and experience. Others have gone to independent baseball after spending significant time in the Show, and have earned a return trip to the Majors. In July of this year, former MLB veteran Lew Ford did the latter when he went from the Atlantic League to the Baltimore Orioles, making his first appearance in the Majors in five years, long after many had written him off for good. But for every Lew Ford success story, there are ten Scott Kazmir stories in the independent leagues of baseball.
…and that’s the Last Word.
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