Last Thursday’s winner is Cliff Pennington, who will go on to face Jason Kipnis in the next round.

Friday’s Matchup

Eric Campbell (Luray 2006) vs. Jason Michaels (Staunton 1995)

• Campbell was a 2008 8th round draft pick of the New York Mets out of Boston College (he was VBL teammates with Yonder Alonso, a name that will show up in this competition before too long). He played in the major leagues for parts of three seasons- 2014-2016. In 438 at-bats in those seasons, he hit .221/.312/.311 with seven home runs. He spent a little bit of time playing for Hashin in the Japanese League in 2017, but spent 2018 and 2019 in Triple-A back in the states. He is currently a member of the Oakland A’s organization.
• Michaels was drafted a whopping four times- in 1994, and then each year from 1996-1998. Out of the University of Miami, he finally signed after getting picked in the 4th round of the ’98 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He made the majors in 2001, and went on to be mostly a fourth outfielder for 11 seasons. Playing for the Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Houston Astros, Michaels hit a total of .263/.335/.407 in 2,332 at-bats, with 59 home runs. His high in homers was 10 in 2004. He retired in 2012. Interestingly, his grandfather, John Michaels, pitched for the 1932 Boston Red Sox.

Vote by going to twitter.com/JohnATVL to vote! (Closes Tuesday morning)

And by the way, if you want to read much, much more about the 2019 VBL season, be sure to check out the 2019 Valley League Annual!

Campbell

Michaels