McPherson takes over RoundTripper lead

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Albuquerque infielder Dallas McPherson homered in seven straight games from June 18-27 to take the lead in Minor League Baseball's seventh annual RoundTripper contest. McPherson's feat tied a Pacific Coast League record and gave him 28 homers, two more than fellow Triple-A sluggers Brad Eldred of Charlotte and Mike Hessman of Toledo, through games of June 30.

The player who hits the most regular season home runs in the domestic Minor Leagues wins the Joe Bauman Trophy and a check representing $200 for each one hit. A $500 cash award will also be presented to the player who leads his classification (Triple-A, Double-A, Class A, Short-Season/Rookie) in roundtrippers, provided he is not the overall winner.

McPherson, 27, missed all of the 2007 season while recovering from back surgery. The left-hand hitting third baseman signed with the Florida Marlins as a free agent in January. The Angels originally drafted McPherson in the second round in 2001 out of The Citadel.

He received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the Topps/Minor League Baseball Player of the Year in 2004, after hitting a combined .317 with 40 homers and 126 RBI between Arkansas and Salt Lake in the Angels' system.

Huntsville's Matt LaPorta and Michael Wilson (West Tenn) share the Double-A lead with 19 homers. Kila Kaaihue (NW Arkansas) and Ben Johnson (Arkansas) are just one back of the duo.

A quartet of players sits atop the Class A leader board. Christopher Carter (Stockton), Ian Gac (Bakersfield), Michael Stanton (Greensboro) and Mark Trumbo (Rancho Cucamonga) each have 20 home runs. Gac hit 19 for Clinton before being promoted to the California League.

Yakima's Collin Cowgill and Gerardo Rodriguez of Danville are tied for the short-season lead with six, one ahead of Elizabethton's Alexander Soto.