Brunson productive in final days as Saint Francis player

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Alec Brunson is coming to the end of his college baseball career and he’s doing it with a flourish.
Starting in left field and hitting in the No. 2 hole in the batting order, Brunson has been productive for the University of Saint Francis (25-23 overall and 14-18 in the Crossroads League).
Going into a conference series Friday and Saturday, April 29-30 at Bethel, righty swinger Brunson is hitting .341 (57-of-167) with six home runs, two triples, 17 doubles, 36 runs batted in and 38 runs scored.
The CL tournament is scheduled for May 6-10.
He enjoys the 2-hole behind Xavier Nolan and in front of David Miller and Sam Pesa.
“I get more AB’s (hitting second),” says Brunson, 22. “If I get on, more times than not Miller and Pesa will hit me in.”
Lefty stick Miller has plated 55 and righty Pesa 38.
In 2021 — Brunson’s first season with the Cougars after transferring from Purdue Fort Wayne — he hit .272 (56-of-206) with 10 homers, four triples, nine doubles, 38 RBIs and 51 runs for 56 games (53 as a starter) and was selected all-conference honorable mention.
When deciding to change schools, Brunson went where cousin Kristian Gayday is an assistant coach.
“I’ve hit with him since I was 12,” says Brunson. “There was no better option than playing for him and I’ve had two of the better seasons I’ve had in quite some time.”
Brunson is also enjoying his time with Saint Francis head coach Dustin Butcher.
“His personality is amazing,” says Brunson. “He’s a great guy overall. He’ll do anything for any of his players.
“That’s the type of coach I always wanted to play for.”
A 2018 graduate of DeKalb High School in Auburn, Ind., Brunson was then a catcher. He would up catching and playing in the outfield and at first base at PFW. He was used at first base at Saint Francis in 2021 and third base in summer ball. An outfielder last summer with the Terre Haute (Ind.) Rex, he was named a Prospect League all-star.
“I’ll play wherever they need me,” says Brunson. “My strengths are my hitting and arm. Sometimes I don’t make the best reads in the outfield, but my arm makes up for it. Even when my swing is not perfect it’s still good enough to get a base hit.”
Commencement at USF is scheduled for May 7 and Brunson is scheduled to get a degree in Criminal Justice.
He is pondering his future.
“I’m hoping to play independent (pro) ball before I get a big boy job,” says Brunson, who is also considering considering going into law enforcement but is also feeling the tug of coaching.
“I’ve thought about coaching a lot,” says Brunson, who has helped teams at Auburn Little League and in other capacities. “I’ve helped teammates with their swings. I feel like I really understand swing types and what drills can help.
“I can’t get away from the game yet. There’s something about baseball that keeps bringing me back.”
Brunson plans to be a graduate assistant at Saint Francis in 2022-23 to his foot in the coaching door. He says he will pursue either at Masters of Business Administration (MBA) or an Athletic Administration degree.
Born and raised in Auburn, Brunson played in two stints at Auburn Little League and travel ball with the Fort Wayne Cubs (later known as the Fort Wayne Diamondbacks). As a teenager, his D-backs head coach was Javier DeJesus (now pitching coach at Ivy Tech Northeast in Fort Wayne).
At DeKalb, Brunson played for Tim Murdock. The 2017 Barons won 19 games and finished as runner-up in the DeKalb Sectional.
“I loved him as a coach,” says Brunson of Murdock. “He allowed us to do us. He knew we had played with each other since we were 12.”
Brunson played in the 2018 Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series in South Bend.
Alec is the son of Jason and Jennifer Brunson and older brother of Bella Brunson.
Before selling in 2021, Jason was co-owner of Captain’s Cabin on Crooked Lake. The business was once owned by former major league outfielder “Jungle Jim” Rivera. Jennifer is in pharmaceutical sales with Bristol Myers Squibb. DeKalb senior Bella plans to attend Indiana University.

Alec Brunson (University of Saint Francis Photo)

Alec Brunson (University of Saint Francis Photo)

Advertisement

Retired big leaguer Lind using language as way to prepare for his next career

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Indiana native Adam Lind enjoyed 14 seasons as a professional baseball player — 12 in the majors.
The lefty-swinging first baseman, designated hitter and left fielder donned the jerseys of the Toronto Blue Jays (2006-14), Milwaukee Brewers (2015), Seattle Mariners (2016) and Washington Nationals (2017) and took his last pro at-bats with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the New York Yankees system and Pawtucket in the Boston Red Sox organization in 2018.
His MLB managers were John Gibbons (two stints), Cito Gaston and John Farrell in Toronto, Ron Roenicke and Craig Counsell in Milwaukee, Scott Servais in Seattle and Dusty Baker in Washington.
All but 391 of his 1,334 career big league games were played with Toronto. He hit .272 with 200 home runs, 259 doubles, 723 runs batted in and a .795 OPS (.330 on-base percentage plus .465 slugging average).
In 2009, “Adam Bomb” won a Silver Slugger, the Edgar Martinez Award (best DH) and was an Unsung Star of the Year Award finalist after hitting .305 with 35 homers, 46 doubles, 114 RBIs and a .932 OPS (.370/.562).
His last three dingers came in the same Sept. 29 game — an 8-7 Blue Jays win in Boston. Lind went deep twice off Clay Buchholz and once against Takashi Saito.
While he logged 418 contests at DH and 249 in left field, Lind enjoyed it most at first base, where he fielded at a .993 clip and participated in 480 double plays.
“You’re more involved and closer to the action,” says Lind. “You can affect a game at first base.”
And there was April 20, 2012 when Lind started a triple play for the Blue Jays at Kansas City. Alex Gordon was on second base and Yuniesky Betancourt on first when Eric Hosner lined to Lind for the first out.
“I caught the ball in self defense,” says Lind, who stepped on first to force Betancourt and fired to second where Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar touched the bag to force Gordon.
Lind describes playing all those years in the American League East as good and bad.
“You see how good of a baseball player you are, playing 20 times each year against the Red Sox and Yankees,” says Lind. “You go against the best of the best — Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.
“At the same time it’s why I never got into the playoffs (as a Blue Jay).”
In Lind’s lone postseason appearance — the 2017 National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs — he went 2-for-3 as a pinch-hitter.
As his playing days were ending, Lind began thinking about getting back in the game — likely as a coach.
Meanwhile, wife Lakeyshia received Spanish lessons as a Christmas gift.
“I enjoyed that,” says Lind, who decided after retirement to enroll in the World Languages Department at the University of South Florida in Tampa and major in Spanish. The 38-year old father of three is now in his second semester of in-person classes after the COVID-19 pandemic made for a virtual experience. “I’m using school to qualify me and give me the tools to go into another career that I want to achieve. By earning a degree and being able to communicate with Latin Americans hopefully it will get my foot in the door (in baseball).
“My kids are young and I don’t want to be gone yet, but I would be a commodity. It used to be that 10 years in the big leagues almost guaranteed you could latch on. In my opinion that has changed quite a bit in the last decade.”
To accumulate credits in a shorter period of time and to immerse himself in the language and culture, Lind has decided to study abroad.
“I don’t like the word fluent,” says Lind. “I’m nowhere near that.
“I can at least communicate and get a point across.”
Plans now call for him to spend May 11-June 18 in Chile, where he’ll take two classes, live with a host family and take a few excursions including to the Andes Mountains. It’s possible Lakeyshia might be able to visit.
The couple met during the 2007 season and were married in Toronto in 2010. Their children are daughter Martinne (10), son Louie (8) and daughter Elodie (5). The two oldest kids are dual Canadian-American citizens.
Born in Muncie, Ind., Adam Alan Lind moved to Anderson as a youngster and played his first organized baseball at Chesterfield Little League.
The son of educators Al and Kathy and younger brother of sister Allison played in the Anderson Babe Ruth League and was with the John Miles-managed and Dan Ball-coached Anderson American Legion Post 127 team.
“He was a great grandfather figure and he had clout,” says Lind. “It was an honor to be a freshman and asked to play for that team.”
Attending a Ball State hitting camp and taking a growth spurt between his eighth and ninth grade years brought power to Lind’s game.
Taking batting practice in the fall of his freshmen year, he smacked one over the fence.
“It was the first homer I hit on the big field,” says Lind, who parked it an offering from Jason Stecher.
It was Stecher who had been his seventh grade basketball coach as a first-year teacher and was a baseball assistant to his father through 2001 when the Anderson Highland High School diamond was named Bob Stecher Field then took over the Scots program.
“(Jason) was not much older than us so he knew all our tricks when the coach isn’t looking,” says Lind. “Bob Stecher was an Anderson legend. He was a great man.”
A 2002 Highland graduate, Lind hit .675 with 16 homers and was named Indiana Mr. Baseball as a senior.
“It was a great honor,” says Lind of the statewide recognition. “It’s something I think about at times.
“It’s a cool memory.”
The lefty belted three in a game against visiting Noblesville as a sophomore. His senior homer total might’ve been larger.
“There was that fair ball called foul in Martinsville,” says Lind.
Heading into his senior year, Lind traveled far and wide with the Indiana Bulls.
“I loved that summer,” says Lind. “It was the first time I was away from my high school friends. I was playing with established players. It was a little intimidating being around higher level of competition.”
One of his highlights was a homer at the University of Tennessee against Georgia’s famed East Cobb squad.
Anderson Highland consolidated with Anderson High School after the 2009-10 academic year.
In 2002, Lind was selected in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins and opted instead for the University of South Alabama.
Lind did not study Spanish at USA. He told people his major was business.
“It was baseball,” says Lind, who played two seasons (2003 and 2004) for the Steve Kittrell-coached Jaguars and was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 2004.
He made his MLB debut Sept. 2, 2006. His first of 1,247 career hits was a double off left-hander Lenny DiNardo.

Adam Lind homers three time in Boston (MLB Video)

Adam Lind starts a triple play in Kansas City (MLB Video)

Adam Lind (Toronto Blue Jays Photo)