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| Tuesday, June 6 | |||||
| Gray given opportunity to make it to bigs | |||||
| CINCINNATI -- Two days after he struck out 25 batters in an
independent league game, right-hander Brett Gray signed a
minor-league contract with the Cincinnati Reds.
"The 25 game got my name out there," Gray said. "I got the
opportunity I wanted and we'll see what happens."
Gray, 23, was assigned to Class-A Dayton on Monday after the
Reds purchased his contract from the London (Ontario) Werewolves of
the Frontier League.
Gray struck out 25 during a 9-1 victory Saturday night over the
Chillicothe Paints and later said he still hoped to get a chance to
pitch in the major leagues someday.
"He was pretty excited and I'm excited for him," said Bruce
Gray, Brett's father and the pitching coach for London. "We
thought this would happen, but we are surprised with how quickly it
did."
This was Gray's third season in the Frontier League. The native
of Wyoming, Ontario, was 9-5 with a league-record 129 strikeouts
last year.
"After last season I thought I would get picked up," Gray
said. "I worked out this off-season and it all worked out. I'm very
excited to get the chance."
Gray helped pitch Oklahoma City University to the 1998 NAIA
World Series. The Houston Astros talked to him about drafting him
in the late rounds, but he was not picked.
Gray, 6 feet and 190 pounds, attended tryout camps with
Pittsburgh and San Diego during the offseason, but was not offered
a contract. His record-setting performance Saturday evidently
earned him another chance.
The professional record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game is
27, set by Ron Necciai for Bristol of the Appalachian League in
1952. The major league mark is 20, twice done by Roger Clemens and
once by Kerry Wood. | ALSO SEE Frontier League pitcher strikes out 25 batters  | ||||