Retired Bulls
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Jeff McNair
McNair leaves the Bulls, but not baseball entirely. He will continue to coach and play for the Burlington Bears GHBL team, but could not make the time commitment to weekends to remain with the OSBA team.
A career .265 hitter with a .360 OBP and 29 Stolen bases and 13 Sac’s (he is the Bulls all time leader in this category).McNair’s career year came in 2006 when he hit .302. He also always posted solid playoff numbers with a career .298 playoff average.
McNair began with the Bulls in CF and the moved to RF with the arrival of Mike Howden. When Kip Keith joined the team, McNair took on the unique role of “roving outfielder” where he would play 5-6 innings a game splitting time between left, centre and right field. His arm was above average, so strong in fact, no cut off man could contain him. McNair’s defence helped the Bulls out in many circumstances and he was best known for his ability to slide and snare texas leaguers
McNair was also a tournament regular for the team playing in 24 tournament games over his 4 years. Throughout his career, he was an ironman who never missed a single game due to injury,
The Bulls will mist both McNair’s contributions on the field, but also his consistently supportive demeanour. McNair had an infectious passion for winning, the same passion that helped the Bulls for many years, will hopefully help McNair guide his Bears team to another successful season. Bulls wish best of luck to McNair and thank him for all his effort over many winning seasons in a Bulls uniform.
Bulls Debut: May 7/2005 vs Pickering
Career Totals: 2005-2008
G 143 AB 283 OB 108 H 75 W 33 HBP 9 1B 72 2B 3 3B 0 HR 0
K's 36 RUNS 56 RBI 37 SB 29 CS 7 SAC 13 ROE 16 SLG .276 OBA .365
AVG .265
Awards:
2007 W1 Division All Star
Matt Langford
A career .274 hitter with his standout year coming in 2007 where he hit .317, Langford was a consistent utility man who started his Bulls years in RF and then moved to First Base. Langford was the Bulls Most Improved player in both 2005 and 2007.
Langford was one of the “Final 9” in the Bulls 2005 victory over Durham, a game in which he travelled back from Kingston to play (for both weekends including the previous weekends rainout) With the Bulls facing elimination in game 2, Langford put together his best offensive game of the season going 4-4 with 3 singles, 1 ground rule double and 2 RBI’s.
Langford also played a key role in the Bulls 2006 OSBA tournament victory where he played great first base all weekend ending in an amazing diving catch of a line drive in the final inning of a 1 run ballgame,
The dedication and team first mentality Langford showed in coming back when the Bulls needed him most in 2005, epitomized Matt Langford’s years with the Bulls. Langford is the kind of ball player every team would be lucky to have. He was one of the most unselfish players to ever put on a Bulls uniform. He knew his role and not only accepted it, but excelled at it. He has been an integral piece of the Bulls success and he will truly be missed.
Bulls Debut: May 7/2005 vs Pickering
First Bulls Homerun: Jul 28/2007 vs Mississauga Majors
Career Totals: 2005-2008
G 71 AB 164 OB 57 H 45 W 12 HBP 5 1B 39 2B 5 3B 0 HR 1
K's 22 RUNS 31 RBI 24 SB 4 CS 0 SAC 2 ROE 17 SLG .323 OBA .343
AVG .274
Awards:
2005 Bulls Most Improved Player
2007 Bulls Most Improved Player
Andrew Swagers
First Bulls Homerun: May 26/2007 vs Mississauga Stars
In just one season with the Bulls, Andrew Swagers rewrote the record book. 16 HR’s in a season is a mark unlikely to ever be approached as his mark of 61 RBI’s a .468 average and a 1.000 SLG percentage, Andrew was acquired in the winter of 2007 when he moved to Burlington and approached the Bulls about a spot on the team. Swagers was coming off an MVP and Rookie of the Year season with the SABL Astros. Defensively, Swagers became the teams SS in a move that sent Guy to 3B where he solidified an often troubled infield position for the Bulls.
Swagers also pitched for the Bulls and put up some great numbers there as well. He appeared in 8 games going 4-0 with a 2.44 ERA and 41 K’s in 28.2 innings of work.
During his year with the Bulls, Swagers was absolutely clutch in a few memorable tournament situations. His game tying wood bat HR vs the New Lowell Knights in the Ottawa tournament propelled the Bulls to a semi final 9 inning win (in a game Swagers also pitched all 9 for the 8-7 win)
On top of the phenomenal numbers, Swagers will also be remember as an instantly vocal and supportive team member. His loss to the Bulls came as a surprise coming one week before the season began, but al the Bulls wished him well as he headed to the US for a coaching position with Bacone where he still resides and met his future wife.
Career Totals: 2007
G 45 AB 124 OB 80 H 58 W 22 HBP 7 1B 24 2B 18 3B 0 HR 16
K's 10 RUNS 49 RBI 61 SB 0 CS 0 SAC 1 ROE 6 SLG .1000 OBA .569
AVG .468
PITCHING
GP 8 GS 4 IP 28.7 R 11 ER 10 H 24 BB 8 HBP 1 IBB 0 K 41 CG 3 SH 1 W 4 L 0 S 2 Hold O K/IP 1.43 WHIP 1.15 ERA 2.44
Awards:
2007 Jenkins Division All Star
2007 Ottawa Tournament MVP
2007 Bulls Offensive Player of the Year
2007 Bulls MVP
2007 OSBA 1st Team All-Star
2007 Jenkins Division Rookie of the Year
2007 Jenkins Division Silver Slugger
2007 Jenkins Division MVP
Bryan Blasko
Blasko was a career .263 hitter with 3 HR’s and 29 RBI’s. He is the only regularly rostered Bull who never made a single pitching appearance.
During the 2005 finals, Blasko took over for Brad Guy at SS and filled in admirably during the Bulls 2 wins on the final day of the season.
In 2006, injuries began to take their toll on him and he missed some time before making his return in game 3 of the conference finals where he pinch hit in the bottom of the 10th with the bases loaded. Blasko was hit by the pitch and gave the Bulls the victory to keep them alive in the series.
Blasko started the 2007 season with the Bulls, but couldn’t make the full time commitment and eventually he and the team parted ways though Blasko can still be seen (and heard) at Bulls games as a supporter of the team and a proud member of their history.
Career Totals:2005-2007
G 68 AB 171 OB 63 H 45 W 18 HBP 8 1B 29 2B 13 3B 0 HR 3
K's 40 RUNS 28 RBI 29 SB 6 CS 1 SAC 5 ROE 4 SLG .392 OBA .360
AVG .263
Awards:
2005 OSSBA 2nd Team All Star
2005 Bulls Co-Defensive Player of the Year
2006 OSSBA/SABL All Star
2006 Jenkins Division All Star
2006 OSBA 1st Team All Star
Brad Johnston
Brad was present for a pivotal game 2 of the Bulls 9 man line-up in the 2005 Championship series and has been an integral part of many of the Bulls key wins over the years.
A career .222 hitter in 98 games with the Bulls, BJ, though often missing games, always made the most of the ones he was at. BJ mostly caught Cam McKnight’s starts and also was an integral part of the Bulls tournaments run in 2008 when he moved to 3rd base in Brad Guy’s absence.
Johnston’s best year came in 2007 when he hit .290 with a .450 OBP and 12 RBI’s in 17 games.
A solid role players who always accepted his job on the team and did his best to excel at it, coming up with many key hits, sac bunts and defensive performances when needed, BJ was a great “team first” player that was liked and respected by all he played with and against.
Career Totals: 2005-2008
G 98 AB 189 OB 80 H 42 W 38 HBP 1 1B 40 2B 2 3B 0 HR 0
K's 39 RUNS 29 RBI 34 SB 0 CS 0 SAC 6 ROE 12 SLG .233 OBA .355
AVG .222
