One to Root For

The Kane County Cougars, a lower-division Class A team that's part of the Oakland Athletics farm system, plays about 35 minutes from my house. We try to go to a few games a year. There are a few independent league teams closer than they are, but I don't really see the point of going to those games over the Cougars -- independent leagues, with a couple of exceptions, are primarily populated by players who are has-beens, never-will-bes, might-have-beens, weres, and jerks. You go to a Cougars game, you'll see at least a couple of guys who will be on the major league roster in a few years. (I specifically recall seeing Joe Blanton, now a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, toss a pretty good game around 2002 or 2003.)

Anyway, Danny and I were at a game last year, with the Cougars taking on the West Michigan Whitecaps, who play near Grand Rapids and are a Detroit Tiger farm team. The thing I noticed was about 10 or 12 people next to us -- cheering wildly when the opposing pitcher did anything well. This rarely happens at minor league games. I mean, it's not a criminal offense or anything at Cougar games (I can't say the same for Cub or Yankee games), but it's a surprise.

So in the second inning, I finally asked the woman next to me, "I gather you know him?" Turned out she was his aunt, the attractive young woman behind me was his girlfriend, and his mom was there too. His name was Casey Crosby, and he grew up in Sugar Grove, IL, about five or ten minutes from the park. This had to have been a great thrill for the family.

Also nerve-wracking. As his aunt explained, he'd had Tommy John surgery the year before and missed the entire season. So the Tigers were keeping him on a very, very tight pitch count. He wound up pitching only four innings (I think he gave up a couple of walks), but didn't allow any runs. And I did notice he had pretty good velocity. So I tried to remember his name.

Well, turns out he's quite a prospect. My Athlon 2010 magazine lists him as one of the top prospects in the Tigers system, as does Baseball Prospectus, which notes 1) he was dominant once he got his control back, and 2) he could be turned into a reliever to save strain on his arm (think Kerry Wood).

So remember the name. His family was very nice, and you like to see the good guys make it.