Jewish Baseball News

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun and Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler will participate in the 2010 All-Star Game, Major League Baseball announced this weekend.

Braun,who led all AL outfielders with 2.97-million votes, will be the lone Jewish player in either league’s starting lineup. Kinsler, who finished third among AL second basemen with 1.66-million votes, gained a spot when Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia, the #2 vote-getter, suffered an injury.

Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis, who is enjoying yet another MVP-type season, missed two All-Star cuts: the fan vote (he finished with 1.32-million, putting him in fourth place at his position), and the manager vote (New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who is managing the AL squad, chose two of his own players to round out his seven picks).

But Youkilis still has a chance to make the squad. As part of its absurdly convoluted procedure for selecting All-Stars, the MLB has named Youkilis and four other players — White Sox 1B Paul Konerko, New York Yankees RF Nick Swisher, Minnesota Twins LF Delmon Young, and Texas Rangers 3B Michael Young –as participants in a so-called Final Vote (not to be confused with the Final Solution). Whichever player gets the most fan votes between today (7/4/2010) and Thursday, July 8 at 4:00pm ET will receive a final spot on the AL squad.

Here is how the five candidates compare in key statistical categories, through today’s games:

PLAYER/HR/RBI/AVG/OBP/SLG

Kevin Youkilis/17/54/.299/.416/.584

Paul Konerko/20/57/.297/.386/.564

Nick Swisher/13/47/.293/.373/505

Delmon Young/9/55/.298/.332/.488

Michael Young/11/51/.310/.356/.493

(Note: Category leaders shown in red.)

Fans may cast an unlimited number of votes. In other words, it’s a perfect opportunity for Kevin Youkilis devotees who happen to be software programmers to set up repetitive-voting scripts.

For an online ballot, click here.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — I was watching my beloved (but struggling) Tampa Bay Rays play the Minnesota Twins last night (7/2/2010) when Twins 3B Danny Valencia came to the plate in the 7th inning with the score tied 1-1.

That’s the same Danny Valencia whom Jewish Baseball News recently identified as a fellow Member of the Tribe (Jews that is, not Cleveland).

Oh, bitter irony. The Rays fan in me wanted ace David Price to strike him out. But the loyal Hebe in me wanted Valencia to succeed on a big scale.

Fate literally broke the tie. Valencia hit an RBI single that put the Twins up for good, 2-1 (see video). The 25-year-old rookie, who made his MLB debut on June 3, finished the night 2-for-2 with a walk and is batting a crisp .333 in his brief major-league career.

Well done, young Valencia.

— Scott Barancik

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Congratulations to Lisa Robbins, winner of the Jewish Baseball News bumper-sticker contest.

Robbins, Jewess extraordinaire of Tampa, Fla., harangued ten Facebook friends into ‘like’-ing JBN’s Faceboook page. For her effort, Robbins will receive a free JBN bumper sticker (and a date with any JBN hunk who can handle her).

Great job, Lisa! And thanks for promoting Jewish Baseball News.

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Da Winner

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Minnesota Twins rookie Danny Valencia is the 13th Jewish athlete to play major-league ball this season.

Valencia, a 25-year-old third baseman from Boca Raton, Fla., made his MLB debut on June 3 after more than three years in the Twins’ farm system, where he was a three-time all-star. He is batting .304 with 1 RBI and a .360 on-base percentage in 16 games with Minnesota.

Valencia’s arrival in the big leagues is nothing if not unlikely. College powerhouses didn’t offer him scholarships out of high school, so he ended up at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After being named Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, he transferred to the University of Miami, where he competed in the College World Series.

“The first year (at Miami) we borrowed up to the top of my head for him to play there,” said Mindy Valencia, a retired accountant. “This was a big sacrifice for the whole family, but we knew how much he wanted to go there. Him going there was going to be this possible trip to (the College World Series in) Omaha.”

But Valencia’s success didn’t make him especially attractive to MLB teams. After his junior year at Miami, the Twins selected him in the 19th round. Only two of the 30 players drafted in that round have made it to the majors: Valencia and LF Chris Pettit, who had 7 at-bats last year with the Los Angeles Dodgers and currently is playing in the Dominican Republic’s winter league.

How much playing time Valencia will get this season is unclear. He is one of four 3Bs on the Twins’ depth chart, along with Nick Punto (36 games at 3B in 2010), Michael Cuddyer (10 games), and Matt Tolbert (6 games). The pop that Valencia’s bat showed in prior years — he finished the 2009 minor-league season with 14 home runs, 70 RBIs and a .466 slugging percentage — has strangely disappeared. He was homer-less in 185 at-bats with the AAA Rochester Red Wings this season and has only one RBI and one extra-base hit in 46 at-bats with the Twins.

Jewish Baseball News thanks the reader who tipped us off that Danny Valencia is Jewish, a fact we were able to independently confirm.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Today is the final day of our bumper-sticker contest.

To all contestants: Before midnight tonight, e-mail us (sbarancik@jewishbaseballnews.com) a list of all the Facebook friends you urged to ‘like” the Jewish Baseball News Facebook page.

Tomorrow, we’ll determine how many of your friends followed your advice. The five best-recruiting contestants will win one of our mediocre Jewish Baseball News bumper stickers.

Good luck!

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — If you want to win a free Jewish Baseball News bumper sticker, you still have three days left to compete in our contest.

All you need to do is shame/harass/extort a bunch of your Facebook friends into clicking ‘like’ on our Facebook page. The five best recruiters as of 11:59pm on Wed., June 30 will win one of our poorly-designed bumper stickers — and the enduring envy of their peers.

How will you prove your success? On Thurs., July 1, e-mail sbarancik@verizon.net a list of the Facebook friends you recruited, and we’ll see how many of them signed on. Winners will be announced on Jewish Baseball News and on our Facebook page.

Family and friends of Jewish Baseball News’ editor are totally eligible.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Florida International University infielder Garrett Wittels is one of five NCAA athletes nominated for ESPN’s 2010 ‘Best male college athlete’ award. Fan voting will determine the winner.

Wittels, 20, garnered national press by finishing the 2010 baseball season with a 56-game hitting streak, second-longest in Division 1 history. He will have a chance to extend the streak — and chase Robin Ventura’s 58-game record, set at Oklahoma State in 1987 — when he suits up for FIU’s 2011 baseball season.

The 2010 ‘Best male college athlete’ will be announced July 14 (9:00pm ET) at the annual ESPY Awards on ESPN. There are two ways to cast your vote beforehand:

1. Go to the ESPY home page, register for a free ESPN.com account, and cast your vote. You can vote on as few, or as many, of the several dozen award categories (e.g., Best sports movie, Best female tennis player) as you wish.
2. Go to ESPN’s Facebook page, become a ‘fan’, click on the ‘ESPYs voting’ tab, and cast your vote.

(Of the two ways to cast a vote, Facebook’s appears to be the easiest.)

Prior winners of the ‘Best male college athlete’ award include University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (2008 and 2009) and USC running back Reggie Bush (2006). Since the ‘Best male college athlete’ award was introduced in 2002, no baseball player has won it.

Wittels is a jack-of-all-trades, at least when it comes to the infield. During the 2010 season he played third base (24 games), shortstop (24 games), second base (16 games) and even pitched (4 games). He finished the regular season with a team-leading .413 batting average, .541 slugging percentage and 60 RBIs. This summer he is playing for the Peninsula Oilers of the Alaska Baseball League.

Thanks to Jewish Baseball News fans Edgar Benes and Lishka Benes Wittels for the tip on Garrett’s nomination. For prior stories about him, click here.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The running count of Jews chosen in this month’s MLB amateur draft has reached six.

Harrison Fanaroff, a high-school pitcher out of Potomac, Md., was selected by the Washington Nationals in the draft’s 50th and final round (1,496th overall). According to Washington Jewish Week, Fanaroff was thrilled to be picked but, as of last week, was leaning toward attending Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. According to an earlier article by the same reporter, Jeff Seidel, Fanaroff and other Jewish players accounted for more than half the baseball team at Churchill High School this year.

The Nationals, of course, are home to starting pitcher Jason Marquis, who has been on the disabled list since April 19.

On 6/10/2010, Jewish Baseball News reported the names of five other Jews selected in this year’s amateur draft. Here is an update on their status:

• Jake Lemmerman, SS (Los Angeles Dodgers: 5th round, 172th overall pick). Status: Signed.  Playing for the Ogden Raptors (Rookie Pioneer League).
• Jason Markovitz (Seattle Mariners: 13th round, 402nd overall pick): Status: Signed. Playing for the Everett AquaSox (Class A-short season).
• Mike Schwartz (Chicago White Sox: 17th round, 518th overall pick). Status: Signed. Playing for the Bristol White Sox (Rookie Applachian League).
• Jeremy Gould (New York Mets: 28th round, 842nd overall pick). Status: Signed. Team placement unknown.
• Michael Fagan (San Diego Padres: 45th round, 1354th pick). Status: Not signed. According to his school’s web site, Fagan “has decided to delay his professional (baseball) career and attend Princeton University in the fall.”

Thanks to Jewish Baseball News fan Dan Gordon for the tip on Harris Fanaroff.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — It’s only natural: flame-throwing pitcher is called up from the minors with great fanfare. First four outings exceed almost any rational expectation of what a 21-year-old rookie might accomplish. And baseball fans everywhere begin checking Google to find out his religion.

Who wouldn’t want to claim Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg as their own right now? So it is that many Jews — along with Mormons, born-again Christians, and probably Zoroastrians — are curious about his faith.

A web site I enjoy, JeworNotJew.com, arrived at its answer in a typically clever way. Said the site: if we haven’t heard by now that this extraordinary young athlete is Jewish, then, sadly, he must not be.

As a former newspaper reporter, I chose a more pedestrian approach: asking someone who knows. And today, Strasburg’s mother was kind enough to tell me via Facebook that the family is not Jewish. She even thanked me for my support, which was unnecessary but sweet. I hope her son continues his miraculous play.

By coincidence, on Wednesday (6/23/2010) I was watching Strasburg pitch against the Kansas City Royals when a close-up shot showed his necklace slip above his collar. Dangling from it was a cross.

Stephen Strasburg: not a Jew.

— Scott Barancik

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS —  “Exceedingly tall” is not a common stereotype of the Jewish people. But nobody told the Monsters of the Mound.

Of the 19 Jews currently pitching in baseball’s minor leagues, eight are at least 6-foot 5-inches tall, six are at least 6-foot-6, and five are 6-foot-7 or taller. Closest to the upper-deck are Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (AAA) starter Jason Hirsh and Reading Phillies (AA) reliever Michael Schwimer, both 6-foot-8. The average height of all 19 pitchers is just under 6-foot-4, according to an analysis by Jewish Baseball News.

I don’t know what they’re feeding these guys, but it’s working.

The Monsters have more in common than height or faith. Of the eight pitchers, seven are right-handed, and six are starters. Portland Beavers (AAA) reliever Aaron Poreda, a 6-foot-6 Californian who spent part of the 2009 season with the Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres, is the lone lefty.

Pitchers needn’t be tall to excel, of course. Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, the greatest Jewish starter of all time, stood 6-foot-2. Of the five Jewish pitchers playing Major League Baseball this year, four are 6-foot-2 or shorter, and only one – 6-foot-6 Texas Rangers starter Scott Feldman – is a Monster.

But striking out stereotypes is the height of fun.

(To see tables showing the 19 pitchers and their stats, check out this news release.)

— Scott Barancik

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The Jewish Press of Tampa published an article this week about Jewish Baseball News. Click here to see it.

Warning: geeky photo included. Shield your eyes.

— Scott Barancik

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are the latest developments among Jewish professional baseball players:

MLB

• Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis is having a remarkable season. After 68 games, the “Greek god of walks” is hitting home runs and RBIs at the same pace he did last year, walking more, and striking out less. Far less. Consider this: in 136 games last season, Youk struck out 62 percent more often than he walked (125 strikeouts vs. 77 walks). In 2010, he has walked more times (47) than he has struck out (41). “It’s freakish,” Red Sox first-base coach Ron Johnson told the Providence Journal. “It’s really fun to watch. Where he’s come from and where he is now, to lower his strikeout totals and still have the power and drive in the runs and hit over .300, he’s up there with those superstar guys.” Alas, Youkilis probably won’t appear in next month’s All-Star Game. In fan voting through today, he is ranked a distant 4th among American League shortstops.
• Since inserting rookie 1B Ike Davis into the cleanup spot on May 19, the New York Mets have gone 20-9 after a 19-21 start.
• After serving as the ace of the Texas Rangers’ pitching squad in 2009, SP Scott Feldman got off to a disappointing start this season. But he’s begun to right himself lately. In his past four starts, Feldman has won three games, amassed a 3.70 ERA, struck out 19 in 26.67 innings and walked just nine. Feldman pitches tonight (6/21/2010) against the Houston Astros.
• Los Angeles Dodgers C Brad Ausmus, 41, had only four at-bats this season before suffering a back injury that required surgery. But Ausmus — who had never before been on the disabled list — has begun taking batting practice with his teammates and recently caught his first bullpen session.
• Tampa Bay Rays RF Gabe Kapler went on the disabled list June 12 after straining his right hip flexor.
• For the third time this season, the Milwaukee Brewers called OF Adam Stern up from the AAA Nashville Sounds and then sent him back down. The 30-year-old’s initial call-up was a major accomplishment, given that he hadn’t had a major-league at-bat in four years. But Stern went hitless in eight at-bats during his stints with the Brewers this season.

Minors

• The San Diego Padres promoted SP Aaron Poreda to the Portland Beavers, the franchise’s AAA squad. Since arriving, Poreda has pitched 7.33 scoreless innings in four appearances and struck out seven batters. The 23-year-old spent part of last season in the majors, pitching for both the Chicago White Sox and the Padres.
  
• Springfield Cardinals SP David Kopp (AA/St. Louis Cardinals) has been named a Texas League All-Star. Kopp, 24, leads the league with an 8-1 record and has an 3.08 ERA. According to the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader:

For Kopp, the selection culminates a terrific first half in which he has re-claimed his prospect tag. Kopp underwent a pair of shoulder surgeries in 2008 and 2009, and reached Double-A late last season with little hype. He walked 11 and struck out six in five starts. This year, his line features 45 strikeouts in 69 innings as the right-hander has gone on the attack with a low-90s fastball. The pitch shields his sharp, tight slider from over-use, and managers and scouts are beginning to think of Kopp not in terms of a Double-A pitcher but one with the stuff to reach the majors.

• Reading Phillies RP Michael Schwimer (AA/Philadelphia Phillies) is 5-3 this season and has struck out an impressive 47 batters in 34.67 innings, more than triple the number of batters he has walked (14). “He has good stuff, but he has been a little inconsistent,” Philadelphia Phillies assistant general manager Chuck Lamar told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He may get a shot by the end of the year to move up to triple-A.”
• The New York Mets recently promoted 2B Joshua Satin to the AA Binghamton Mets. Since arriving, the 25-year-old has hit .320 in six games.
  
• Likewise, the Cleveland Indians moved 2B Jason Kipnis up to its AA squad, the Akron Aeros. Kipnis wasted no time making his mark. After eight games with the Aeros, he is batting .355 with two home runs, three doubles, and an OPS of 1.090.
• Corpus Christi Hooks C Jonathan Fixler (AA/Houston Astros) didn’t take it easy on Frisco RoughRiders SP (and fellow Jew) Richard Bleier this weekend. Fixler, 24, went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs during a 7-1 thrashing of the RoughRiders on Sunday (6/20/2010). Bleier gave up 7 runs and 13 hits in seven innings, and his record fell to 3-6.
  
• The St. Louis Cardinals demoted C Charlie Cutler to its A-advanced farm team, the Palm Beach Cardinals. Cutler had batted just .205 with six RBIs for the AA Springfield Cardinals. But he’s batting .350 after six games with Palm Beach.
• OF Ben Guez took an even bigger fall recently. The Detroit Tigers franchise sent him down from AAA Toledo, where he hit .273 with five RBIs in 66 at-bats, to the Lakeland Flying Tigers (A-advanced).

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — University of Tampa 1B Mike Schwartz has signed with the Chicago White Sox and will play for the team’s Appalachian Rookie League squad this summer.

A 23-year-old power hitter, Schwartz  had a breakout season during his senior year at the University of Tampa, where he was named 2010 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year. He led the nation in walks (75) and topped the Spartans in batting average (.415), slugging percentage (.716) and on-base percentage (.596).

The Bristol (Va.) White Sox will open their season Tuesday (6/22/2010) against the Elizabethton Twins.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — It’s the bling everybody’s talking about: Jewish Baseball News’ new bumper sticker. How can you get yours?

Soon, you’ll be able to buy one. But in the meantime, you can get one for free — or, more accurately, without submitting cash.

Because to win our Bumper Sticker Contest, you will have to work. Your job? Bugging all your Facebook friends to become ‘fans’ of JBN’s Facebook page. (Yes, we are willing to resort to crass methods such as this in order to boost our numbers.)

Contestants have from June 15 (today) until June 30 to recruit as many ‘fans’ as they can. The five best recruiters as of June 30 will win our crappy bumper sticker, guaranteed to make fellow drivers scratch their heads.

How will you prove your success? On July 1, you’ll e-mail a list of the Facebook ‘fans’ you recruited to sbarancik@verizon.net, and we’ll doublecheck ’em. A list of the winning contestants will be announced at Jewish Baseball News and on our Facebook page. We also will notify your grandmother.

So start harassing your Facebook friends now, and help spread the, er, gospel of Jewish Baseball News.

— Scott Barancik

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — At least five Jewish players were selected in this week’s MLB amateur draft, two of them out of Duke University.

They include:

• Jake Lemmerman (Los Angeles Dodgers: 5th round, 172th overall pick). A 6’2″ shortstop who just completed his junior year at Duke (Div. I), Lemmerman led his team in eight offensive categories this season, including slugging percentage (.569) and on-base percentage (.418), and had the best fielding percentage of any ACC shortstop (.987).
• Jason Markovitz (Seattle Mariners: 13th round, 402nd overall pick). A 6’3″ relief pitcher from Long Beach State (Div. I), Markovitz finished the 2010 season with a team-leading 2.93 ERA, held opposing batters to a second-best .220 batting average, and struck out an impressive 34 batters in 27.33 innings pitched.
• Mike Schwartz (Chicago White Sox: 17th round, 518th overall pick). A 6’0″ first baseman from the University of Tampa (Div. II), Schwartz was the Sunshine State Conference 2010 Player of the Year, led the nation in walks (75), and led his team in batting average (.415), slugging percentage (.716) and on-base percentage (.596).
• Jeremy Gould (New York Mets: 28th round, 842nd overall pick). A 6’4″ outfielder and relief pitcher from Duke (Div. I), Gould ranked 3rd on the team in home runs (7) and on-base percentage (.386), and 2nd in ERA (4.76).
• Michael Fagan (San Diego Padres: 45th round, 1354th pick). A pitcher at the San Diego Jewish Academy (high school), Fagan led his team in ERA (0.78), struck out 103 batters in just 45 innings pitched, and led all batters in slugging percentage (.674). According to his school’s web site, Fagan “has decided to delay his professional (baseball) career and attend Princeton University in the fall.”

Ephraim Moxson of Jewish Sports Review says he and co-editor Shel Wallman are busily contacting other players drafted by the MLB in an attempt to identify additional Jews.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — New York Mets rookie Ike Davis hit a game-winning home run against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday (6/8/2010), an 11th-inning, upper-deck blast that gave the Mets their ninth straight home victory. The home run was Davis’ 7th of the season.

See a video of the blast here.

And a video of his post-game pie in the face.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Syracuse Chiefs 1B Josh Whitesell is leaving the team mid-season to play for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

Whitesell, who batted cleanup for the Chiefs (AAA/Washington Nationals) and led the team with 34 RBIs and 29 walks, reportedly will be paid 30-million yen for the remainder of the Swallows’ season, or roughly $327,000. He will be competing for the first-base slot with Jamie D’Antona, like Whitesell a former Arizona Diamondback:

Quickly skimming through Whitesell’s Wikipedia profile reveals some similarities between D’Antona and Whitesell. They are both tall, 28-year-old first basemen that made their Major League debut in 2008 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2009, D’Antona signed with the Swallows, while Whitesell bounced between AAA and the Major Leagues. Whitesell put up some impressive numbers in AAA, but failed to replicate those results in the Majors. After the 2009 season, Whitesell was not resigned by the Diamondbacks, and he signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.

Earlier today (6/7/2010), a Chiefs spokesman told Jewish Baseball News that Whitesell had signed a contract with the Swallows but that it would require approval by Major League Baseball.

Whitesell’s departure marks a loss not only for the Chiefs but Jewish baseball fans in the U.S. His strong performance this season made him a somewhat likely candidate to join the Nationals when the team’s roster expands from 25 players to 40.

On the other hand, iif Whitesell performs well for the Swallows, his odds of landing a Major League job next season may improve.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Kudos to Yuri Foreman, a 29-year-old boxer and Rabbinical student who lost a title fight Sunday before 20,000 fans at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Foreman, who was born in Belarus and emigrated to Israel at age 9, lost by technical knockout in the 9th round to Miguel Cotto. With the win, Cotto became the WBA champ in the 154-pound division.

The loss was Foreman’s first in 29 fights.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The latest news on minor-league players:

• Trenton Thunder (AA/New York Yankees) SP Jeremy Bleich is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Bleich finished the season with a 3-2 record and 4.79 ERA, holding opposing batters to a .236 average.
• Springfield Cardinals (AA/St. Louis Cardinals) SP David Kopp continues to enjoy a strong season, with a 6-1 record, 3.00 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 57 innings. He’s scheduled to pitch game two of today’s (6/6/2010) doubleheader against the San Antonio Missions. Kopp, a 6’3″, 205 lb. right-hander from Margate, Fla., is one of three Jews in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system, along with C Charles Cutler (AA) and CF James Rapoport (AAA).
• Florida International University sophomore Garrett Wittels extended his astounding hitting streak to 56 games Saturday in a season-ending loss to Dartmouth. According to the Associated Press:

Wittels hit an RBI double in the top of the first inning, leaving him two games shy of the Division I record set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987. Wittels’ attempt to break the mark will resume next season. He went 3-for-5 and finished the season with a .417 average and a school-record 100 hits.

• Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (AAA/New York Yankees) SP Jason Hirsh is in a slump. Hirsh, a 6’8″, 250-pound right-hander from Burbank, Calif., won four straight at one point but hasn’t recorded a victory since May 13.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg, who will make his MLB debut Tuesday (6/8/2010) for the Washington Nationals, isn’t the only player leaving the AAA Syracuse Chiefs.

First baseman Josh Whitesell, the team’s cleanup hitter, reportedly has signed a contract to play in Japan.

It’s bad news for the Chiefs, who saw Whitesell hit .301 and lead the team with 34 RBIs. But it’s a smart move for the 28-year-old North Carolina native, who presumably will earn a big paycheck while putting himself on the radar of other MLB clubs.

Whitesell was the AAA Pacific Coast League’s rookie of the year in 2008, with 26 home runs, 110 RBIs and a .328 batting average. He spent part of 2009 with the Arizona Diamondbacks but hit just .194 in 108 at-bats there.

On Thursday (6/3/2010), Strasburg’s final game with the Chiefs, Whitesell went 2-for-4 with a double.

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