Blue Crabs' Dan Reichert Is ALPB Pitcher of the Year

Posted by TBN On 10/04/2010

The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball has announced that Southern Maryland Blue Crabs right-hander Dan Reichert has been named the 2010 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year. Reichert went a career best 18-9 this season, breaking the league record for wins in a single season. He also led the Atlantic League in innings pitched (189.0) and strikeouts (148), and tied for the league lead with 29 starts, a career high.

Reichert set the single season wins record in a 7-2 Blue Crabs victory over the York Revolution on September 17 at Regency Furniture Stadium. His 18 wins surpassed the 17-4 record of Denny Harriger in 2006, who posted that mark for the Lancaster Barnstormers in their championship season. In order to break Harriger’s record, Reichert had to win each of his last three starts.

At 15-9, he defeated the Newark Bears on September 7 at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, and then beat the Long Island Ducks on September 12 at Suffolk County Sports Park before earning the record-setting win in his final start five days later.

Reichert’s most outstanding start came on June 19 at Long Island where he threw a complete game shutout in game one of a day/night doubleheader. He struck out 10 batters and led the Crabs to a 7-0 victory.

The veteran was also named Atlantic League Pitcher of The Month for July, after posting a 3-1 record with a 2.46 ERA in five starts. In 33 innings that month, Reichert struck out 25, walking only seven.

“There was really only one pitcher in the league who deserved this award, and that was Dan Reichert. It’s not every year that the all-time league wins record falls,” said Blue Crabs General Manager Chris Allen. “This is a great tribute to one of the most valuable members of the most winning team in Blue Crabs history,” Allen continued.

Reichert was a member of the original Blue Crabs roster in 2008, posting a 3-1 record with a 3.40 ERA in six starts before being the first player in franchise history to be signed by a Major League organization when the Cleveland Indians purchased his contract on May 29. He finished that season in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and returned to the Atlantic League last year with the Bridgeport Bluefish, going 14-9 in 28 starts. Reichert ended the 2010 regular season with a 35-19 record in 63 Atlantic League starts.

A 14-year veteran, Reichert was drafted seventh overall by the Kansas City Royals in 1997 out of the University of the Pacific. He has Major League experience in five seasons, predominantly with the Royals, but most recently with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003. Reichert made his big league debut in 1999 with the Royals and pitched for them through 2002, winning 21 games.

For his career, Reichert is 108-89 in 425 games and 225 starts in the majors and minors combined.

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