Former Wolcott and Wilby standout Manny Cruz has been living the life of a professional baseball player, and that involves a lot of movement.
There have been several stops along the way in different organizations, different leagues and at different levels of professional baseball. The latest baseball team for Cruz is the Joliet (Illinois) Slammers of the independent Frontier League.
Cruz didn’t play a lot for Joliet after being acquired from the Evansville Otters on July 31 to complete a previous trade between the two teams. He did get a chance, however, to be a part of a championship team.
The Joliet Slammers won the Frontier League championship by besting the Washington (Pennsylvania) Wild Things in five games. Cruz appeared in two games out of 10 in the postseason and had three at bats. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Still, Cruz got a chance to be a part of something special with the Slammers.
“Ohh and in case you were wondering. SLAMMERS IN 5 BABY!!!!” Cruz posted on Instagram.
Cruz batted in 20 games for Joliet. He hit .238 in 63 at bats with 15 hits, 10 runs scored, one triple, five RBI, 14 walks and 16 strikeouts.
On Sept. 2, Cruz picked up the win in relief in a 7-3 victory over the Schaumburg Boomers. He threw two innings and retired all six batters he faced, picking up one strikeout along the way.
