DURHAM, N.C.- Winnipeg Goldeyes OF Reggie Abercrombie has enjoyed a long career in professional baseball, but July 2016 was one of the more memorable months for the former Major Leaguer. He hit .343 (37-for-108) with nine doubles, nine home runs and 23 RBI. The efforts have earned him the Rawlings American Association Player of the Month award for July.
Abercrombie was named the American Association Pointstreak Player of the Week for the week ending July 17, when he hit .542 (13-for-24) in six games. He collected two doubles and five home runs, driving in nine runners. In a two-homer game on July 14, he broke the American Association record for career home runs, hitting his 87th and 88th long balls in the game. He started the week with a 3-for-4 game on July 12 against the Sioux City Explorers, including a solo home run. Winnipeg dropped the contest 8-4, but took an impressive 17-3 win a day later. In the offensive explosion, the Columbus, Ga. native was 2-for-5 with an RBI double and RBI single. The Goldeyes took the series with a 6-4 win on July 14, and Abercrombie was 2-for-3, with both hits coming as solo home runs, breaking the American Association career home run record. He returned to swinging a hot bat on July 16 with a 3-for-4 game in a 3-1 Goldeyes loss. Abercrombie was just a triple shy of the cycle, as he had a single, double and solo home run in the loss. July 17 saw one of the biggest offensive outbursts in American Association history as the Goldeyes beat Gary SouthShore 23-4. Abercrombie was 3-for-5 in the win, including a first-inning RBI single and a two-run home run in the second.
He is now hitting .298 on the year with 14 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and 44 RBI.
Abercrombie is in his seventh season overall in the American Association, having played with Sioux Falls from 2010-2013. Abercrombie played 10 seasons in affiliated baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros systems. Abercrombie played the 2006 season with the then-Florida Marlins, appearing in 111 Major League games and carried a .212 average with 12 doubles, two triples and five home runs. A year later, Abercrombie played in 35 games with the Marlins and hit .197 with three doubles and two home runs. Abercrombie’s last taste of the Majors came in 2008, when he played in 34 games with the Houston Astros. Abercrombie hit .309 with five doubles and two home runs in that stint in The Show.
The Goldeyes return from the All-Star break to face the Gary SouthShore RailCats in a three-game series at the US Steel Yard in Gary, Ind. First pitch on Thursday is set for 7:10 p.m. Central time, and the whole series can be seen live and for free at www.americanassocationbaseball.tv.
Rawlings is the official baseball of the American Association. They are located in St. Louis, MO and are the official helmet of Major League Baseball and the exclusive supplier of baseballs to Major League Baseball since 1977. For more information about Rawlings go to: http://www.rawlings.com.
