On May 4, 2015, Austin Charles Hedges made his major league debut with the San Diego Padres. Austin spent most of the 2013 season with the Lake Elsinore Storm in the California League. During that time he was considered the best defensive catcher in all of minor league baseball.

Since being called up to the majors, Austin has split time behind the plate with Derek Norris. Austin isn’t much of a hitter, but his defensive skills behind the plate should guarantee him a very long big league career.

I want to wish Austin the best of luck in the big leagues.

The Lake Elsinore Storm made a trip to visit the Inland Empire 66ers. I didn’t attend the game but showed up after and waited for some of the players near the team bus.

Former major leaguer Xavier Nady recently got the gig as the Storm hitting coach and I wanted to meet him. Rod Barajas began the season as the Storm hitting coach, then was promoted to Double-A San Antonio. Nady then came in to fill the void.

After waiting for over an hour, Xavier came out and signed for the few of us that were waiting for him. You can judge by the background of the photo that this was a very late night autograph session. Luckily we were both wearing white.

Facts about Xavier

• Full name is Xavier Clifford Nady.
• Attended UC Berkeley.
• Was drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 2000 amateur draft.
• 2x World Series champion.
• Had a 12 year major league career.

Wikipedia