ONE STEP CLOSER: Brett Siddall
Oakland A’s / Vermont Lake Monsters (Class A – Short)
Mequon, WI – Brett Siddall, the MVP of the 2014 Northwoods League Champion Lakeshore Chinooks, was set to return to Mequon for a second season in 2015, but after hitting .341 and 12 home runs and earning All-American and MAAC Player of the Year honors in his junior season at Canisius College, Siddall heard his named called. The Oakland Athletics selected him with the 398th overall pick in the 13th round of the MLB draft. With the blessing of the Chinooks staff and the support from the fans, Siddall chose to bypass his final year of college eligibility and signed on the dotted line. Siddall follows in the pro footsteps of his father, Joe, who played professionally at the major league level for four years with Montreal, Florida, and Detroit.
After adjusting quickly to rookie ball with the Athletics’ Rookie team in Arizona where he hit .342 in 19 games, Brett was
quickly promoted for the rest of the summer to Burlington, Vermont to play for the Class A Lake Monsters. Siddall hit four more home runs and drove in 29 runs to finish the summer with a respectable .289 batting average with six home runs and 42 RBI’s.
After his first season of minor league baseball, Siddall shares:
1. I will be attending spring training in Arizona at the beginning of March. From there, I hope to make a full season team. The next step for me would be in Beloit, WI, which would be great to start the year there.
2. My personal highlight was hitting a grand slam in my last at bat of the 2015 season. It was a thrill to end the exciting year on a positive note.
3. Star Wars night was a blast. We got to wear jerseys with Yoda on them that night so the fans loved it. The kids had a lot of fun and some of them purchased the signed jerseys after the game.
4. Playing every day was a grind, but I loved it. I was fortunate to stay healthy and ended up having a great summer. I think the previous summer with the Chinooks helped me adjust to the grueling schedule of the minor leagues.
As a fan favorite from the 2014 Championship season, Siddall’s path to the majors will be closely monitored by many of the Lakeshore faithful. Follow his progress at:
http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=643335#/career/R/hitting/2014/ALL
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 140 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (KC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com.
