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The Chicago White Sox have supplied the Winston-Salem Warthogs with players since 1997. In 2003, the Marlins began furnishing players for the Greensboro Bats. That relationship continued when Greensboro moved from War Memorial Stadium to First Horizon Park and continues to this day at NewBridge Bank Park, the latest name for the state-of-the-art facility that opened in 2005. The team is now the Greensboro Grasshoppers, but its players still aspire to become Marlins.
Winston-Salem (18-23 at this writing) and Greensboro (25-22) are in third place in their respective divisions. The Hogs are 6 1/2 games behind the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Southern Division in the Carolina League, while the Hoppers trail the Lake County Captains by five games in the Northern Division of the South Atlantic League..
While local fans might want see these teams in first, major league organizations do not operate minor league teams so that they will win their minor league championships. They use minor league teams to develop the best of the players in hopes that these players will eventually help them win on the big league level.
And that’s what’s happening in both of these big league organizations, as both parent clubs are in first place. The White Sox were riding an eight game on Friday and were leading the Minnesota Twins by 3 1/2 games in the American League Central Division. Meanwhile, the Marlins were a game and a half ahead of the Atlanta Braves at the top of the National League east.
Ten years ago, the Most Valuable Player of the Carolina League was Joe Crede, then the third baseman for the Warthogs Today he is the White Sox third baseman., a position he has held regularly since 2002. Crede was an instrumental part of the Sox championship season of 2005 and hit 30 home runs for them the next year. This year, Crede has hit eight homers for Chicago, giving him 116 for his career so far.
Brian Anderson, who played for the Hogs in 2004, helps out in the outfield, and Boone Logan appeared out of the bullpen 19 times so far for the White Sox, and has done a good job of keeping them in games. Logan pitched a few games out of the Hogs bullpen in ‘05.
Of course, there are other ways a prospect can help an organization. Aaron Rowand played for the Warthogs in 1999,. Now he plays for the San Francisco Giants. What the Sox have to show for their investment in Rowand is designated hitter Jim Thome, who has hit nine homers for the Pale Hose this year. After the 2005 season, Chicago traded Rowand to the Philadelphia Phillies for Thome. For that matter center fielder Nick Swisher came to the White Sox this past off-season in a trade with the Oakland A’s for Ryan Sweeney, who played in Winston in ‘04.
Jeremy Hermida, the Marlins right fielder, played for the Greensboro Bats in 2003. This year he has hit five homers for the Big Fish.
Southpaw Scott Olsen is one of Florida’s top starters this year, with a 4-1, 2.82, record after his first nine games. Olsen was 7-9, 2.81, in 25 games for Bats in 2003. Logan Kensing, who started a few games for Greensboro in 2003 has been very effective out of the Marlins bullpen. The right-hander from San Antonio, Texas, is 3-0, 3.80, after 17 appearances. Taylor Tankersley, who struggled as a starter in 2005, is struggling out of the Marlins bullpen this year, but the southpaw could still come around.
An example of the Marlins using former Greensboro players as trade bait to fill out the current roster is veteran reliever Kevin Gregg, who the Marlins picked up last off-season in a trade for Chris Resop, who played outfield for Greensboro in ‘03 and pitched for the club in ‘04.
There are others on these two first place teams with local connections. Thome was the MVP of the Appalachian League in 1990 as the third baseman of the Burlington Indians. Andrew Miller, who starred for Carolina during the Tar Heels 2006 season that landed them in the finals of the college World Series is also starting for the Marlins. Infielder Wes Helms is a native of Gastonia.
It looks like 2008 will be another exciting Major League Baseball season featuring a lot of local heroes.
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 230, or at reid@tvilletimes.com.