from Bill Hass on Baseball at gsohoppers.com. A very good piece on local baseball that many of you may have missed unless we brought it over here to the web site…..
There are Grasshoppers in the major leagues.
Not to mention Bats, Hornets and one G-Yank.
Those references are to folks who wore one of various Greensboro uniforms and are now plying their trade in the majors. By my count – always susceptible to missing someone – as of April 30 there are 24 players (five on the disabled list), two managers and 16 coaches with a connection to Greensboro. That’s a total of 42 big-leaguers with Greensboro ties.
Eligibility is simple: you must have played, managed or coached here. The one who dates back the longest is Mel Stottlemyre, now the pitching coach for Seattle after being out of baseball last year. Stottlemyre pitched for the Greensboro Yankees in 1962, compiling a 17-9 record. He was the long-time pitching for the New York Yankees before taking some time off to be treated for cancer.
There are a couple of new names on this year’s list. The Yankees just called up Shelley Duncan, who played here in 2002, the last time the Yanks were affiliated with Greensboro. Shortstop Robert Andino, who played here in 2003-04, the first two years of the Florida Marlins’ affiliation, is currently with the big club. Kansas City’s manager is Trey Hillman, a former Hornets manager who managed in Japan the last several years.
A few names from last season are missing. Pitchers Tony Armas, Yhency Brazoban and Chris Spurling are back in the minors. Outfielder Reggie Sanders filed for free agency and went unsigned.
Things are constantly changing, so this list won’t look the same in a month as it does now. Still, the core should remain pretty steady. So, without further ado, here it is:
THE PLAYERS
C – Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay; Jorge Posada, NY Yankees (DL).
1B – Shelley Duncan, NY Yankees; Nick Johnson, Washington.
2B – Robinson Cano, NY Yankees.
3B – Mike Lowell, Boston.
SS – Robert Andino. Florida; Cristian Guzman, Washington; Derek Jeter, NY Yankees.
OF – Jeremy Hermida, Florida; Wily Mo Pena, Washington; Marcus Thames, Detroit.
P – Randy Choate, Milwaukee (DL); Randy Flores, St. Louis; Josh Johnson, Florida (DL); Logan Kensing, Florida; Scott Olson, Florida; Andy Pettitte, NY Yankees; Chris Resop, Atlanta; Mariano Rivera, NY Yankees; Curt Schilling, Boston (DL); Russ Springer, St. Louis; Taylor Tankersley, Florida; Jason Vargas, NY Mets (DL).
THE COACHES
Here’s the list of coaches, separated by their specialty. (A bench coach, by the way, is like a senior advisor, an experienced coach or former manager who sits next to the manager in the dugout and watches for things – strategy, positioning players, etc. – that might make a difference in a game.)
Managers – Fredi Gonzalez, Florida; Trey Hillman, Kansas City.
Bench – Brian Butterfield, Toronto; Bob Schaefer, LA Dodgers; Carlos Tosca, Florida.
Hitting – Gary Denbo, Toronto; Derek Shelton, Cleveland.
Pitching – Brad Arnsberg, Toronto; Mark Connor, Texas; Mel Stottlemyre, Seattle.
First base – Andy Fox, Florida; Tom Nieto, NY Mets; Roberto Kelly, San Francisco, Marty Pevey, Toronto.
Third base – Bo Porter, Florida.
Bullpen – Steve Foster, Florida; Marty Mason, St. Louis.
Special Assignment – Don Mattingly, LA Dodgers.
TEAM BY TEAM
And, for those of you who want to see the breakdown by individual teams, here’s the list of players and coaches in that fashion. The Marlins lead with 11 Greensboro representatives, the Yankees have six, the Blue Jays four (all coaches) and the Cardinals and Nationals three each.
Boston (2) – Mike Lowell, Curt Schilling.
Cleveland (1) – Derek Shelton.
Detroit (1) – Marcus Thames.
Kansas City (1) – Trey Hillman.
NY Yankees (6) – Robinson Cano, Shelley Duncan, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera.
Seattle (1) – Mel Stottlemyre.
Tampa Bay (1) – Dioner Navarro.
Texas (1) – Mark Connor.
Toronto (4) – Brad Arnsberg, Brian Butterfield, Gary Denbo, Marty Pevey.
Atlanta (1) – Chris Resop.
Florida (11) – Robert Andino, Steve Foster, Andy Fox, Fredi Gonzalez, Jeremy Hermida, Josh Johnson, Logan Kensing, Scott Olson, Bo Porter, Taylor Tankersley, Carlos Tosca.
LA Dodgers (2) – Mattingly, Schaeffer.
Milwaukee (1) – Randy Choate.
NY Mets (2) – Tom Nieto, Jason Vargas.
St. Louis (3) – Randy Flores, Marty Mason, Russ Springer.
San Francisco (1) – Roberto Kelly.
Washington (3) – Cristian Guzman, Nick Johnson, Wily Mo Pena.
Bill Hass has watched and covered minor league baseball in Greensboro since 1979.