In 1995, the new ballpark made its grand debut and the town of Auburn came out in
full to see their new stadium. 58,900 Auburn Doubleday fans would set the all
time record for this town up until this point... and while they wouldn’t qualify
for the playoffs, the Auburn Doubledays were an excellent ballclub going 40-34
(.541). That would be good enough for 2nd place and steadily competitive all
season long. The team was led on the field by a future backup catcher who would
become a bit of a star for the New York Mets and Florida Marlins by his hard nosed
style of play and unexpected power. Astros’ 1st round draft pick, Ramon Castro
was a power hitting catcher blasting 17 2Bs and a team leading 9 HRs with
49 RBIs while batting .299 for Auburn on his way to a fine MLB career. As of this
writing he was enjoying his 12th Major League season with the Chicago White
Sox in 2010 hitting 7 HRs and batting .318 in 85 At Bats as their backup catcher.
Joining Castro was a player with similar skills but at Shortstop. Julio Lugo
(.291, 17 SB) like Ramon Castro would show some surprising power often hitting
double digits in homers while providing some excellent leadership in the infield.
As of this writing, Lugo was enjoying his 11th MLB season in Baltimore having
a fine career with the Houston Astros, Devil Rays, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals
and Orioles, and still going strong. |