Billy Hall - All-Time Atlantic League Stolen Base King

Autographed 2001 Somerset Patriots Multi-Ad Team Set #13

Out of Wichita State University, and having played at the Triple-A level for San Diego, Colorado and Cincinnati, Billy Hall exploded onto the scene of the Atlantic League in 2000 with the Somerset Patriots.

Hall disrupted the basepaths of the league that year like no player has done before or since stealing 104 bases for the season (still the single-season record for the league) and establishing a professional baseball record for 66 consecutive, base-stealing attempts without being caught.

Hall’s manager, Sparky Lyle has commented, “If that pitcher threw over to first one time, Billy had a read on him [to steal]; it was the most incredible thing I have ever seen anybody do.”

In 2001, the second baseman followed up his dynamic 2000, by leading the league in hits (148), runs (113) and stolen bases (72) and leading the Patriots to their first-ever league championship. His runs scored in 2001 are still the single-season record for Somerset.

In 2005, the switch hitter established a consecutive-hit-streak record for the Atlantic League of 27 consecutive games (Aug. 11th- Sept.10th).

Hall retired in 2005, with four seasons total with Somerset (2000/’01/’02/’05) leading the league in stolen bases in each of these seasons and being the catalyst of a Patriots’ team which brought home two League Championships (2001/’05) for the franchise during his tenure.

Hall retired the Atlantic League All-Time Stolen Base King (290 stolen bases) and was voted the 3^rd greatest Patriot of all time (only surpassed by Jeff Nettles and Josh Pressley) in a 2012 polling of fans, players, coaches and team officials.

Luis Lopez - Bridgeport Bluefish and Atlantic League Great

Autographed 2007 Bridgeport Bluefish Team Set
Autographed 2013 Bridgeport Bluefish Printech Team Set
Autographed 2013 Bridgeport Bluefish Dot Generation Team Set 

Despite having a NCAA career at Coastal Carolina (1991-93) that would eventually land him in the Big South Conference Hall of Fame, Luis Lopez went undrafted in the 1994 MLB amateur draft. Lopez took increased determination with his professional baseball career from this snub by hitting .357 in Indy Ball for the Ogden Raptors (1995), and gained the attention of the Toronto Blue Jays organization, where in 1997 Lopez was awarded the South Atlantic League Most Valuable Player while playing for their Class A team in Hagerstown (.358/11/99).

Eventually achieving his goal of playing at the Major League level with both the Blue Jays (2001) and Expos (2004), Lopez entered the Atlantic League in 2006, as a member of the Riversharks, but found his home with the Bridgeport Bluefish in 2008.

The Brooklyn-born infielder spent the next 7 seasons at the center of the Bluefish lineup marking his tenure by reliability and productivity. Lopez would average over this span of these years 127 games played and 129 hits per season.

This consistency and compiling resulted in Lopez leading the Bluefish in nearly every career offensive category by the time he was done: AB’s (3,338); H’s (905); DB’s (149); Extra Base Hits (208), and RBI’s (460).

Lopez in one of five Atlantic Leaguers to compile more than 900 hits within the league (928); joining Jeff Nettles (1,052), Ray Navarrete (1,031), fellow-Bluefish Rolo Avila (933) and Bryant Nelson (active).

The Bluefish announced that Sept. 19^th, 2015, will be “Luis Lopez Day” at the Ball Park at Harbor Yard where his number 19 will be retired becoming only the second Bluefish player to be so honored (Espada).

Ben Simon - 2003 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year

Autographed 2003 Camden Riversharks Choice Team Set #24 (Pitcher of the Year Card)

As a minor-league free agent, after attaining the AAA level with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ben Simon spotted a ballpark while driving to Philadelphia at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge. Simon followed up with a visit to Campbell Field and a meeting with the Camden General Manager, John Brandt, and soon after had signed a contract to pitch the 2003 season for the Riversharks.

With this new contract, the Eastern-Michigan U-alumnus developed a more-biting slider within the season -- complementing his spot fastball -- which resulted in Simon being named the 2003 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year.

That year, the right-hander led the league in wins (15-6; 2.38 ERA); four of which were complete games -- three of which were shutouts. His season-shutout record still stands this day (shared w/ Sontag (2000); Stevens (2007) and Reichert (2009)). Even more impressive, two of these three shutouts were in back-to-back outings on the mound (7/25&7/31/03). 

Kevin Henthorne - 2004 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year

Autographed 2004 Bridgeport Bluefish Subway Team Set #13 (Pitcher of Year Card)

La Crosse, WI-native and Yankee-prospect Kevin Henthorne entered the Atlantic League in 2003 and took one year to distinguish himself as the Atlantic Year Pitcher of the Year.

Having one of the best Bridgeport Bluefish pitching seasons ever in 2004, the right-hander was undefeated through his first 13 starts leading to a 12-3 final record for the season. The Bridgeport hurler also lead the Atlantic League that year with a 2.69 ERA accomplished by stellar control underscored by a better than 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

In addition to the dominating the Atlantic League in 2004, Henthorne likewise dominated the Chinese Professional Baseball League securing the 1998 wins title and 1999 ERA crown for the China Trust Whales.

Henthorne could be seen on his off days resting his arm and sharpening his skills in photography by taking action shots from the dugout of the ongoing game.

Henthorne finished his eleven-year professional pitching career with a stunning .710 winning percentage; never having a losing season in his career and underscoring he won everywhere he took the mound. 

Justin Davies - 2004 ALCS MVP & Long Island Duck Great

Autographed 2014 Long Island Ducks 15th Year Anniversary Team Set #6
2003 Northwestern Mutual Financial Justin Davies Bobblehead
2004 Davis Vision Justin Davies Bobblehead

West Babylon, Long Island-native Justin Davies was a last-minute roster addition for the 2000 Long Island Ducks' inaugural season after Ruben Sierra decided to play baseball in Mexico yielding an open roster slot. Davies made the most of this opportunity and went on to have one of the most storied careers in franchise history.

For the next six seasons (2000-05), the centerfielder’s play and constant community presence would establish him as the face of the franchise. This recognition would apex in the 2004 postseason when Davies’ clutch hitting (including two game-winning hits and a .385 BA) would bring Long Island its first-ever Atlantic League Championship and Davies the series MVP award.

Upon his retirement, Davies left the Duck's career leader in games played (637), hits (615), runs (426) and stolen bases (149); still holding the stolen base mark to this day.

On June 19, 2015.The Long Island Ducks honored Davies by making his number ”4” the first, retired player’s number in their team history. 

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.

Jeremy Owens - All-Time Southern Maryland Blue Crab Great

Autographed 2011 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs DAV Team Set #304

Reaching the AAA Level with three different organizations (San Diego, Boston and Tampa), Jeremy Owens began his Southern Maryland career with the team’s inception year of 2008, and went on to become the greatest position player in Blue Crab history.

Becoming Crustacean Nation’s face of the franchise by wearing the Columbia and navy blue for eight consecutive seasons (2009-14), Owens  went on to set the career Blue Crab franchise records across the offensive categories for: games played (734); runs scored (422); hits (601);  home runs (105); stolen bases (96); walks (318) and RBI’s( 337).

In 2009, the center fielder from Tennessee known for his hustle was distinguished by being named by Butch Hobson the first team captain in Blue Crab history.

Owens followed this honor by having his best year in Waldorf the following year (2010) where he led the Atlantic League in home runs with 28.

Owens finished his career with 129 home runs and 414 RBI’s which earns him fourth and eighth place in Atlantic League history respectively.