Where are the Mormons in Baseball?? — Minors & Foreign Leagues
February 20th, 2014 | 
Author: Figuring out where all those who played in the major leagues last year (as I detailed in yesterday’s post) have moved is relatively easy compared to figuring out what has happened to those who passed through the minors last year. This is true for several reasons:
- There are more places where they could have gone — including both foreign and independent leagues
- The minor league records online aren’t as accurate as the major league records
- Its early, and not all the decisions have been made about where players will be, and the final decisions depend on the results of spring training.
There are probably other reasons as well. I must admit that I’m not that experienced in pulling together this information — I’ve only been at this for a few years.
But, despite these problems, I have produced a list of Mormons in the minors, foreign leagues and independent leagues:
As always, there could be errors in this list. I try to be very careful about who is Mormon (see our page about Defining who is Mormon), but I’m human and could have erred or received bad information. As always, I appreciate corrections and, especially, additions.
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Status of Mormons who were in the Minors last year
- Jaycob Brugman — Vermont Lake Monsters (OAK) — New York-Pennsylvania League (A-)
- Tyson Brummett — New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR) — Eastern League (AA)
- Taylor Cole — Dunedin Blue Jays (TOR) — Florida State League (A+)
- Jeff Gelalich — Dayton Dragons (CIN) — Midwest League (A)
- Jacob Hannemann — AZL Cubs (CHC) — Arizona League (R)
- Bryan Harper — Hagerstown Suns (WSH) — South Atlantic League (A)
- Blaine Howell —Bakersfield Blaze (CIN) — California League (A+)
- Cale Iorg — released (was with Aberdeen IronBirds (BAL) — New York-Penn League (SS))
- Adam Law — Ogden Raptors (LAD) — Pioneer League (R)
- Marcus Littlewood — Clinton LumberKings (SEA) — Midwest League (A)
- Mitch Maier — Iowa Cubs (CHC) — Pacific Coast League (AAA)
- Taylor Mangum —Brevard County Manatees (MIL) — Florida State League (A+)
- Adam Miller —Missoula Osprey (AZ) — Pioneer League (R)
- Matt Neil —New Orleans Zephyrs (MIA) — Pacific Coast League (AAA)
- Stephen Parker —Nashville Sounds (MIL) — Pacific Coast League (AAA)
- Brett Pill — Kia Tigers — Korean League
- Mason Smith —AZL Padres (SD) — Arizona League (R)
- Mitch Talbot — status unclear (was with Las Vegas 51s (NYM) — Pacific Coast League (AAA))
- Nik Turley —Trenton Thunder (NYY) — Eastern League (AA)
- Boone Whiting —Memphis Redbirds (STL) — Pacific Coast League (AAA)
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Status of those in Foreign Leagues
- Brandon Duckworth — scout (NYY); (was with Rakuten Golden Eagles — Japan)
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Independent Leagues
- Cole Miles — was with Florence Freedom — Frontier League
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Other players who may be Mormon:
[We need to determine if these players are Mormon before publishing further information about them.]
Rick Anton, James Brooks, Jay Brossman, Brian Budrow, Eric Byrnes, Chris Capper, Tyler Chism, Dallas Christison, Shaun Cooper, Stephen Fife, Tyler Hanks, Steve Hirschfeld, Travis Huber, Zachary Jones, Goose Kallunki, Ryan Khoury, Kam Mickolio (apparently not Mormon, but I don’t have evidence either way), A. J. Murray, Jordan Taylor Pratt, Tanner Robles, Braeden Schlehuber, Justin Smith, Matt Spring, Brad Thompson, Tyler Wagner
Non-Mormons who may be confused for Mormons
Matt Carson (non-Mormon who went to BYU), Derek Christensen, Parker Morin, Egan Smith, Jordan Smith, Keenyn Walker
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Posted in
If you have Brett Pill on the list then surely you need to put his younger brother Tyler Pill on your list. He is in the NY Mets organization.
Thanks!
Tyler is with the Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League (AA). He is a pitcher.
We will track him during the year.
Nice Piece. Goose Kallunki (I am his parent’s neighbor in Provo) – though his Grandfather was a mission president- not a Mormon, though many confuse that he would be. Kam Mickolio is not a Mormon either, his younger brother played with Kallunki at UVU, the family is not LDS.
Thanks, Vaughn!
Actually, under the tab “Defining who is Mormon” above the image at the top of the page, you’ll find that we also include those with “Mormon heritage.” If Goose’s Grandfather was a mission president, then Goose has Mormon heritage.
On the other hand, I know these issues can be confusing and sometimes lead to hurt feelings. I’ll probably include Goose in my own private lists, but be much more cautious when it comes to more public lists. Its always better to be clear what you are saying and why, so when I include him, I’ll need to add some kind of statement clarifying.