Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees: Going down as legendary MILB team?
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by MattB15
The Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees have gone through a lot this year. First, they, well, became the Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees. Scranton had been a breeding ground for the Phillies from 1989-2006 and as hard as it was for the area to let go of the memories (Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Brett Myers, Scott Rolen) all coming up through the system - the are was very welcoming towards the Yankees. The Yanks AAA team had been the Columbus Clippers. But this year, the Phillies bolted out of Scranton for Ottawa, and next year, will again relocate to Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania). The Yankees took advantage of the empty spot, left Trenton and took over headquarters in Scranton. Now the highlights of the season for the SWB Yankees.
On May 28, Roger Clemens made a start for the SWB Yankees en route to him returning back to the majors. Buzz was swirling all around the area, and PNC Field took in the biggest crowd of it's 18 year history. Clemens had a strong performance with 6 scoreless innings pitched.
For the beginning of August, Jason Giambi was rehabbing and played a series worth of games in the area. He hit one home run for them, and really came off as a nice guy to all the Yankees fans. On the day of one of their doubleheaders, about 45 minutes was left from one game to the next, Jason Giambi did something basically unheard of for a guy as popular as him in the minors. He signed autographs for fans, for almost all 45 minutes and was beloved by nearly the whole crowd of autograph seekers.
The Yankees have had many performers called up to the Major league Yankees. Shelley Duncan was a great player for the Scranton Yanks with 25 home runs, a record for a player of the Scranton baseball franchise (between the Phillies and Yankees AAA teams). And then the New York Yankees called him up, the rest is history. In his first 3 games, he hit 3 home runs, and got 3 curtain calls from a tough New York crowd. He wasn't the only big name to leave the Yankees. The Yankees have seen two of their top pitchers leave also, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. Joba was arguably the biggest name minor league pitcher in baseball. He blew through Scranton, starting 1 game and pitching top-notch relief in a few spot appearences there, until he got called up to the Yankees and is now considered a phenom. Phil Hughes also blew right through Scranton. Made a few starts at the beginning of the year, then pitched 6+ innings of no-hit ball with the NY Yankees until he got injured. He then made a few spot starts for the Scranton Yankees en route to coming back up to the majors, but is now gone again. Jim Brower, their top reliever with over 20 saves and an ERA hovering around 1.8 was called up to the NY Yankees, and is definitely missed in the bullpen.
If you take a look at the team's roster, you'll see some names casual baseball fans should know (Brian Bruney, Kei Igawa, Erubiel Durazo, Chase Wright and Ian Kennedy), but just remember, these guys had Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Shelley Duncan, Jason Giambi, Roger Clemens were all a part of this team at one point also. And oh yeah, this team, after losing all their top players to the majors (more than most AAA teams) is still 2 games above the Rochester Red Wings in their division as of the time I'm writing this article at 68-52.
