Darren Blakely

Darren Lydell Blakely

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.
• School University of Hawai'i
• High School Pensacola High School

• Born March 14, 1977 in West Islip, NY USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Darren Blakely played 11 years in the minors, reaching AAA.

Blakely was taken by the Atlanta Braves in the 43rd round of the 1995 amateur draft but continued on to college. He then was chosen by the Anaheim Angels in the 5th round of the 1998 amateur draft; he was their second position player taken, after Brian Oliver. He made his pro debut with the Boise Hawks and hit .277/.398/.412 with 50 runs in 71 games.

Moving up to the Lake Elsinore Storm in '99, the switch-hitter put up a .251/.323/.435 line with 38 doubles, 10 triples, 12 homers, 88 runs, 159 strikeouts and 23 steals in 36 tries. He led Angels farmhands in runs, doubles and whiffs. The New Yorker batted .237/.314/.424 with 136 strikeouts and 16 homers for the 2000 Erie SeaWolves. He again led Angels farmhands in times fanned but didn't lead in anything positive this time. He paced the Eastern League in both strikeouts and times hit by pitch (20).

Before the 2001 season kicked off, Darren was shipped to the New York Yankees for Glenallen Hill. Blakely hit .256/.363/.447 in 86 games for the Tampa Yankees and went 6 for 20 for the Norwich Navigators. Then, at the trading deadline, New York sent him packing with Brett Jodie to the San Diego Padres for Sterling Hitchcock. Assigned to the Mobile BayBears, he fell to .217/.300/.443 in 28 games. Overall, he had 18 home runs, 7 triples, 31 steals in 48 tries and 139 strikeouts for the well-traveled year.

In 2002, Blakely played for Mobile (.217/.339/.344, 132 K, 70 BB) and the Portland Beavers (2 for 15, 2 HR, BB). He had 298 putouts, leading Southern League outfielders. Let go by San Diego, the 26-year-old starred in the independent leagues in 2003, hitting .307/.374/.574 for the New Jersey Jackals and .286/.462/.490 for the Brockton Rox; overall, he had 29 doubles, 15 home runs and 16 steals in 21 tries. He made the Northeast League All-Star team. Joining Team USA for the 2003 Baseball World Cup, Blakely batted .219/.342/.500 as their main left fielder. He had 3 homers and 7 RBI in 9 games. He tied for 7th in the event in homers, behind Audes de Leon, Takashi Yoshiura, Sharnol Adriana, Tiago Campos, Frederich Cepeda and Naotaka Takehara.

The Chicago White Sox signed Blakely for 2004. He split the year between the Winston-Salem Warthogs (.275/.322/.590, 25 HR in 84 G) and the Birmingham Barons (.214/.350/.512 in 27 G). He led White Sox minor leaguers in both homers (29) and slugging (.573). He also led the Carolina League in dingers, 3 ahead of runner-up Mark Saccomanno. He did not make the league All-Star team - Shane Costa, Rajai Davis, Jeff Francoeur and Ryan Sweeney were picked as the outfielders.

In 2005, Blakely put up a solid season with Birmingham - 29 doubles, 18 homers, 89 RBI and a .283/.346/.476 line. He led the Southern League in RBI. Darren suffered a nosedive in 2006, hitting only .209/.272/.330 in 97 games between the White Sox and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim AA and AAA clubs. He returned to the independent leagues but couldn't revive his career again, hitting .219/.304/.461 for the North Shore Spirit. He tried a comeback in 2010 with the Tucson Toros of the Golden Baseball League.

Sources

• 1999-2008 Baseball Almanacs