J'S WORLD: You can’t always judge the top pro potential in the ABL

Monday night, I sat in my living room and watched on the flat screen as New York Yankees rookie Aaron Judge launched baseballs deep in Miami’s Marlins Park during the annual Major League Baseball League Home Run Derby. Judge showed ridiculous power, just as he has throughout an unthinkable first-year campaign, knocking four shots out of more than 500 feet each.

Judge went on to win the derby, belting a total of 47 dingers out of the park.

It’s not the first time I’ve watched Judge compete in a home run derby.

Six years ago I was at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage covering the first Alaska Baseball League Home Run Derby. Judge, then a member of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, was one of 14 participants. But Judge was far from the story that day. Judge, who was named the ABL’s Top Prospect that summer, wasn’t at the center of attention. Former Mat-Su Miners catcher Adam Martin stole the show. Martin, a Western Carolina product, entered the game with zero home runs on the season. But that rainy Sunday afternoon in Anchorage, Martin sent a flurry of baseballs over the fence.

“I feel pretty good right now,” Martin told me minutes after accepting the trophy for winning the first home run derby in league history. “I have (competed in home run derbies before) but have come up short a couple times. Other times I haven’t even hit a home run.”

That day Martin hit a dozen home runs, and beat former Peninsula Oilers infielder Patrick Wisdom in the finals, and was crowned the league’s first home run king.

Like Martin, Judge didn’t have a homer heading into the derby. Despite stories of his batting practice power with the Pilots that have reached almost folklore status since his newfound fame, he actually didn’t hit a home run throughout the entire 2011 ABL season. Judge hit a modest .289 in the league. He had a couple of triples and drove in 11 runs. They’re not numbers that jump out at ya. But he stood as a physically imposing prospect at 6-foot-7 and about 230 pounds.

Of the two finalists in the derby, Wisdom is currently hitting .256 with 18 homers for the Memphis Redbirds of the St. Louis organization. Martin is out of baseball.

But now it’s Judge who is the most talked about player in baseball. Judge is leading the league with 30 home runs. He’s hitting .329 with 66 RBI. The dude is officially a rock star.

I am sure there are some who have jumped on the bandwagon and said they saw the future greatness of Judge during his time in Anchorage. But six years ago, I honestly would have never said Judge is going to hit MLB so hard, so fast.

But when it comes to baseball, sometimes you never know. I would have bet former Miners outfielder James Ramsey and former pitcher Tyler Stubblefield would enjoy long careers as pros in the sport. Ramsey, a former Florida State outfielder and first-round draft pick by St. Louis, and Stubblefield, a former Texas A&M pitcher, are both out of baseball.

Ramsey led the Miners to an Alaska Baseball League title. Stubblefield was named the ABL Top Prospect in 2014. Baseball America also called Stubblefield the league’s top prospect.

Former Miners outfielder Michael Taylor could be the most impressive athlete I have seen during my 15 years covering the Miners. The Stanford star, a 6-foot-5 and 250-pound outfielder, stole a league-high 25 bases in 2005. He also hit .317, scored 20 runs and drove in 25. Taylor could go from first to third as fast as just about anyone I’ve covered with the Miners.

Taylor played only 37 games in the majors, finishing with a .167 career batting average. He retired from baseball in 2015 after a stint with the Chicago White Sox. The most notable point in his career was being part of the package Philadelphia traded to get Roy Halladay from Toronto.

Aside from having maybe the best name in Miners history, Brick Paskiewicz put together one of the best summers for Mat-Su in 2015, but transferred from Division I Grand Canyon and finished his college career at Division II Colorado-Mesa.

You never now.

Oakland A’s infielder Jed Lowrie is the most successful MLB player I covered during my time on the Miners beat. The Stanford product has more than 800 hits in nearly 900 career games in the majors. Lowrie was a solid infielder with the Miners back in 2003, but the Miners have had so many more infielders enjoy bigger summers but see their careers come to a premature end.

Garrett Richards was one I pegged as can’t miss. The former University of Oklahoma right-hander was taken by the Los Angeles Angels with the 42nd pick in the 2009 MLB draft. Richards may be the hardest throwing right-hander I’ve seen during my time covering the Miners. He hit 98 mph. But a key to his career, Richards developed a slider during his stay in Alaska. Former Miners head coach Conner Bird once said Richards is, “as close to a Major League pitcher as you’re going to see in Alaska.”

Sunday, I’ll be at the ABL’s seventh home run derby. And who knows which player in the derby could some day be launching baseballs on ESPN. But Aaron Judge has reminded me of something. Even for those of us around the Alaska Baseball League on just about a daily basis during the summer, you can’t always judge who the next Aaron Judge will be.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.