7/22/08 - The month of July has been another great one for TCB. On Sunday July 13, Jamie D'Antona, TCB Alum and Hall of Fame Member participated in the MLB Futures game at Yankee Stadium. He then went to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the Triple A Home Run Derby, which he went on to win.

Two nights later, D'Antona was instrumental in the Pacific Coast League's 9th inning comeback to win the Triple A All Star Game. This marked the second year in a row TCB has had an alum in the game, with Steve Bray getting the last out of the 9th inning last year.

 

Then on Sunday July 19, TCB accomplished what no other organization has in the northeast, with the 18u Americans winning the SANDLOTT National Championship in Tennessee for their 6th National Championship.

 

Finally, on July 22, Jamie D'Antona got the call he'd been waiting for since being drafted in 2003. The Arizona Diamondbacks had purchased his contract and he was put on the Major League Roster. In his first game last night, D'Antona had a pinch hit single. That was the first official TCB at bat in the big leagues, even though Adam Greenberg had a plate appearance in 2005 when he was hit by a pitch.

 

Follow Jamie on the Diamondbacks website

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=452202

 

Official Story from the Diamondbacks website

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080722&content_id=3176669&vkey=news_ari&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari

 

PHOENIX -- Jamie D'Antona can afford to get the air conditioning in his car fixed now that he's in the big leagues.

 

The D-backs selected D'Antona's contract Tuesday following a trade with the Nationals that sent infielder Emilio Bonifacio to the Nats for reliever Jon Rauch.

 

"It's great," D'Antona said as he arrived at Chase Field just in time for batting practice. "It was the best call I've ever gotten on my cell phone. It was just surprising."

 

As soon as he got that call, D'Antona got into his car and drove the 90 miles from Tucson to Phoenix with no air conditioning on a day when the mercury touched 103 degrees. He arrived a sweaty mess, but wore a huge grin.

 

D'Antona was drafted in the second round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, the same Draft that yielded Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin in the first round.

 

Though he had somewhat fallen off the prospect map the past couple of years, D'Antona played his way back on this year as he hit .367 with 31 doubles, 17 homers and 67 RBIs for Triple-A Tucson.

 

Though drafted as a right fielder, D'Antona has primarily played the corner infield positions and has also caught. With the D-backs, he'll be used at times against left-handed pitchers and, along with Tony Clark, serve as a late-game pinch-hitter.

 

"There's a guy that deserves a shot at the big leagues," D-backs manager Bob Melvin said. "You look at his Triple-A numbers and they're off the charts. Through hard work and great performance, he deserves a shot at the big league level. His numbers off lefties are terrific. He's another guy that gives us some sock off the bench, along with Tony. He gives us a little more oomph on the bench than we've seen earlier on."

 

To make room for D'Antona on the 40-man roster, the D-backs shifted outfielder Eric Byrnes from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.