Who Should Play in Harbor Park, and When

What is it about the end of May/beginning of June that brings out the best in left-handed hitting second basemen, batting second, in Harbor Park? In 2011, Columbus Clippers second baseman Cord Phelps, a switch-hitter had a four-game series May 26-29 that we’re still talking about. Phelps played second base and batted second, and batted left-handed against right-handed pitchers. In the series, Phelps went 8-for-22 (.364), spiked with nine RBI.

This year, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees came to Harbor Park June 1-4 for what was originally a four-game series but morphed into a six-game series after two earlier Tides-Yankees games were postponed by weather. Before the series, the Yankees promoted left-handed hitting second baseman Corban Joseph from AA Trenton, and he was inserted into the #2 slot in the lineup for all six games. In his first at-bat, Joseph hit a home run into the right-field party deck. For the entire series, Joseph went 7-for-23 (.304) with three home runs, five runs scored, and four RBI. It wasn’t as spectacular a series as Phelps’ 2011 series, but still well above the expected.

So, we have two second baseman, who batted second in the lineup, who at least sometimes hit left-handed, who had terrific offensive series in Harbor Park between May 26 and June 4. And, the first three hitters of each player’s first name are “Cor”. And their last names have six letters. Does that mean that we should expect a left-handed hitting second baseman, batting second, named “Corey Romero” to have a great series in Harbor Park May 31 – June 3?