Steve Delebar, Dylan Axelrod Make News for Indy Leaguers

Well-traveled veteran Joey Gathright, who has played in three leagues in the last two summers, became the record-tying poster boy as the 40 ^th Independent player to wear a major league uniform this season, but the speedy outfielder will have to do something truly special for the Boston Red Soxif he is to take the spotlight away from recent call-ups Dylan Axelrodand Steve Delabar.

While the record still can be broken as more affiliated playoffs end, the 40 Indy players in the majors in a single season equals what is believed to be the all-time high for any year, pulling even with 2003.

Gathright started his 10 ^th professional season with 21 appearances and a meager .190 batting average for defending American Associationchampion Shreveport-Bossier, LA, then the 29-year-old stole 20 bases and hit .347 in 61 games in the North American League (Yuma, AZ)before the Red Sox bought his contract and put him in four games in Pawtucket, RIbefore bringing him to Fenway Park.

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FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE

www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com ADDED TO www.IndyBaseballChatter.com

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Delabar Gets First Victory; Axelrod Deserved One

First-time major leaguers Dylan Axelrod (Chicago White Sox)and Steve Delebar (Seattle)have given Independent Baseball another big dose of national publicity in the last 24 hours.

Axelrod, only two seasons removed from pitching in the shadow of Chicagofor the Windy City ThunderBolts (Crestwood, IL)of the Frontier League, did more than his share to end Detroit’slongest winning streak in 77 years by limiting the postseason-bound Tigersto six hits and two runs while striking out eight in six innings during his first major league start Wednesday.  Departing with a 5-2 cushion, the White Sox’s bullpen coughed up the lead and lost 6-5 in 10 innings.

Hours later on the West Coast, Delebar, fully recovered from a career-threatening injury suffered in the second of his two seasons at Brockton , MAin the Can-Am League, got his first major league victory, slowing down the latest march to the playoffs of the New York Yankees. Delebar, who also pitched in the Frontier League (Florence, KY), worked a scoreless 12 ^th inning and benefitted from Luis Rodriguez’swalkoff home run.

The 10 ^th and 11 ^th innings for Seattle, also hitless frames against the Yankees, were hurled by Tom Wilhelmsen, whose five-year layoff from baseball ended when he worked for Tucson , AZ in the Golden Leaguein 2008.

Only five months removed from substitute teaching and helping coach a high school team, Delebar may be starting to make a statement in the majors.  Only five of his 25 pitches so far have been out of the strike zone.  “For it to go the way it has, I just tell people it’s awesome,” he told ESPN.com.   “That’s the word I tell people—awesome, great, amazing.  I love it.”

      Veteran catcher A. J. Pierzynskiwas among those praising the 26-year-old Axelrod, who is expected to get another start against Cleveland Tuesday.  “He’s a smaller guy, but he creates a good angle to make the ball sink and cut,” Pierzynski told The Chicago Tribune.   “And he throws strikes and works fast, and that’s what you are looking for.”

Atlantic League Celebrates Its 25,000,000 ^th Spectator

This will be a huge weekend for the Atlantic Leagueas it wraps up the regular season.  Attendance for the 14 seasons will reach the 25 million plateau, with our unofficial count showing this very night (Thursday) started only 5,039 shy of the happy number.

Long Island , NY recently marked its 600 ^th sellout, one more reason to earn a tip of our hat.

( This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.  Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com , enjoy his blogs, www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com , or comment to RWirz@aol.com .  The author has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT. )