Louisiana Tech s Ryan Jennings, Kyle Crigger, Taylor Young and Cade Gibson made history on Monday afternoon as the most Bulldogs selected in the first 10 rounds of a Major League
in previous editions.
It should come as no surprise that the man once commonly referred to as “King” by his teammates and fans remains perched on the home run throne in the Minor Leagues.
Mike Hessman played 19 seasons in the Minors, clobbered a towering 433 homers to set himself apart from the countless other sluggers who have played in affiliated ball in the United States. He split his career across the Braves, Tigers, Mets, Astros and Reds systems.
The road to the top began in 1996, when Hessman was drafted by Atlanta in the 15th round out of baseball-powerhouse Mater Dei High School in California. He got his first taste of professional ball later that summer, when he appeared in 53 games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and, ironically, homered just once.
Top 10 minor league seasons in Rockies history
Share this story
Rockies
-related topic. These lists will not be scientific. They are 100-percent opinion (a “Mountain Viewpoint” so to speak) and more importantly they are 100-percent debatable. We encourage the banter in the comments (
★ ★ ★
This one’s for you, Crash Davis.
With all the changes being made to the minor leagues, it seems fitting to take a look at some of the top single-season offensive performances in Colorado’s farm club history. This is somewhat of a dubious list, as most on it are. let’s just say unrecognizable. But it also comes with one caveat: Triple-A stats only. This partly explains the list, as most top names make only brief stops at Triple-A before heading to the big leagues. Sorry, Hartford, Asheville and Modesto, this list is reserved for Sky Sox and Isotopes only.