Kiwi on track for Major Leagues

Media Release

July 10, 2008

Kiwi on track for Major Leagues

Top Kiwi baseball player Scott Campbell gets a career-best chance to push for a Major League slot at Yankee Stadium in New York on Monday (NZ Time).

Campbell, 23, is playing in the All-Star Futures Game – a marquee-event on Major League Baseball’s All-Star celebration – which will be televised live here on Sky’s ESPN channel 34 from 4.30am.

The Futures game, now in its 10th year, showcases baseball’s top Major League prospects in a U.S v World format.

The 24 members of the U.S team are all finalists for spots in Team USA at the Beijing Olympics next month.

Campbell’s World team-mates are from 10 different countries, including Australia, with the largest contingent hailing from the Dominican Republic (8).

The Futures’ nine-inning contest has traditionally provided a slew of Major League talent, and insiders are already tipping Campbell to be added to the list.

“Scouts marvel at his swing and uncanny ability to hit everything on the barrel,” said New Hampshire Union Leader baseball writer Kevin Gray.

The second baseman – a success story for McLean’s College in Auckland – signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2006, becoming the first Kiwi to be picked up in the Major League first-year players’ draft.

Campbell is now in his third season of the minor leagues, starring this year with Blue Jays’ satellite subsidiary, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

The leftie is the leading hitter for the Fisher Cats in the Double A Eastern League with a .342 average, which has also sealed Campbell’s selection for the league’s All-Star game at his home ball park in Manchester on July 16.

No New Zealander has played in the U.S major leagues, though Canterbury’s Travis Wilson, who made the Futures’ world team in 2000, got desperately close in 2001.

ENDS

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