Firebirds History
The Orleans Firebirds are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The Firebirds are one of 10 members of the Cape Cod Baseball League, the nation's top college summer league.
Formerly known as the Sparklers and Cardinals, the Firebirds are 11-time CCBL champions. The Birds most recently captured the league title in 2005 when they defeated the Bourne Braves in two games.
Baseball has been played at Eldredge Park since 1913, and Orleans officially entered the CCBL in 1928. The team captured its first titles following World War II, when it won seven championships from 1947 to 1957.
The CCBL became a NCAA-recognized league in 1963, bringing collegiate athletes from across the country to each team. Orleans adopted the Cardinal as its new mascot and reached the league championship series four times in the next decade.
Orleans won its first modern-era championship in 1986, led by manager John Castleberry. The Birds captured their next two titles in 1993 with Rolando Casanova at the helm, and in 2003 under manager Carmen Carcone.
Current field manager Kelly Nicholson joined the team in 2005 and led the Birds to a championship in his first season en route to Manager of the Year honors.

Notable Firebirds Alumni
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Cory Abbott 2016
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Riley Adams 2016
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Russ Adams 2001
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Jon Adkins 1996
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Greg Allen 2013
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Andrew Aplin 2011
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Harry Arlanson 1929–1930
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Scott Baker 2002
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Jeff Ballard 1984
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Brian Bark 1988
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Brian Barnes 1988
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Tres Barrera 2015
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Brian Barton 2004
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Kevin Bearse 1984
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Brandon Bielak 2016
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Al Blanche 1938
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J. J. Bleday 2018
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Justin Blood 2000
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Brandon Boggs 2002–2003
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Aaron Boone 1993
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Brad Boxberger 2007
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Matthew Boyd 2011–2012
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Andrew Brackman 2006
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Bill Bray 2003
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John Brebbia 2010–2011
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Johnny Broaca 1930–1932
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Gary Brown 2008–2009
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Jordan Brown 2004
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Ryan Budde 1999
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Corbin Burnes 2015
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Emmanuel Burriss 2005
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Drew Butera 2004
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Ryan Carpenter 2010–2011
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Brett Cecil 2006
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Andrew Chafin 2011
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Travis Chapman 1998
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Nick Christiani 2007
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Vince Conde 2013
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Jeff Conine 1986
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Dylan Covey 2012
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Brandon Crawford 2007
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Connie Creeden 1938
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Kyle Crockett 2012
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Jake Cronenworth 2014
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Colin Curtis 2005
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Chase d'Arnaud 2007
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Bobby Dalbec 2014–2015
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Ronnie Dawson 2015
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Jason Dellaero 1996
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Lance Dickson 1989
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Brian Dorsett 1981
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Tommy Doyle 2015
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Matt Duffy 2011
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Angel Echevarria 1990
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Mike Eden 1970–1971
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Frederick M. Ellis 1928–1929
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Brian Esposito 1999
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Cole Figueroa 2008
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Carlton Fisk 1966
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David Fletcher 2014
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Nate Freiman 2007–2008
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John Gall 1997
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Mike Gambino 1998
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Nomar Garciaparra 1993
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Dave Gavitt 1958
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Logan Gilbert 2017
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Wayne Gomes 1992
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Mike Gosling 1999
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Trevor Gott 2011
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Tyler Greene 2006
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Tommy Gregg 1983
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Glenn Gulliver 1975
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Chip Hale 1984–85
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Todd Haney 1986
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Eric Hanhold 2014
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Ryan Hanigan 2001
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Bob Hansen 1969
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Erik Hanson 1984
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Adam Haseley 2016
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Alex Hassan 2008–2009
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Mike Hauschild 2011
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Todd Helton 1994
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Xavier Hernandez 1985
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Matt Howard 1988
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Tim Hummel 1999
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Mike Humphreys 1987
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Scott Hurst 2016
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Mike Ignasiak 1986–1987
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Jason Jaramillo 2003
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Jonathan Johnson 1995
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Hunter Jones 2005
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Tommy Kahnle 2009
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Trevor Kelley 2013
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Mike Kelly 1990
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Jeff Keppinger 2000–2001
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Joe Kerrigan 1972
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Andrew Kittredge 2010
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Kevin Kramer 2013
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Roger LaFrancois 1975–1976
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Lou Lamoriello 1963
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Greg LaRocca 1993
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Bill Laskey 1977
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Eric Lauer 2015
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Jack Leathersich 2010–2011
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Jesse Levis 1988
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Kyle Lewis 2015
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Mickey Lopez 1994
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Rick Luecken 1982
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Jordan Luplow 2013
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Daniel Lynch 2017
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Joe Mahoney 2006
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Mike Marjama 2011
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Dave Maurer 1996
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Ben McDonald 1989
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Zach McKinstry 2016
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Trevor Megill 2014
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Jason Michaels 1996
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Mike Milchin 1987
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Chad Moeller 1995
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Gabe Molina 1995
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Willie Morales 1991
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Eli Morgan 2016
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Russ Morman 1982
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Danny Muno 2009
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Sean Murphy 2015
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Lance Niekro 1999–2000
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Stephen Nogosek 2015
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Lars Nootbaar 2017
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Jim Norris 1969–1970
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Mike Olt 2008–2009
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Pat Osburn 1968
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Dave Otto 1983–1984
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Jay Payton 1992–1993
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Mike Pazik 1970–1971
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Dave Pember 1998
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Ryan Perry 2007
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Chris Pettit 2005
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Philip Pfeifer 2012–2013
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Brett Pill 2005
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Daniel Pinero 2015
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Bobby Poyner 2013–2014
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Rich Poythress 2008
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Scott Proctor 1996
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David Purcey 2003
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Pat Putnam 1973
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Art Quirk 1958
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Dan Radison 1971
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Rob Rasmussen 2008–2009
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Jorge Reyes 2009
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Bryan Reynolds 2015
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Antoan Richardson 2004
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J. T. Riddle 2012
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Brad Rigby 1992
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Edwin Ríos 2014
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Brian Rogers 2002
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Mike Rogodzinski 1969
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Red Rolfe 1930
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Ryan Rolison 2017
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Wade Rowdon 1980–1981
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Blondy Ryan 1928
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Joe Ryan 2015–2016
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Chris Sabo 1982
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Nelson Santovenia 1980
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Josh Satin 2006
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Josh Sborz 2013–2014
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Michael Schwimer 2007
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Chuck Seelbach 1967
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Steve Selsky 2009–2011
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Scott Servais 1986
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Ben Sheets 1999
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Jared Shuster 2019
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Jeff Smith 1993–1995
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Mike Smithson 1975
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J.T. Snow 1988
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Noah Song 2018
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Pete Stanicek 1984
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Rob Stanifer 1993
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Brock Stassi 2009
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Christin Stewart 2014
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Graeme Stinson 2017–2018
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Marcus Stroman 2010–2011
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Marc Sullivan 1977
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Eric Surkamp 2006–2007
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Travis Tartamella 2007–2008
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Everett Teaford 2005
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Mark Teixeira 1999
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Charles Thomas 1999
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Frank Thomas 1988
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David Thompson 2014
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Trent Thornton 2014
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Matt Torra 2004
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Andy Tracy 1994
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Chad Tracy 2000
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Mike Trujillo 1981
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Preston Tucker 2010
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Danny Valencia 2006
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Elih Villanueva 2006
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Taylor Ward 2014
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Mike Welch 1993
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Al Weston 1931
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Jason Wheeler 2011
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Sean White 2001
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Karsten Whitson 2012
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Matt Wieters 2006
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Cole Wilcox 2019
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Adam Wilk 2007
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Trevor Williams 2012
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Brooks Wilson 2016–2017
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Ed Wineapple 1931
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Kolten Wong 2010
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Steven Wright 2005
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Kelly Wunsch 1992
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Logan Wyatt 2018
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Daniel Zamora 2013