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April 11, 2008
More players added to roster
The Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball have agreed to terms with three more players for the 2008 season.
The team brings back pitcher Chad Bentz and added former Atlantic Leaguers Jeff Sparks and Branden Florence.
Bentz, 27, was drafted in 2001 by the Expos in the 7th round. Bentz became the second pitcher, after Jim Abbott, to play in the Major Leagues after being born without one of his hands. He saw Major League time in 2004 and 2005 with the Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins, respectively. In 2004, he pitched 27.2 innings and struck out 18 batters for the Expos before moving to the Florida Marlins minor league system. After playing for the Marlins, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds affiliates, Bentz came to the Bluefish in 2007. He finished the season 1-1 and struck out 15 batters in 12.1 innings.
Sparks, 35, was drafted in 1995 by the Cincinnati Reds in the 24th round. In 1999 and 2000, he played throughout the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. In 2000 he pitched 20.1 innings at the Major League level with 24 strike outs and posted a 3.54 ERA. In 2004 Sparks entered into the Atlantic League with the Nashua pride going 5-4 with a 2.70 ERA. He recorded 10 saves and struck out 69 batters in 53.1 innings.
Florence, 29, was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the San Francisco Giants in 2001. In 2004, Florence played for the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League and batted .345 in 20 games. Florence had 19 runs, 5 homeruns and 20 RBIs before moving on to the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies affiliates.
Posted by Bustraan on April 11, 2008 4:55 PM
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Linked from atlanticleaguebaseball.com...might want to have them remove it if you're not going to update this.
Posted by: playballnyy at May 7, 2008 8:03 AM
