Troy native Joe Mahoney, right, accepts the Brooks Robinson award on Fri., Sept. 17 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Mahoney was named the Orioes' top minor league position player in 2010. (Photos provided by Todd Olszewski, Team Photographer, Baltimore Orioles).

TROY -- Joe Mahoney was in the Collar City Wednesday, making a brief pit stop at Geer Field to visit some of his former South Troy Dodgers coaches and teammates. He was on his way back from Baltimore, where he accepted the Brooks Robinson Award as the best position player in the Orioles' minor league system in 2010.

The Record will publish a story on Mahoney's journey through the minor leagues on Sunday, Sept. 26, so keep your eyes open for that.
 

Mahoney, who grew up playing for Catholic Central High School and the Lansingburgh Royals, played dozens of games at beautiful Knickerbacker Park in the 'Burgh. I was curious if Mahoney had used the Major League Baseball monument in the park, located just beyond the right field foul pole, as motivation during his career. It lists all of the Collar City natives who have gone on to play in the Major Leagues.

Mahoney said he never knew it was there.

The Major League Baseball Monument in Lansingburgh's Knickerbacker Park. (Record file photo).

The monument sits on a historic slice of real estate for Troy's baseball history. The city played host to a professional team in the 1860s and '70s known as the Troy Haymakers, who gave way to the Troy Trojans, a National League team that called the Collar City home from 1879 to 1882. The Trojans are widely considered the origin of today's San Francisco Giants. As professional baseball expanded into larger markets, the Trojans were disbanded following the 1882 season. About half of the members of the New York Gothams, later the New York Giants, were former Trojans players.

Anyway...

Mahoney is hoping to catch on either with Baltimore's AAA affiliate in Norfolk or the big club coming out of spring training in 2011. Of course, the Knickerbacker Park monument would have to be updated should Mahoney ever appear in a big league uniform.

Again, for more on that story, be sure to check out Sunday's edition of The Record.

Joe Mahoney’s baseball card

South Troy Dodgers (2003-05)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.411, 113, 380, 87, 156, 43, 4, 17, 138
University of Richmond (2005-07)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.310, 171, 672, 121, 208, 35, 2, 31, 152
Minor leagues
2007 – Aberdeen (short season Class A, New York-Penn League)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.269, 65, 242, 31, 65, 10, 2, 9, 44
2008 – Delmarva (long season Class A, South Atlantic League)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.222, 95, 352, 37, 78, 22, 1, 7, 61
2009 – Delmarva (108 games) & Frederick (seven games, High Class A, Carolina League)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.278, 115, 425, 63, 118, 20, 7, 8, 58
2010 – Frederick (72 games) & Bowie (52 games, Class AA Eastern League)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.307, 124, 462, 67, 142, 30, 2, 18, 78

For video clips from the Mahoney interview, visit www.troyrecord.com/video/sports

Mahoney, left, poses with Zach Britton, who earned the minor league Pitcher of the Year Award, which is named after Jim Palmer.

Local baseball players in the pros – 2010 report card

Pitchers

Eric Beaulac, SP (Troy High School)
2010 – St. Lucie (21 games, Class A, Florida State League) and Binghamton (two games, Class AA Eastern League)
Games, Starts, W-L, ERA, IP, K, BB
23, 21, 5-7, 3.98, 108.2, 79, 62

Greg Holle, RP (Christian Brothers Academy/South Troy Dodgers)
2010 – Arizona Brewers (Rookie Arizona Leauge)
Games, Starts, W-L, ERA, IP, K, BB
8, 1, 3-1, 0.79, 22.2, 16, 9

Tommy Kahnle, RP (Shaker High School/South Troy Dodgers)
2010 – Staten Island Yankees (short season Class A, New York-Penn League)
Games, W-L, ERA, IP, K, BB
11, 0-0, 0.56, 16.0, 25, 5

John Lannan, SP (Siena College)
2010 – Washington Nationals
Games, Starts, W-L, ERA, IP, K, BB
24, 24, 8-7, 4.58, 137.2, 68, 48

Mike Ness, CL (South Troy Dodgers)
2010 – Tri-City ValleyCats (short season Class A, New York-Penn League)
Games, Saves, W-L, ERA, IP, K, BB
24, 7, 2-2, 3.23, 30.2, 28, 9

Tim Stauffer, RP/SP (Saratoga Central Catholic High School/South Troy Dodgers)
2010 – San Diego Padres
Games, Starts, W-L, ERA, IP, K, BB
30, 5, 5-4, 1.95, 69.1, 52, 20

Position players

Anthony Giansanti, OF (Siena College)
2010 – Arizona Cubs (27 games, rookie Arizona League) & Peoria Cubs (30 games, Class A Midwest League)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.317, 57, 199, 26, 63, 12, 3, 2, 32

Brendan Harris, INF (Queensbury High School)
2010 – Minnesota Twins (43 games) & Rochester Red Wings (62 games, Class AAA International League)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.209, 105, 340, 42, 71, 17, 1, 5, 33

Casper Wells, OF (Schenectady High School/South Troy Dodgers)
2010 – Detroit Tigers (28 games) & Toledo Mud Hens (103 games, Class AAA, International League)
Avg., G, AB, R, H, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI
.250, 131, 456, 65, 114, 27, 6, 24, 60

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