If you follow sports in this area as well you are no doubt aware of Toms River’s Frazier Family and the three sons of Charlie and Joan. Last night I would imagine there was some family representation in Toledo, Ohio as Jeff and Todd went head to head for the first time in their pro baseball careers.
The stage for this was set when 23-year old Todd was promoted to Triple A
Louisville before the weekend after spending all year with the Cincinnati Reds Double A team in the Carolina league. Despite a bit of a slump lately Todd was hitting .290 with 14 home runs and 68 RBI’s when he got the call up and in his Triple A debut Saturday at Indianapolis he went 0-3. Louisville then headed to Toledo to open a four-game series last night where Todd would get to see his 27-year old brother Jeff, an outfielder with the Mud Hens who has had a sensational second half of the season after a miserable start. I am happy to report both boys gave their family and friends something to cheer about Sunday.
Todd , playing 2nd base and batting fifth in the lineup flied out twice before making his first Triple-A hit a memorable one as he belted a two-run homer in the 7th inning. Jeff had also flied out in his first two at-bats before doubling in both the 7th & 8th innings to finish 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in a 6-3 Toledo victory. He is now hitting .306 with 11 home runs and 51 RBI’s it would seem he might merit a September call-up to the Detroit Tigers. Meanwhile the boys get to play three more games against one another this week which just happens to be the 11th anniversary of Todd leading Toms River East American to the Little League World Series championship. Of course Jeff was one of the stars of the 1995 team that also made it to Williamsport, Pennsylvania as success came to both at a young age.
There was also good news for another local athlete as Manchester’s Kevin Malast turned in another solid performance in his bid to earn a spot on the Chicago Bears roster. The rookie linebacker out of Rutgers led the Bears with five total tackles in their pre-season win over the Giants Saturday night.
Wearing #62 Malast has made 12 tackles in the first two games and earned praise from announcers for his play. He is currently listed as the 3rd string weakside linebacker on the Bears depth chart. Ironically like the Frazier’s, Malast is from a family of three boys who were all accomplished athletes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment