Week XXXIII Jamie Romak CBN POW, Plus moves
Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) former London Badger playing with Canada may have set the Canadian record for most home runs by a minor leaguer.
By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
You might not know the name Morry Abbott.
He played the outfield for the 1939 Tacoma Tigers in the Class-B Western International League. He was on the same team with future major leaguers Herman Reich, Marv Rickert and playing manager Hal Rhyne.
Abbott (Duncan, BC) peaked in 1945 with the San Diego Padres of the triple-A Pacific Coast League, but his best year was in 1939. That year he hit 37 homers which we believe is a Canadian record.
Well, don’t look now but if you combine Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) 2017 home run numbers for El Paso in the triple-A Pacific Coast League (11) and for SK Wyverns in KBO (27), they total 38. By my account, this breaks the record for home runs hit in a single season by a Canadian. Romak had a three-homer week to earn Canadian Baseball Network for Week XXIII.
Romak could extend this record because his team has nine more games remaining in their regular season schedule.
I know some skeptics might not agree with including KBO totals in Romak’s achievement, but in my opinion that’s short sighted, in view of the fact the calibre of play in all the Asian Leagues has noticeably improved in recent years.
One need only check out their player performances in recent World Baseball Classic and World Championship competitions, to confirm it.
The season has ended and the playoffs have begun for most teams.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK _ 2B Jared Young (Prince George, BC) - Named Player of the Week in the Single A Northwest League for period Aug. 28 to Sept. 4, 2017.
3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, QC) - Named by ESPN as 2017 Minor League Baseball’s Prospect of the Year.
3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, QC) - Named by Baseball America to 2017 All Minor League All Star Team.
3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, QC) - Named by Baseball America to the 2017 Lower Class A All Star Team.
RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, AB) - Named by Baseball America to the 2017 Double A All Star Team.
BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
Player Classification Team AB R H HR RBI Avg.
J.D. Salmon-Williams - Rkie Billings 17 7 5 2 4 .294
Andrew Yerzy - Rkie Missoula 14 4 4 2 4 .286
Jamie Romak - KBO SK Wyverns 19 4 5 3 4 .263
Mike Crouse - IND New Britain 23 10 5 3 7 .217
(Minimum 10 at bats required.)
BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES
NONE
PLAYER MOVES & TRANSACTIONS
RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) - Assigned by San Diego Padres to Single A Lake Elsinore Storm from Double A San Antonio Missions.
OF Miles Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) - Assigned by the Cincinnati Reds to Single A Dayton Dragons from Rookie Class Billings Mustangs.
INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) - Assigned by the Texas Rangers to Single A Down East Wood Ducks from Single A Hickory Crawdads.
LHP Jeff Degano (Surrey, BC) - Placed on the Temporary Inactive List by the New York Yankees at Single A Staten Island Yankees.
2017 Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week
Week I _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) triple-A El Paso (Padres).
Week II _ RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) triple-A Lehigh Valley (Phillies).
Week III _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) triple-A El Paso (Padres).
Week IV _ 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) class-A Lake Elisnore (Padres).
Week V _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) class-A West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers).
Week VI _ OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) class-A Clinton Lumberkings (Mariners).
Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) class-A Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays).
Week VIII _ 1B Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) class-A Dayton Dragons (Reds).
Week VIV _ LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) class-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)
Week X _ INF Danny Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) class-A West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers)
Week XI _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) double-A Mississippi Braves (Braves).
Week XII _ OF Miles Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) Rookie-class Billings (Reds)
Week XIII _ RP Dylan Rheault (Garson, Ont.) class-A San Jose (Giants).
Week XIV _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) class-A Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers).
Week XV _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) double-A Mississippi Braves (Braves).
Week XVI _ 3B-C Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Longueuil, Que.) class-A Tri-City ValleyCats (Astros.)
Week XVII _ CF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) triple-A Memphis Redbirds (Cards) and LF Brett Siddalll (Windsor, Ont.) class-A Stockton Ports (A’s).
Week XVIII _ LHP Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) triple-A Gwinnett (Braves.)
Week XIX _ INF Danny Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) class-A West Michigan (Tigers) and Andrew Yerzy (North York, Ont,) Rookie-class Missoula (Diamondbacks).
Week XX _ RHP Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) class-A Dunedin (Blue Jays).
Week XXI _ RHP Andrew Case (Saint John, NB) double-A New Hampshire (Blue Jays).
Week XXII _ INF Jared Young (Prince George, BC) class-A Eugene (Cubs).
Week XXIII _ Jamie Romak (London, Ont,) SK Wyverns, Korea.