Sunday, May 16, 2010

Furmaniak a milestone Biscuit

Infielder J.J. Furmaniak, with Saturday's debut, became the 200th Biscuit. (Crumbs reader Brent Smeltzer deserves credit for tracking it.)

Jorge Cantu, here on a rehab assignment, was No. 100, if I remember correctly.

I don't know how Brent ranks it, but I consider Joey Gathright the first. Gathright was the first player at spring training 2004 to, when I introduced myself, say he was coming here and ask about the town. He also led off the first game at Huntsville.

One sign of how the current Rays are more patient with minor-league moves is the time from 100-200.

Cantu was here midseason '06, 2 1/2 years after the Biscuits opened. From Cantu to Furmaniak, it's more than 3 1/2.

1 comment:

Brent said...

Thanks for the credit! And, I would agree with Gathright being the first Biscuit, as I think he was the leadoff batter, and he was SO fast that he probably sprinted out of the dugout faster than any of the others to take his position in the field in the first inning of the first game!