THE STORY BEHIND A.L. STARTER JERED WEAVER'S TIME IN THE ATLANTIC LEAGUE

We wrote in last week's Independent Baseball Insider about the added interest Indy fans should have in Tuesday night's major league All-Star Game because of former independent American Association pitcher Aaron Crow of Kansas City being on the American League team. Crow had pitched in a few games for the Fort Worth (TX) Cats before signing with the Royals.

There was another tie-in since the Angels' Jered Weaver was the starting A.L. pitcher, hurling a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. While Weaver did not pitch in the Atlantic League he did train with the Camden RiverSharks back in 2005.

Weaver and current Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew were in Camden while major league contracts were up in the air. Drew, whose brother J.D. had played for the St. Paul (MN) Saints of the independent Northern League, got into 19 games, hitting .427 (35-for-82).

Wayne Krenchicki, who was Camden's manager at the time, told me later for the Insider the 6-foot-7 Weaver trained with the Sharks for "two or three weeks, throwing a couple of bullpens and working to get ready. It was a really good experience, at a very nervous time", Krenchicki explained, because a lot of money was on the table if the right-hander and the Angels could get together on a contract. Weaver ultimately signed on May 30 with his first Camden outing tentatively planned for two days later.

One of the topics we will examine in this week's Insider, which subscribers receive on Thursday, is the likely new Atlantic League franchise in Nassau County (Long Island) now that Frank Boulton's bid has been chosen over a group that had wanted to place a New York Mets minor league team in that heavily-populated area.

Subscriptions to the Insider now only $33 for the remainder of 2011.

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