Results tagged ‘ Bill Buckner ’
Former Dodger, Ivan De Jesus, Joins PawSox
As the dust of Saturday’s mega-trade with between the Red Sox and Dodgers begins to settle, the PawSox have received their first player brought over in the deal.
On Sunday, infielder Ivan De Jesus, 25, was added to Pawtucket’s roster after playing most recently on August 23 with Triple-A Albuquerque in Memphis. Although the majority of his minor league career has been spent as a shortstop, De Jesus has played the bulk of this season at second base — where he has also played with the Dodgers.
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo on De Jesus:
“This is a guy who has had some pretty good years in the minor leagues…I think the [broken leg injury] kind of forced him completely under the radar, even in their own system. Maybe he’s a utility guy. When he’s been up he’s played some second base, he’s played some third, and can still play shortstop when needed.”
Before his lost 2009 season, De Jesus played in the 2008 Futures Game and had his best year in the minors, hitting .324. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
The injury Mayo referenced occurred durring a collision at home plate during Spring Training which caused him to miss the entire 2009 season. More recently, the infielder has missed some time this year with a tear of his left oblique he suffered in March while swinging.
In 23 games this season with Los Angeles, the Puerto Rico native hit .273 with three doubles and four runs batted in. At the time of his trade to Boston, De Jesus was a lifetime .297 minor league hitter, spending the majority of each of the last three seasons in Triple-A.
Ivan is the son of Ivan De Jesus Sr., a 15-year Major League shortstop known for his defensive abilities. Interestingly enough, De Jesus Sr. was part of the 1977 trade that sent Bill Buckner from the Dodgers to the Cubs. In 1982, he was traded by the Cubs to the Phillies for Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg.
De Jesus is in Sunday’s PawSox lineup batting second and playing second base.
-AG
@aaronmgoldsmith
agoldsmith@pawsox.com
Bill Buckner Joins PawSox
The PawSox are pleased to announce the recent roster addition of Bill Buckner – just not the same Bill Bucker you’re immediately thinking of.
Billy Buckner is a right-handed starting pitcher in his first season in the Red Sox farm system. The modern-day Buckner was promoted to Pawtucket from Double-A Portland on the final day of May when Chorye Spoone was sent to the Sea Dogs.
“I’m not related, but he was a great ballplayer, so it’s not such a bad thing,” Buckner said with a smile. The righty, who has always gone by “Billy,” has a funny twitter handle to go with the misconception associated with his name: @NotthatBB
Remembered exclusively for his fielding error at first base during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Bill Buckner had a 22 year Major League career and was a lifetime .289 hitter.
After spending all of last season with Triple-A Colorado Springs (Rockies) of the Pacific Coast League, Buckner is coming off surgery to clean up bone spurs around his elbow.
“The injury came about just from throwing a lot, I believe,” Bucker said. “It really restricted my range, I had to drop my arm-slot down, and it really took a toll on my arm.”
Now healthy and able to pitch effectively every five days, Boston was an attractive organization to sign with during the off-season.
“It seemed [Boston] had a good opportunity…I was familiar with [VP/Player Personnel] Allard Baird when he was over with Kansas City, it just made a lot of sense for me.”
Although there’s no doubt he’ll catch most fans’ attention because of his name, Bucker pitched well enough in the Eastern League to make sure people focus more on what he does on the mound. In ten starts with the Sea Dogs, the right-hander went 4-3, with a 3.20 ERA (20 ER/56.1 IP). Over a somewhat small sample-size, Bucker posted his best strikeout-to-walk ratio since 2007 (3.00: 17-BB, 51-K).
Billy Buckner struck out a season-high 11 batters on April 24 with the Sea Dogs, and tossed Portland’s first complete game on May 30 as part of a double-header. (Gregory Rec/Maine Today)
“I think I just had a good mix [of pitches] in Portland,” he commented. “That was something I thought would take some time – getting command of all four pitches. But it came back fairly quickly and I was able to attack the zone and not show any kind of pattern. I was able to throw any pitch in any count.”
Like the rest of the PawSox players, Bucker is trying to get to Boston and, in his case, return to the Big Leagues. Originally a second-round selection by Kansas City in 2004, the Atlanta resident has made 36 appearances (21 starts) over four Major League seasons (2007-10) with the Royals and Diamondbacks.
“The Big Leagues were a lot of fun and were like nowhere else. That’s where everyone wants to be and we all share that common goal. It’s the best baseball in the world and that’s where we’re all fighting to get to.”
Hopefully for Bucker, his next trip to the Majors will come in a Red Sox uniform. Just so long as he stays far away from first base.
-AG
@aaronmgoldsmith
agoldsmith@pawsox.com
Buckner signed with Boston on March 3 and is pictured above at Spring Training. (Kelly O’Connor).
Goodbye, Ft. Myers
My first Spring Training was a blast. I saw nine different games, met some terrific people, and learned a lot. I’m timing things right because this morning it’s raining for the first time all week.
Yesterday I went to the PawSox game at the Twins’ facility with my friend Mike Antonellis, the “Voice of the Portland Sea Dogs.” Here are some pics from yesterday’s game.
Former PawSox and Red Sox player, Aaron Bates. Now with the Twins, Aaron was the first player I ever covered to get called up to the big leagues.
Aaron talking with Mike after the game.
Red Sox outfield prospect Alex Hassan playing in his first minor league game since being sent down from big league camp.
Billy Buckner, no relation to Bill Buckner, pitched yesterday for the PawSox. The 28-year-old has appeared in 36 major league games (21 starts) since 2007 with Kansas City and Arizona.
Jeremy Kehrt appeared in seven games (two starts) for the PawSox last year. The righty pitched for Scottsdale in the prospect-driven Arizona Fall League this past off-season.
The PawSox fell to Rochester 6-2 yesterday with Kehrt getting the start, pitching two innings, and suffering the loss. Both of Pawtucket’s runs came on RBI groundouts in the fifth inning. The only real offensive highlight was a sixth-inning triple by J.C. Linares to right-center. The ground shook when he slid into third base.
This will do it for me from beautiful Ft. Myers. Today is a camp day for the PawSox (no games), but tomorrow they’ll host Rochester at 1:00 p.m. EST. My broadcast partner Steve Hyder will be down here for a week starting tomorrow and will have lots of coverage on his blog which can be read here.
Thanks for your terrific readership this week – it’s been a privilege writing for you each day. I’m sure Spring Training 2013 will be even better, but before then, I’m counting down the 11 days until Opening Day 2012 on April 5th at McCoy Stadium.
Hope to see you there.
-AG
@aaronmgoldsmith
agoldsmith@pawsox.com
