GARY, Ind. — Even as the Gary SouthShore RailCats advanced to the Northern League Championship Series for an unprecedented fourth straight season in 2008, several former RailCats were enjoying similar success chasing their major league dreams, rising through the ranks of affiliated minor league baseball.

Six former RailCats played in the affiliated leagues this season, including two – Tim Byrdak (2003 RailCat) and Nathan Haynes (2006) – who saw time in the major leagues.  Former RailCats hitting coach Andy Haines (2005-06), who managed the 2007 Frontier League Champion Windy City Thunderbolts, also had a successful year in 2008, serving as a hitting coach in the Florida Marlins’ minor league system with their rookie Gulf Coast League affiliate.

Byrdak, a native of nearby Oak Forest, Ill. and product of South Suburban (South Holland, Ill.) College, had pitched in the major leagues (1998-2000) before being traded to the RailCats during the 2003 season, but a pair of arm surgeries before his time in Northwest Indiana put his big league future in doubt.  After a successful 2003 campaign with the ‘Cats, Byrdak returned to the San Diego Padres system in 2004 and completed his climb back to the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 and 2006, before pitching with the Detroit Tigers in 2007.  This season, Byrdak has appeared in 57 games for the Houston Astros, going 2-1 with an even 4.00 ERA.

Haynes’ trip to the major leagues took a bit longer than Byrdak’s but still included a stop in Gary in 2006.  Haynes hit .261 in 31 games for the RailCats in 2006 before being snatched up by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, where he made his major league debut in 2007.  A first round draft choice of the Oakland Athletics in 1997, Haynes spent six seasons in Double and Triple-A before signing with the RailCats, and saw his determination pay off again this year, when the now 28-year-old played in 20 games for the Tampa Bay Rays.  Haynes spent the remainder of 2008 with the Durham Bulls (AAA), batting .253 and stealing 13 bases.

Perhaps no ex-RailCat, however, had a more decorated year than 2007 Northern League Pitcher of the Year Willie Glen (2005-07), who returned to affiliated baseball as a starter with the Carolina Mudcats (AA) in the Marlins organization.  The 30-year-old right-hander pitched five seasons in the affiliated minor leagues before his time with the RailCats, but credits RailCats Manager Greg Tagert and his coaches with his emergence as a top-of-the-line starter in the Northern League.  Glen’s success carried over to the Southern League in 2008, where the Indianapolis native went 9-4 with a miniscule 2.04 ERA, earning three playoff starts for the Mudcats, who advanced to the league finals.  Glen pitched an inning in the Southern League All-Star Game and allowed only 59 hits in 94.0 innings (good for a .180 opponents batting average), striking out 87 men for a Carolina team that went a league-best 80-60 during the regular season.

Three other RailCats – Jose Yepez (2005, 2007), Chad Blackwell (2007) and Todd Martin (2006) – also took the field for affiliated clubs this summer.  Yepez cracked four home runs for the High Desert Mavericks (A) in the Seattle Mariners system, the Venezuelan catcher’s second stint in affiliated ball.  Blackwell, a key member of the 2007 championship RailCats’ bullpen before his signing, helped pitch the Dunedin Blue Jays (A) to the Florida State League playoffs with a 3.18 ERA in 70.2 innings.  Martin – a former college teammate of RailCats second baseman Eric McNamee – has spent the last two seasons in the Cleveland Indians system, hitting three home runs in 36 games between three different stops this year.

Ben Risinger (2005), a key component in the RailCats’ first championship run, was also in the major leagues in 2008, but not as a player.  Since 2006, Risinger has worked as the San Diego Padres’ bullpen catcher, returning to the organization where he spent seven seasons, reaching as high as Triple-A from 2003-06.

The RailCats have sold the contracts of 18 players to affiliated baseball since 2002, including four – Blackwell, Glen, Yepez and Chris Curry – in 2007.  The RailCats won 56 games in 2008 and advanced to the Northern League Championship Series for the fourth year in a row, becoming the first team in league history to do so.  The RailCats will begin their 2009 season at state-of-the-art U. S. Steel Yard in May.