Oct. 13, 2004
The New Mexico baseball program was well represented in professional baseball in 2004 as a total of 11 players who played at UNM made their marks in the professional ranks this past season.
Headlining the class was right-handed pitcher Jim Serrano (Grand Junction, Colo.), who made his Major League Baseball debut Aug. 7 as a member of the Kansas City Royals. Serrano played at New Mexico in 1998 and had been pitching in the minors for seven years before his making debut for the Royals. Serrano began the season at Triple-A Omaha, going 1-1 with 41 strikeouts in 16 games. He was then called down to Double-A Wichita of the Texas League, where he dominated competition, going 3-1 with a 1.96 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 64.1 innings of work.
After his work in Wichita, Serrano was called up to Kansas City, and pitched 32.2 innings in 10 games of action for the Royals. He allowed seven hits and four runs in his debut vs. the Anahiem Angels. Serrano picked up his first major league win Sept. 7 against the Detroit Tigers, firing three innings of shutout relief while striking out three batters. He finished the season 1-2 with a 4.68 ERA and 25 strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher Scott Strickland (Houston, Texas), the other Lobo on a major league roster, sat out the entire 2004 season on the injured reserve list with the New York Mets.
Three players that played for the Lobos in 2004 saw action in the minor leagues over the summer. Shortstop Josh Mader (Albuquerque, N.M.), who was drafted in the 29th round by the Philadelphia Phillies, began his professional career with the Batavia Muckdogs in the New York-Penn League. Mader batted .268 with a homer and four RBI in 12 games before moving up to the Lakewood Blueclaws in the Single-A South Atlantic League, where he hit .216 with 18 RBI and five doubles in 41 games.
Joe Salas (Albuquerque, N.M.) was a two-dimensional player at UNM with a powerful bat and a strong arm, but he’s only using his talents on the mound as a professional. Salas was selected in the 24th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a left-handed reliever, and Salas responded with a 2-0 record and 2.45 ERA in 11 innings of work for the Pirates of the Rookie Gulf Coast League. He was called up to pitch for Williamsport of the New York-Penn League late in the summer, where he struck out six and had a 6.52 ERA in 9.2 innings of action.
Cooper Eddy (West Des Moines, Iowa) only pitched one season at UNM, but after a successful 2004 campaign, he was picked up by the Boston Red Sox in the 36th round of the MLB Draft. Eddy collected a 3-3 record with a 4.29 ERA in 35.2 innings while pitching for the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League.
The Lobos made their pitching presence known in the Double-A Eastern League, where two players finished off impressive 2004 seasons. Southpaw Chris Cooper (Sewickley, Pa.), who pitched at UNM in 2000 and 2001, tallied a 5-1 record with a 1.77 ERA in 35.2 innings of work for the Akron Aeros, an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Jamie Vermilyea (drafted in 2003) got off to a blazing start for the Class A Dunedin Blue Jays, going 5-1 with a 3.09 ERA in 18 games. The Tucson, Ariz., product was then promoted to Double-A New Hampshire, where he went 3-2 with a 2.51 ERA in 57.1 innings.
Chris Alexander (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Dusty Young (Albuquerque, N.M.), both drafted in 2003, played in Single-A ball for the most of the season. Alexander batted .253 with one homer and 17 RBI while playing for the Spokane Indians, the Northwest League affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Young bounced around the south, playing for four teams in the Florida Marlins organization, including Jupiter in the Florida State League and Greensboro in the South Atlantic League. His most successful stint came in the Gulf Coast Rookie League, where he hit .302 with three doubles and 10 RBI in 19 games.
Troy Cairns (Blue Springs, Mo.), who was drafted in 2002 by Cincinnati, batted .234 with three doubles and eight RBI in 36 games for the Potomac Cannons of the Single-A Carolina League. Albuquerque native Scott Candelaria played in 62 games for the Single-A High Desert Mavericks (Milwaukee Brewers) in the California League, where he hit .233 with three homers and 23 RBI. Aaron Sisk (Fort Worth, Texas), the 2000 Mountain West Player of the Year, slugged 11 homers and drove in 43 runs while batting .252 for the Edinburg Roadrunners of the independent Central League.