Bubba Trammell is a former major leaguer — and a former Met to boot — but when he came to town last month as a member of the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the Cyclones pitching staff struck him out four times in eight at-bats.
“It’s pretty cool to play against these guys every once in a while,” said Clones first baseman/catcher Jason Jacobs. This is a difficult game though; they don’t hit 1.000 when they’re here.”
Maybe Jacobs is this generation’s reincarnation of Nostradamus, or maybe it was that obvious that Trammell hasn’t been a major league talent in quite some time.
Getting back into professional baseball this season after a three and a half year hiatus due to depression and family problems, Trammell was out to prove to the fans at Keyspan that he still had some gas left in his tank. And he did hit a double in his second at-bat. After that, the Cyclones’ pitching staff made the former 25 home run hitter look as if he fit right in with the rest of his Class-A teammates.
On most days, Trammel’s story of dedication and perseverance would be the bigger story, but the energetic and dominant Brooklyn staff had other things in mind.
“Our starting pitchers went right after him,” said reliever Edgar Ramirez. “[Pitching coach] Hector [Berrios] has given us the confidence we need and we just go right after people, even if they’re major-league hitters.”
