A couple of relative old-timers (they were Cardinals, not Firebirds) lead off the Orleans Firebirds 2013 alumni report.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Distinguished Cards
It was not a banner year in the bigs for former Orleans Cardinals and Firebirds, but two of the franchise’s best all-time players were in the news. Frank Thomas, who played for Orleans in 1988, has been selected for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame while Todd Helton, who manned the same first-base bag six years later for the Cardinals, closed out a tremendous career in Colorado.
Thomas is in that group of late-80’s, early 90’s Cape League alumni that really started to carry the torch into Major League Baseball, along with players like Jeff Bagwell, Robin Ventura, Craig Biggio and Mo Vaughn. That generation is into retirement now and the Hall of Fame has started calling for the best of them. Currently, just two Cape League alums are in Cooperstown – Carlton Fisk and Pie Traynor.
Thomas will be No. 3, the first of a new generation that should grow the Cape League’s ranks in Cooperstown. Thomas was a two-time MVP who hit .301 for his 19-year career, to go with 501 homers.
Helton may someday join Thomas in the Hall, but at the very least, he’ll go down as the greatest Colorado Rockies player of all time. Helton finished a 17-year career with a .316 career average and 369 home runs. In his final game at Coors Field in September, he blasted a home run.
MVP keeps rising
Kolten Wong became an Orleans and Cape League favorite when he turned down a Team USA offer to spend the summer of 2010 at Eldredge Park. He turned in an MVP season and has been on the fast track ever since.
Wong made his Major League debut for the St. Louis Cardinals this year after flying through the minors. He hit .301 with 24 homers in parts of three minor league seasons before getting the call to the St. Louis on August 16. He hit .153 in limited action for the Cardinals, but will almost certainly be a bigger part of their future plans.
MLB Notables
The best of the new generation of Orleans alumni is probably Matt Wieters (Orleans ’06) and he continues to establish himself as one of the steadiest catchers in the game. While he has yet to have a break-out, MVP-type campaign, Wieters has been consistent since 2011. He hit .235 this year with 22 homers…Nate Freiman (Orleans ’07 & ’08) was never at the top of prospect lists on the Cape but the 6’8 first baseman has quickly risen the ranks in Oakland. He made his debut this spring and hit .274 in a platoon role for the A’s…This season did not include a World Series title, but Brandon Crawford (Orleans ’07) still delivered a pretty solid encore as San Francisco’s starting shortstop. Crawford hit .248 with a career-high nine home runs.
MLB Debuts
Nate Freiman (Orleans ’07 & ’08) – Oakland, April 3
Kolten Wong (Orleans ’10) – St. Louis, August 16
Steven Wright (Orleans ’05 – Boston, April 23
MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Big Arm
Baseball America’s scouting report of Marcus Stroman following the 2010 Cape Cod League season began, “Though he’s just 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds…” and pretty much every scouting report since includes a variation on that phrase.
But it doesn’t seem to be slowing the flame-throwing righty down.
Following his stint in Orleans and a tremendous career at Duke, Stroman was a first-round pick of the Blue Jays and he has rocketed through their system. Even with a 50-game suspension for a positive amphetamines test, Stroman ended the 2013 season at Double A. He had a 3.30 ERA to go with 129 strikeouts in 111 innings. There remains debate about Stroman’s future as a starter, but he’s been in the rotation every step of the way in pro ball and it appears he’ll get a shot at the next level sooner rather than later. Stroman was ranked as Toronto’s second-best prospect by Baseball America and could be in the bigs as early as next season.
Steady Rise for Tucker
Florida slugger Preston Tucker had a good amount of buzz coming into the 2010 Cape League season, but he struggled mightily, hitting just .113 for Orleans before finally getting his feet in a decent playoff stretch.
Tucker hasn’t had a season like that since.
A seventh-round pick of the Astros in 2012, Tucker hit .321 in his first year as a pro and continued to shine this past season. Between two levels, he hit .297 with 25 homers.
MILB Notables
Andrew Aplin (Orleans ’11) hit .278 for Houston’s entry in the California League and drove in a league-high 107 RBI . . . One of the newest Firebirds in pro ball, Conrad Gregor (Orleans ’12) hit .289 in his pro debut in Houston’s affiliate in the New York-Penn League . . . Jimmy Reed (Orleans ’12) had a 2.05 ERA mostly as a starter in the NY-Penn League . . . Jayce Boyd (Orleans ’11), a sixth round pick in 2012, advanced to the tough Florida State League in the Mets organization and held his own, hitting .292 after raking to a .361 clip in the South Atlantic League . . . Former Stony Brook standout Maxx Tissenbaum (Orleans ’11), an 11th-round pick in 2012, spent all of 2013 in the Class A Midwest League and hit .277 . . . Former Firebirds reliever Mike Hauschild (Orleans ’11) started 19 games between two levels in the Astros organization and had a 3.50 combined ERA . . . Matt Newman (Orleans ’10) hooked on with the Blue Jays organization as an undrafted free agent in 2011 and had his best pro season in 2013, hitting .290 . . . Steve Selsky (Orleans ’10) hit .297 with a .388 OBP for Cincinnati’s California League affiliate . . . A year ago, speedster Gary Brown (Orleans ’09) was the top prospect in the Giants system. He fell back a bit this year with a .231 average and only 17 steals in the Pacific Coast League, but his speed remains a hot commodity . . . Brad Boxberger (Orleans ’07; Chatham ’08) struggled as a starter in his first two years as a pro but has been a steady reliever ever since. He struck out 89 in 57.1 minor league innings this year before getting a call to San Diego for an 18-game stint in the bigs.