Brandon Sing

Brandon Ronald Sing

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 215 lb.
• High School Joliet Township High School
• Born March 13, 1981 in Joliet, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Minor league first baseman Brandon Sing played professionally from 1999 to 2012. He hit over 248 career home runs. He was named the Florida State League MVP in 2004 after nearly setting the league home run record. He won five home run titles.

Sing was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 20th round of the 1999 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Scott May and began his professional career that season. He suited up for the AZL Cubs, hitting .265/.311/.441 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 17 games as a third-string third baseman. In 2000, he played for the Eugene Emeralds and hit .229/.339/.413 with nine home runs (fifth in the Northwest League) and 28 RBI in 61 games. He split time between third base (fielding .918) and DH.

He advanced to the Lansing Lugnuts in 2001, hitting .245/.328/.434 with 16 home runs and 50 RBI in 121 games, though it was now clear that third base was not a good fit (25 errors in 52 games, fielding .828). He was better at 1B (.987 in an equal 52 games). He continued to move up in 2002 with the Daytona Cubs, he hit .248/.348/.434 with 18 home runs and 64 RBI while manning the outfield usually. He tied Juan Richardson for fourth in the Florida State League in homers, five behind leader Leo Daigle, three shy of Laynce Nix and two behind Jason Dubois.

2003 was a struggle for the slugger, as he hit only .222/.287/.367 with nine home runs and 46 RBI in 81 games split between the Daytona Cubs (39 G, 4 HR, 23 RBI, .235/.318/.368) and West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (42 G, 5 HR, 23 RBI, .209/.256/.367).

In 2004, the 23-year-old blossomed. Playing in 122 games for Daytona, Sing hit .270/.399/.571 with 32 home runs, 86 runs scored and 94 RBI. He topped the circuit in runs (5 ahead of runner-up Carlo Cota), home runs (10 more than the next player, Delwyn Young), RBI (2 more than Ron Davenport), walks (84, 10 ahead of Jayce Tingler; he also led Cub farmhands in this department), slugging percentage (.571, 60 points ahead of Young), OPS (970), errors at first base (15) and intentional walks (nine), while finishing second in total bases (233, 17 behind Delwyn Young). He was named the Florida State League All-Star 1B and to top it off, the FSL Most Valuable Player. He came close to setting the FSL home run record, hitting 25 by the end of June before bad weather shortened the season by 10-15 games. He still was just one shy of Jim Fuller's 33-year-old mark and would have tied it in the finale had a home run not blown full in a strong wind.

He had another strong season in 2005, hitting .276/.404/.538 with 26 home runs and 71 RBI in 127 games for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, making the Southern League All-Star team as a designated hitter. He tied Chris Young for the league lead in home runs and trailed only Jeremy Hermida (111) in walks (91). He was 5th in OBP (behind Hermida, Russell Martin, Tydus Meadows and Ryan Hanigan), second in slugging (just 7 points shy of Chris Young, though Delwyn Young would have led if he had the 8 more plate appearances needed to qualify) and second in OPS (behind Hermida). For the second straight year, he led Cub minor leaguers in walks. As in 2004, Baseball America did not name him as one of his league's top 20 prospects.

Sing struggled mightily in 2006, however, hitting only .196/.330/.341 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI in 118 games split between the Diamond Jaxx (85 G, 8 HR, 39 RBI, .203/.339/.340) and Triple-A Iowa Cubs (33 G, 4 HR, 11 RBI, .177/.307/.344). He attributed his problems to vision troubles resulting from an allergic reaction. With the Cubs having Derrek Lee at first base, they let Sing go.

For the 2007 season, Sing signed as a minor league free agent with the Baltimore Orioles organization but struggled again. In 64 games with the Bowie Baysox, he hit .187/.231/.262 with two home runs and 14 RBI. Following the season, he was out of affiliated baseball.

His career found a resurgence in the independent leagues however, as he donned a Pensacola Pelicans (of the American Association) jersey and hit .278/.409/.553 with 22 home runs and 86 RBI in 92 games. He was the All-Star 1B that season, after leading the league in home runs, RBI and walks (67, one ahead of Grant Richardson). He also tied with Juan Camacho for third in the league in intentional walks (5) and was second in the league in strikeouts with 86, behind Pat Reilly. He was the Player of the Month in May.

In 2009, he played for the Atlantic League's Bridgeport Bluefish, hitting .305/.414/.534 with 23 home runs, 94 RBI, 96 runs scored and 34 doubles. He was named an All-Star in the outfield (alongside Charlton Jimerson and James Shanks) and finished second in the league in RBI (just 2 behind Ray Navarrete), walks (84, 10 behind Lloyd Turner), slugging (33 points behind Jimerson), OPS (6 points shy of Jimerson) and total bases (245, also behind Navarrete), third in doubles, OBP (behind Josh Pressley and Carl Everett) and home runs, tied for third in runs (with Jeremy Owens), 9th in average (between Navarrete and Victor Rodriguez).

2010 was another great year for the hard hitter, as he hit .349/.482/.702 with 27 home runs, 73 RBI, 87 runs scored and 32 doubles in 95 games for the Sioux Falls Pheasants of the American Association. He led the loop in home runs (3 ahead of teammate Beau Torbert), slugging percentage (18 points ahead of Torbert) and OPS (1.184), was second in runs (two behind teammate Reggie Abercrombie), walks (4 behind Francisco Leandro), on-base percentage (8 points behind Chris Garcia), total bases (233, behind Torbert's 269) and intentional walks (seven, also behind Garcia), fourth in doubles and 5th in average. He was once again an All-Star, this time back at 1B. He was also the June player of the month. Teammate Torbert won MVP honors instead.

With Sioux Falls again in 2011, Sing hit .303/.434/.592 with 24 home runs and 70 RBI in 100 games. He led the league in home runs (2 ahead of Kala Ka'aihue and Ray Sadler) and intentional walks (10) and tied for the league lead in games. He was 4th in walks (76) and in the top 5 in both slugging and OPS. He lost out All-Star honors at 1B to Trent Lockwood, the first time in his four seasons in the indies that he was not a postseason All-Star. He played for the Long Island Ducks in 2012, hitting .284/.367/.527 with 26 home runs and 78 RBI. He was third in the Atlantic League in home runs (behind Chris Nowak and Ryan Harvey), 6th in doubles (31) and tied for 9th in runs (78, even with Eddie Rogers). Brian Burgamy was the All-Star 1B.

Sing hit .266/.375/.493 with 248 home runs, 790 walks, 788 runs and 830 RBI in 1,371 games in his 14-year career.

Sources

• 2000-2011 Baseball Almanacs
• Scout.com article