Correll sends Hillcats a message

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: July 20, 2008

The theory would seem to make sense. Shunned by the Pirates’ organization, Brad Correll returns to Lynchburg and crushes two home runs and drives in six runs to lead Wilmington to an 11-2 victory Sunday night, thus showing the Pittsburgh brass what a huge mistake it made in releasing him in the middle of 2006.

There are a couple of problems with that line of thinking. One, the Pirates’ front office has changed since then, with a new general manager and a different organizational approach than what was in place under Dave Littlefield. Two, holding grudges is dicey business for Correll.

After all, Pittsburgh isn’t the only major-league organization to give up on the 27-year-old slugger. Pittsburgh signed Correll through the minor league Rule V Draft when the Phillies left him unprotected after the 2005 season. Soon after the Pirates released Correll, the Florida Marlins signed him and released him on the final day of 2007 spring training, leaving Correll to navigate the morass of independent league baseball.

The Red Sox bought his contract from the Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern League, and Correll homered 23 times in 58 games for Lancaster of the high-A California League. In his fifth game in a JetHawk uniform, he hit four home runs and drove in eight. No matter. Boston had too many outfielders in the organization, and Correll was on the outside looking in once again.

“Sometimes in affiliated ball, it doesn‘t matter how good you do,” Correll said. “If they have money invested in somebody else, it‘s going to be a logjam and there‘s going to be no place to go. My career has been kind of weird. Every year, I put up decent numbers, but something always happens.”

Correll returned to Kansas City again to play for the T-Bones this past spring, content to play for an organization whose sole purpose is winning baseball games, rather than player development. Independent ball was quirky and fun. Then the Royals came calling, looking to fill a need for a right-handed, power-hitting first baseman/designated hitter. They promised to show the career outfielder the ropes at first base. Correll signed on July 4 and has been raking ever since.

He went 3-for-5 Sunday to raise his average to .357. In 15 games, he has four home runs and 11 RBIs.

“I‘ve been working my butt off at first base and I‘ve been playing one or two games a series, especially against lefties,” Correll said. “I‘m trying to pick it up as I go, and it‘s been a blast.”

Correll struck the big blow in a tight game Sunday evening, smashing a low fastball on a 3-1 count from Jake Cuffman to deep left field for a grand slam in the seventh inning that pushed Wilmington’s lead to 7-2. It was a no-doubt-about-it sort of blast. Hillcats left fielder Jared Keel looked up at the ball but never moved, knowing he had no chance at making a play.

“We‘re going after guys and we‘re not going to pitch around guys,” Hillcats manager Jeff Branson said. “He hit a good pitch. Give him credit.”

Correll’s two-run home run in the first inning gave the Blue Rocks a 2-0 lead, but Lynchburg countered with Kris Watts’ two-run homer in the fourth to knot the score at 2. Wilmington regained the lead in the sixth. Cody Strait hit a two-out double and scored when Jeff Bianchi doubled in the next at-bat and the Blue Rocks led 3-2.

Correll nearly screwed himself into the ground trying to hit home run No. 3 in the ninth inning. With his team up 9-2, he could afford to take a massive hack at a fastball. He recovered and hit a single. Correll has only made it past A ball once since being drafted in 2002, a 22-game stint at Double-A Chattanooga in 2003. He knows he has to make every at-bat count.

And he insists he wasn’t trying to send the Pirates a message.

“I see the ball good here and I like playing here,” Correll said. “The Pirates did what they thought they had to do, even though I might have disagreed with it a little bit. But that’s professional baseball. It’s fun to come back and hit in front of the fans. They’ve given me a lot of support. There’s a lot of cool people here.”

Notes

Citing a need for infield help in Altoona, the Pirates promoted INF Angel Gonzalez from Lynchburg to the Double-A club Sunday. … P Blair Johnson was activated from the disabled list Sunday. … Watts threw out Chris McConnell at second base in the third inning Sunday, the first time the Hillcats had caught an opposing base runner stealing since June 29.