Greg Hansen's top 10 seasons by minor-league baseball players in Tucson history
- Updated
1953 pitcher LeRoy "Corky" Reddell, who went on an almost incomprehensible 29-5 for the Tucson Cowboys, tops the list. Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Editorβs note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Todayβs list: the top 10 seasons by minor-league baseball players in Tucson.
Tucsonβs three incarnations of minor-league baseball teams β from the Class C Tucson Cowboys in the 1930s to the Triple-A Tucson Padres in 2013 β put more than 2,000 players on display at Hi Corbett Field and Tucson Electric Park.
The best 10? Itβs a logjam at the top.
The biggest names among the Cowboys, Toros, Padres and Sidewinders β Curt Schilling, Max Scherzer, Craig Biggio and on and on β werenβt necessarily the top Tucson minor-leaguers because their advancement to the big leagues abbreviated their time here.
But few, perhaps none, had the impact and sizzle of 1953 pitcher LeRoy βCorkyβ Reddell, the son of a rancher from Scottsdale who went an almost incomprehensible 29-5 for the Tucson Cowboys.
The newspapers referred to him as the βScourge of Scottsdaleβ and in 1953 Reddell was named the stateβs athlete of the year.
Reddellβs 29-win season got the attention of the Cleveland Indians, who signed the right-hander and brought him to their spring training camp in Tucson in March of 1954. After two starts against that yearβs American League champion Indians, Cleveland sent Reddell to their minor-league camp in Daytona Beach, Florida, and then reassigned him to the Cowboys for the β54 season.
The magic was gone. Reddell hurt his pitching arm, went 11-9 and was never the same pitcher. Like scores of minor-league pitchers every year, Reddellβs career was detoured through such stops as Waterloo, Iowa, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He retired from baseball after the β55 season and returned to his family ranch in Scottsdale.
Tragically, Reddell died in 1968. He was only 37. The legacy he left is a big one: Over seven decades of minor-league baseball in Tucson, Reddell had the best individual season of any Cowboy, Toro, Padre or Sidewinder.
Hereβs our list:Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
After his arm trouble, Reddell signed to be the player-manager of the Class C Globe-Miami franchise in the Arizona-Mexico league.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Now the manager of the San Diego Padres, Green was the β05 Pacific Coast League player of the year. He was superb, hitting .343 with 19 homers, 83 RBIs, 42 doubles, 13 triples and a minor-league-high 125 runs scored.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Lofton was a part of an epic conclusion to the β91 PCL season as the Toros won their first-ever championship in their last at-bat. The former UA basketball point guard, who played just five baseball games as an Arizona senior, hit .308 with 40 stolen bases, 93 runs scored, 19 doubles and a minor-league high 17 triples.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Few minor-leaguers ever surpassed the numbers posted by the Toros outfielder: .352 batting average, 141 runs scored, 109 walks, 20 steals and 99 RBIs.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The big wheel of the Torosβ second PCL title, Mouton hit .315 with 92 RBIs and 40 steals. He hit to all fields, with 16 triples and 42 doubles.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
In the Sidewindersβ impressive run to the overall minor-league championship, winning 99 games under manager Chip Hale, Bacsik and Owings combined to go 21-0. Bacsik was 11-0 and Owings 10-0.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The first of Tucsonβs all-PCL pitchers, Abbott went 18-8 with 11 complete games during a period (that still exists) when Triple-A pitchers were rarely on one team long enough to win more than 10 games.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Then a 21-year-old first baseman in the Padres organization, the Cubs current World Series first baseman sizzled by hitting .331 with 26 homers and 101 RBIs in just 93 games in Tucson.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The future Houston Astros infielder hit .349 with 50 doubles and 83 RBIs.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Sold to the Cowboys by Phoenixβs Class A franchise for just $250, Joshua became Tucsonβs first long-ball star, hitting .359 with 29 home runs and a year later hitting 32 more home runs for the Cowboys.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Future MLB standout Lyle Overbay drove in 109 runs and hit .343 for the 2002 Sidewinders. Former Canyon del Oro slugger Scott Hairston, an outfielder on Tucsonβs 2006 championship team, hit .323 with 26 homers and 81 RBIs in what amounted to 75 percent of a PCL season.
Editorβs note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Todayβs list: the top 10 seasons by minor-league baseball players in Tucson.
Tucsonβs three incarnations of minor-league baseball teams β from the Class C Tucson Cowboys in the 1930s to the Triple-A Tucson Padres in 2013 β put more than 2,000 players on display at Hi Corbett Field and Tucson Electric Park.
The best 10? Itβs a logjam at the top.
The biggest names among the Cowboys, Toros, Padres and Sidewinders β Curt Schilling, Max Scherzer, Craig Biggio and on and on β werenβt necessarily the top Tucson minor-leaguers because their advancement to the big leagues abbreviated their time here.
But few, perhaps none, had the impact and sizzle of 1953 pitcher LeRoy βCorkyβ Reddell, the son of a rancher from Scottsdale who went an almost incomprehensible 29-5 for the Tucson Cowboys.
The newspapers referred to him as the βScourge of Scottsdaleβ and in 1953 Reddell was named the stateβs athlete of the year.
Reddellβs 29-win season got the attention of the Cleveland Indians, who signed the right-hander and brought him to their spring training camp in Tucson in March of 1954. After two starts against that yearβs American League champion Indians, Cleveland sent Reddell to their minor-league camp in Daytona Beach, Florida, and then reassigned him to the Cowboys for the β54 season.
The magic was gone. Reddell hurt his pitching arm, went 11-9 and was never the same pitcher. Like scores of minor-league pitchers every year, Reddellβs career was detoured through such stops as Waterloo, Iowa, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He retired from baseball after the β55 season and returned to his family ranch in Scottsdale.
Tragically, Reddell died in 1968. He was only 37. The legacy he left is a big one: Over seven decades of minor-league baseball in Tucson, Reddell had the best individual season of any Cowboy, Toro, Padre or Sidewinder.
Hereβs our list:Β
After his arm trouble, Reddell signed to be the player-manager of the Class C Globe-Miami franchise in the Arizona-Mexico league.Β
Now the manager of the San Diego Padres, Green was the β05 Pacific Coast League player of the year. He was superb, hitting .343 with 19 homers, 83 RBIs, 42 doubles, 13 triples and a minor-league-high 125 runs scored.Β
Lofton was a part of an epic conclusion to the β91 PCL season as the Toros won their first-ever championship in their last at-bat. The former UA basketball point guard, who played just five baseball games as an Arizona senior, hit .308 with 40 stolen bases, 93 runs scored, 19 doubles and a minor-league high 17 triples.Β
Few minor-leaguers ever surpassed the numbers posted by the Toros outfielder: .352 batting average, 141 runs scored, 109 walks, 20 steals and 99 RBIs.Β
The big wheel of the Torosβ second PCL title, Mouton hit .315 with 92 RBIs and 40 steals. He hit to all fields, with 16 triples and 42 doubles.Β
In the Sidewindersβ impressive run to the overall minor-league championship, winning 99 games under manager Chip Hale, Bacsik and Owings combined to go 21-0. Bacsik was 11-0 and Owings 10-0.Β
The first of Tucsonβs all-PCL pitchers, Abbott went 18-8 with 11 complete games during a period (that still exists) when Triple-A pitchers were rarely on one team long enough to win more than 10 games.Β
Then a 21-year-old first baseman in the Padres organization, the Cubs current World Series first baseman sizzled by hitting .331 with 26 homers and 101 RBIs in just 93 games in Tucson.Β
The future Houston Astros infielder hit .349 with 50 doubles and 83 RBIs.Β
Sold to the Cowboys by Phoenixβs Class A franchise for just $250, Joshua became Tucsonβs first long-ball star, hitting .359 with 29 home runs and a year later hitting 32 more home runs for the Cowboys.Β
Future MLB standout Lyle Overbay drove in 109 runs and hit .343 for the 2002 Sidewinders. Former Canyon del Oro slugger Scott Hairston, an outfielder on Tucsonβs 2006 championship team, hit .323 with 26 homers and 81 RBIs in what amounted to 75 percent of a PCL season.
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