Chris Eddy - 1998 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year

Autographed 1998 Atlantic City Surf Team Set #17 (Pitch/YR Card)

Out of Duncanville, TX, pitcher Chris Eddy was drafted in the third round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft by the Kansas City Royals; eventually reaching the majors with Oakland in 1995 at the age 25.

The southpaw claimed the Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year award in the league’s inaugural season of 1998, pitching as a closer for the Atlantic City Surf. As a closer, Eddy was automatic notching 26 saves while winning six games without a loss for AC. Eddy’s ERA was stellar that year at 0.70 as was his WHIP; .88 in 38 games.

Eddy domination carried over to the post season as he earned the championship MVP honors leading his team to their first and only championship defeating Bridgeport in 4 games.

In three seasons with the Surf (1998-2000), Eddy was one of the premier closers in the early days of Atlantic League earning 52 saves. 

Dan Reichert - 2010 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year

Autographed 2010 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs Choice Team Set #20 (Pitcher of Year Card)

In 1997, The Kansas City Royals used their first round pick (seventh overall) to select the 1997 Big West Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-American starting pitcher Dan Reichert.

After being named the starting pitcher of the 1999 Triple-A All-Star Game, Reichert was called up to the big leagues and went on to establish a major league career spanning 5 years (1999-2003) with Kansas City and Toronto.

After pitching abbreviated stints with Atlantic City (2005), Southern Maryland (2008) and Bridgeport (2009), Dan Reichert pitched a complete season in the Atlantic League for Southern Maryland in 2010 and had a season for the record books. The right-hander set a single-season league record for wins with 18 games (since shared with Dwayne Pollok) and earned the 2010 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year.

Reichert leveraged this powerful season to be signed by the Taiwan-based Uni-President Lions of the Chinese League (CPBL) in 2011 and won his first championship there.

Reichert’s accomplishments are more inspiring due to his Type-1 diabetes diagnosis in 1998.