RAILCATS ALL-TIME LEADER IN HITS, RBI RETURNING FOR 2007 SEASON
April 30, 2007 Contact: Tom Nichols at (219) 882-2255
Gary, Ind.—The Gary SouthShore RailCats Professional Baseball Club announced today that outfielder Steve Haake will return for the 2007 season. RailCats manager Greg Tagert made the announcement.
Haake (pronounced HOCK-ey) has been one of the RailCats core players since the arrival of Tagert prior to the 2005 season. Haake played for Tagert in the Frontier League in 2003 and '04 and helped the RailCats to the '05 Northern League title and '06 league finals. In the process, Haake has become the RailCats career leader in base hits, runs batted in, doubles, and stolen bases.
Haake is a product of Northwestern University. In 2006, he batted .293 with seven home runs and a team-leading 57 runs batted in. He also stole 22 bases. He raised his batting average 34 points over his 2005 mark when he made his Northern League debut.
RailCats Release Catcher Steve Booth
The RailCats announced today that catcher Steve Booth has been released after declaring his intentions to retire from professional baseball. Booth spent the 2006 season with the RailCats and batted .256 in 51 games.
ROSTER ROUNDUP
The RailCats currently have 25 players under contract for 2007. In addition to Haake, others include pitchers Chad Blackwell, Jared Brown, David Byard, Tony Cogan, Steve Edsall, Willie Glen, Travis Kerber, Brad Mumma, Steve Obenchain, Jim Paduch, Jason Shelley, and Stephen Spragg; catchers Steve Ketter, Brett Wallace, and Jose Yepez; infielders David Detienne, Eric McNamee, Jay Pecci, and Tanner Townsend; and outfielders Jermaine Allensworth, Bernard Caston, Dale Mueller, Nate Price, and Mike Reese.
Pitcher Josh Habel is expected to be signed prior to the start of spring training to bring the total to 26 players. League rules allow 28 players on the spring roster and Tagert expects to add two more players over the next few days.
The RailCats open Spring Training on Thursday and begin the 2007 season on May 17th at U. S. Steel Yard against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. RailCats 2007 ticket packages and merchandise are available at U. S. Steel Yard or by calling (219) 882-2255.
More Info : The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a Professional Minor League Baseball Team serving Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs. For the last three years, they have been chosen "Best Local Spectator Sport" by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. Their 96 game schedule includes 47 home games at beautiful U. S. Steel Yard, an award-winning 6,000 seat state-of-the-art facility located next to the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) with easy access to I-65.