Independent Baseball Insider By Bob Wirz Vol. 12, No. 18, July 3, 2014
Onetime St. Paul (MN) Saints lefty Caleb Thielbar (pictured), now entrenched in the Minnesota Twins’ bullpen, gets our nod for quote of the week, courtesy of www.SouthernMinn.com. Thielbar, who has a 1.00 earned run average for his last 10 appearances and is 5-2, 2.22 for 80 career major league games with the Twins the last two seasons, comes from Randolph, MN, population 436.
“It just shows you, you can do it,” the 27-year-old said. “It’s not like it’s an unattainable goal (to pitch in the majors) for a kid from southern Minnesota or anywhere really. If you’re good enough to play, someone will find you.”
Oh, Brother!
Standout Kansas City leftfielder Alex Gordon has something new to do when the Royals have a day off. His younger brother, Derek, who holds school records for wins (24) and strikeouts (172 in 212 innings) at Park University (Parkville, MO),signed this week to pitch for the Kansas City T-Bones (American Association), across the river from Kauffman Stadium. The 23-year-old, listed at 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, has yet to be in a game.
(Fans may subscribe at newly-reduced rates to this Independent Baseball Insider column, which will be published 36 times in 2014, at www.WirzandAssociates.com. Bob Wirz provides supplemental stories about Independent Baseball on his blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com. The author has 16 years of major league baseball experience with Kansas City and as chief spokesman for two Commissioners, and lives in Stratford, CT.)
