Next up in the career minor league record book is home runs…. the one you’ve been waiting for, Brilliant Reader?
As usual, we’ll look at 2006-2017 first, and then “all-time” after that.
| 2006-2017 | |||
| 1 | Clint Robinson | Harrisonburg ’05-06 | 159 |
| 2 | Ryan Schimpf | Luray ’08 | 147 |
| 3 | Rudy Flores | Haymarket ’10 | 95 |
| 4 | Joey Butler | New Market ’06 | 92 |
| 5 | Tony Thomas | Harrisonburg ’05 | 84 |
| Ben Guez | Covington ’06 | 84 | |
| 7 | Blake Tekotte | Woodstock ’06 | 83 |
| 8 | Rebel Ridling | Covington ’06 | 76 |
| 9 | Tyler White | Haymarket ’10 | 73 |
| 10 | Jon Griffin | Luray ’10 | 71 |
| 11 | Collin Cowgill | Covington ’05 | 70 |
| 12 | AJ Kirby-Jones | Waynesboro ’09 | 64 |
Things are getting tight up there at the top; Clint Robinson will likely not hold onto the top spot if Ryan Schimpf has a full year in the minors in 2018. (And Robinson played at Syracuse, in the International League, in 2017, when Schimpf played at El Paso, of the Pacific Coast League. The PCL plays better for hitters than the IL, so that matters, too.)
Anyway, Robinson, Schimpf, Rudy Flores, Joey Butler, and Tyler White are all active. White hit 23 home runs in 2017, and jumped up to #9 on this list. But hopefully all of these guys will play more in the majors than the minors in 2018.
| All-Time | |||
| 1 | Jeff Manto | Front Royal | 243 |
| 2 | Joe Koshansky | Staunton ’02-03 | 186 |
| 3 | Clint Robinson | Harrisonburg ’05-06 | 159 |
| 4 | Ryan Shealy | Harrisonburg ’99 | 158 |
| 5 | Andy Abad | Harrisonburg ’93 | 157 |
| 6 | Ryan Schimpf | Luray ’08 | 147 |
| 7 | Christopher Carter | Waynesboro ’01 | 146 |
| 8 | Alan Cockrell | Staunton | 141 |
| 9 | Luke Scott | Staunton | 125 |
| 10 | Erik Kratz | Way,Harr ’00-01 | 123 |
| 11 | Stephen Smitherman | Winchester ’98-9 | 114 |
| 12 | Jack Voigt | Staunton | 111 |
| 13 | Steve Decker | Front Royal | 101 |
| 14 | Dan Pasqua | New Market ’81 | 100 |
| Nick Stavinoha | Front Royal ’03 | 100 | |
| 16 | Larry Sheets | Staunton | 99 |
| Luis Lopez | Winchester ’92-3 | 99 | |
| 18 | Pat Watkins | Staunton | 95 |
| Rudy Flores | Haymarket ’10 | 95 | |
| 20 | Jim Pankovits | Harrisonburg ’74 | 93 |
Robinson, Schimpf, and Flores are on both lists. Erik Kratz is also active, and all the way up there at #10, after adding 13 home runs in 2017.
Joe Koshansky also has another connection to the VBL, as he was one of the people responsible for bringing the VBL back to Charlottesville back in 2014.
