Thirteen ex-River Cats on A's ALCS roster

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics today named their roster for the American League Championship Series against Detroit, set to begin on Tuesday. The roster includes 13 former River Cats including Cats' infielder Mark Kiger, who was named to replace injured Mark Ellis on the postseason roster. Tuesday's ALCS Game 1 will mark Kiger's Major League debut.

Kiger was on the River Cats opening day roster in 2006 and hit .233 with three home runs in 61 games with Sacramento before being sent to Double-A Midland on June 29. Kiger was sent to Midland to make room on the Sacramento roster for infielder D'Angelo Jimenez, Ellis' replacement at second base in the A's starting lineup this postseason.

Other former River Cats on the Oakland ALCS roster include 2003 PCL Pitcher of the Year Justin Duchscherer, 2004 PCL MVP Dan Johnson, 2005 American League Rookie of the Year Huston Street and 2002 American League Cy Young Award Winner Barry Zito.

Johnson, Duchscherer, Street, Nick Swisher, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden and Adam Melhuse were all part of one or both of the River Cats' back-to-back PCL championships (2003-'04).

Former River Cats Manager Bob Geren, who was the first Manager in River Cats history and guided Sacramento to two playoff appearances in the team's first three seasons, remains on the postseason roster as Bench Coach.