Ballou on Baseball - August 12, 2025

By Bill Ballou,

The list is a long one and includes fans, players, coaches, managers, scouts, executives, broadcasters, etc.

They all wonder why Nick Sogard is not playing in the major leagues at the moment, because he should be for some team somewhere and probably for the team about 40 miles east of here.

As people try to figure out why not, it is worth noting what he has done here for four seasons.

Sogard is coming off a great homestand during which he went 16 for 41 (.390) to raise his batting average from .229 to .253. Sogard took a seven-game hitting streak into this week’s games at Iowa and his homestand numbers included six doubles.

That gave him 102 extra base hits in a Worcester uniform. He is the only WooSox batter to reach triple figures in that category. The totals are 73 doubles, six triples and 23 homers.

He is the franchise’s all-time leaders in doubles. Sogard is also the WooSox’ all-time leader in games at 349, runs with 215, hits with 331, RBIs with 151 and his 49 stolen bases are second to David Hamilton’s 57. His .267 career average is fifth among Worcester hitters with at least 400 at bats behind Franchy Cordero, Chase Meidroth, Connor Wong and Vaughn Grissom.

It is unfortunate that Sogard has not found a home in the major leagues. The only fortunate part of it has been that WooSox fans have been able to appreciate him for the last four seasons.

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TRIPLE-A TRIVIA

Questions

1. Who are the only two WooSox batters to hit two triples in a game?
2. What Worcester Red Sox hitter holds the franchise record for the most career home runs by a player born on an island?

Answers below.

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Chadwick Tromp is the first WooSox player born in Aruba. That makes it 20 different countries that have been birthplaces of Worcester players, considering Puerto Rico as a separate country. The only continent not part of the country list is Antarctica. Pitcher Tayler Scott, who was with the WooSox in 2023, was born in South Africa and Liam Hendricks is from Australia. … Tromp became the eighth catcher used by the WooSox this season, a club record. They used seven in 2024, five in each of the five preceeding seasons. … The WooSox had connections with three Players of the Week at the beginning of August. Jhostynxon Garcia got the nod for the International League, Trevor Story for the American League and Max Ferguson was the Eastern League Player of the Week. … What a treat having Fred Lynn at Polar Park last week. It was interesting seeing who was in the line to meet him in the Sherwood Diner. It included a lot of fans who were not even born when he played in Boston. This fan remembers 1975 as a milestone year, and not just because of Lynn and the Sox. My wife Debbie and I were married on Oct. 11, 1975, Game One of the World Series. … Worcester’s 2-1 victory over Buffalo on Thursday marked only the fifth time in five seasons the WooSox have won by that score at Polar Park. … The WooSox travel to Des Moines, Iowa for this week’s series. It will be Worcester’s first visit there, the 12th different state the team has played in and the third capital city. That list includes the destination of their last road trip, Saint Paul, Minn. and the site of their first game ever, Trenton, N.J.

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A strong case can be made that Tyler Uberstine’s performance on Thursday was the second-best relief outing in WooSox history. He worked four innings, got the win, surrendered just one run and struck out eight.

Stephen Gonsalves worked five relief innings on May 30, 2021. He gave up three hits, no runs and fanned nine.

Uberstine has interesting numbers. He has given up 11 home runs, most on the team, but has one of the WooSox’ best ERAs at 3.36. Nine of the 11 homers have been solo. Uberstine graduated from Northwestern, which has produced some good players through the years, but not many for the Red Sox.

It is a short list that includes catcher Gene Oliver, pitcher John Trautwein and second baseman Mark Loretta. Loretta is the only one of the three who was a frontline player for the Sox. No Northwestern alum has ever graduated from Triple-A to Boston. Trautwein pitched for Pawtucket after he made his Boston debut.

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Kristian Campbell’s 15-game hitting streak is one of just six WooSox hit streaks of 12 or more games. Yairo Munoz’ 35-game streak in 2021 is the champ and may never be matched. Ceddanne Rafaela and Jorge Alfaro both had 14-game streaks in 2023. David Hamilton had a 12-game streak in ’23 and Jarren Duran hit in 12 straight in 2022. … Doing some quick accounting — Shane Bieber’s start for Buffalo here Saturday made it three Cy Young Award connections at Polar Park. Corey Kluber pitched here after he won the award. Chris Sale did before he won it. …Buffalo’s Riley Tirotta had a good series here last week, blasting three home runs. He is second on the all-time list for homers hit at Polar Park by someone from South Bend, Ind. It will take him a while to catch up to Niko Kavadas, who slammed 14 while with the WooSox. … This has nothing to do with baseball except that it was said in the Worcester dugout on the last homestand. The question was posed, “What’s the difference between being bored and being tired?” WooSox director of graphic design services Courtney Cowsill answered, “Bored means you want to do something else. Tired means you don’t want to do anything.”

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TRIVIA ANSWERS

1. Ceddanne Rafaela tripled twice in Worcester’s 10-8 victory at Scranton-Wilkes-Barre on July 20, 2023. Corey Rosier did it on Sept. 21 of last season at Lehigh Valley in a game the WooSox won, 4-3.
2. Enmanuel Valdez of the Dominican Republic, born on the island of Hispaniola, hit 28 home runs for the WooSox.

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CATCHING UP WITH…

Pitcher Alex Speas began the year with St. Paul in the International League, then went to Mexico City in the Mexican League. Speas had a 16.80 ERA in 11 games for the WooSox last season and is 2-2 with an 11.50 ERA in 17 games this year.

Brandon Brennan, also a pitcher, worked in 32 games for the 2021 WooSox and was 1-2. He has been in a lot of different places since then and this year pitched for Dos Laredos of the Mexican League, going 1-4 in 11 games.

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A case can be made that, per capita, Cincinnati produces more good baseball players than any other city in the nation. The Red Sox have had a long line of Cincinnati players wear their uniform. Their latest prospect is versatile WooSox everyman Tyler McDonough, a graduate of the famous Moeller High.

In a casual conversation, McDonough expressed pride in his hometown and its list of pros but did not really know why Cincinnati produced so many Red Sox. Or big leaguers, for that matter.

Those of those players are Pete Rose, Ken Griffey Jr., Dave Parker, Barry Larkin, David Justice and the Toy Cannon, Jim Wynn.

Prominent Boston Red Sox who grew up in Cincinnati include Kevin Youkilis, Andrew Benintendi, Tim Naehring, Jeff Russell, Jim Leyritz, manager Don Zimmer, Todd Benzinger, Clyde “Dutch the Clutch” Vollmer and Scott Sauberbeck.

Not-so-prominent include Adam Hyzdu, also a Moeller grad; Jack Bushelman, Nick Altrock, ex-WooSox pitcher Kyle Hart and Tommy Helms

. Bushelman pitched for the minor league Worcester Busters from 1912 through 1914 and went 42-19.

Moeller has sent more than 30 players to Major League Baseball. McDonough is hoping his time in Worcester helps him add to that list.