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Editor: Terry Frey 326-3421The CarillonSECTIONSeptember 22,1997Coreypoised to crackTwins’ major league rosterby Terry FreyAlthough Anoia’sCorey Koskie was put on the Minnesota Twins’ 40-man roster this year, he did not get the call to join the big club this September, as a number of baseball people thought he would.Not only has the 24-year-old third baseman developed into the best baseball player to come out of this area, he is already one of the top players to ever come out of this province, as he is given a legitimate chance at playing in the majors sometime in the near future.A four-year veteran of the Twins’ minor league system, Koskie has been an all-star every year playing on four different teams, each year at a higher level. The 6’3”, 215 lb., baseball specimen is coming off a banner year, as he was named the top third baseman in all of ‘AA’ baseball last year.Playing for the New Britain Rock Cats in Connecticut, part of the ‘AA’ Eastern League, he belted 23 home-runs, with 79 RBI and a .286 batting average in 131 games. He was also named the Eastern Lengue’s all-star third baseman, played in the ‘AA’ all-star game in San Antonio, Texas, and was voted the Most Valuable Player of the Rock Cats last season.It was the second time Koskie was name the MVP of his team.In 1995, playing with the ‘A’ Fort Wayne Wizards in Indiana,Koskie was named the MVP of the team after batting .310, with 37 doubles, 16 home-runs and 78 RBI.The son of Leonard and Marianne Koskie, who farm south of Anola on Hwy #12, Corey Koskie is a gifted athlete who has excelled at every sport he has participated in. A high school volleyball star at Springfield Collegiate in Oakbank, he spent one year with the University of Manitoba Junior Bisons, before attending college in the United States to pursue his baseball career.An outstanding hockey goaltender, first with the Eastman Selects and then the Selkirk Steel-;• •'ii-.'Vvv’:c*vUv:;Y..'•Jtf TO? tfiJsPirjkwaf!mf■;*j *lt;M'vr.■ • ' * .••• - . wrEHMV FMtV ■ ME CAHHLONAnola’s Corey Koskie was named the top third baseman in all of Class AA baseball this season.ers for two years, there were some who felt professional hockey was in Koskie’s future.Koskie played his minor baseball in Anola until he was 14. He then spent four years with the Elmwood Giants of the Manitoba Junior Baseball League, winning the league batting championship in 1992.He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1994 in the 26th round of the major league entry draft. A shortstop early in his career, he first switched to third base when he accepted a baseball scholarship to the Des Moines Area Community Colleges in Iowa in 1992-93. In the summer of 1993 he was part of the Manitoba baseball team at the Canada Summer Games in Kamloops, then joined the National Baseball Institute (N.B.I.) for a year.;tn Vancouver, and from there was drafted by the Twins.Each of the four years Koskie has played in the minors has been at a progressively higher level. His first year in the minors was spent at Elizabethton, Tennessee, playing Rookie Ball. He hit .234 in his first year of pro ball and says had trouble adjusting to the pitching.In a telephone interview from Vancouver last week, where he is working out with the N.B.I. before departing later this week for Phoenix to' play in the Arizona Fall League, Koskie told The Carillon, my second year of pro ball at Fort Wayne, Indiana, playing Class A ball, “was my breakout year.” It was also the first year he spent with the Twins in spring' training in 1995 at Fort -Myers,Florida.Iili^third season in the Twins organisation found him at Fort Myers, Florida, playing a higher level of Class A ball. It was a disappointing season, as he pulled his hamstring three times and missed one and a half months of the season but still managed to hit .260 with nine homers and 55 RBI.But the Twins still considered Koskie a future prospect, and after this third spring training camp with the Twins, was sent to Class A A New Britain. His third major league spring camp at Fort Myers saw him see action in four Grapefruit League exhibition games. Needless to say, that is an experience he won't soon forget. Picture this. The Twins are playing the St. Louis Cardinals and Ron Gant comes up to bat.Koskie is positioned at third staring at Gant. “It was an intimidating experience.” Gant struck-out.Koskie credits Paul Molitor, one of the most prolific hitters in the history of the game, with teaching him how to play in front of people. “He helped me a lot, 1 was very nervous in spring training playing in front of large crowds.” “Molitor told me totrust the preparation that got me this far.”Koskie says he learned a lot from New Britain manager Al Newman, who spent a number of years in the majors.with. the .' ' Twins. “He helped me a lot with my defensive play, he brought me along quite a ways.” For the season, he committed 22 errors at third.Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan, in a visit to New Britain during the season gave some encouraging words to Koskie. He told me “the organization was proud of me and they were happy with my play.”Home at the family farm south of Anola for a week in early September, to visit his parents and _ 19-year-old sister Crystal, Koskie will spend most of the fall in the Phoenix area where he will play in the Arizona Fall League which consists of the top ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ prospects in baseball. He will likely spend most of the remainder of the winter in Vancouver where he can continue to train year-round.The Minnesota Twins 1998 spring training camp at Fort Myers, Florida, is an important one for Koskie. Last year the Twins placed him on their 40-man roster, which means he could have been called up to the majors at any lime. But it didn’t happen. If he has a good camp next spring, he will likely start the season in ‘AAA’ at Salt Lake City, Utah.Right now, it looks like Koskie is third on the Twins’ depth chart at third base behind Ron Coomer and the highly touted Todd Walker, who the Twins selected in the first round of the 1994 draft. Coomer is having an outstanding season at third for the Twins. He is second on the team to Paul Molitor in batting average (.303) and RBI (73). Walker spent most of the season al Salt Lake City, but is finishing the season with the Twins.Another factor to consider is the upcoming expansion draft for the new franchises in Arizona and Tampa. It may open up an opportunity in either Minnesota or any other major league club.If things go true to form,Corey Koskie should have a shot at playing in the major leagues in the next year or two, becoming the first Manitoba born and trained player to do so.
Newspaper Details
Steinbach Carillon
Steinbach, Manitoba, CA
Mon, Sep 22, 1997
Page 31
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CA 27 Jan 2019
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