McAnulty's Promotion No Joke
by Bill Center, San Diego Union Tribune
June 23, 2005
When Paul McAnulty got the call shortly after midnight yesterday he was excited.
He knew he was on the move.
But when Gary Jones, the manager at Double-A Mobile, told McAnulty he was being promoted to the Padres, the 24-year-old outfielder thought it was a joke.
"I thought he was calling me to tell me to go to (Triple-A) Portland," McAnulty said. "Gary never called me at home in the three years I played for him. I thought he was joking."
McAnulty, the Padres' Minor League Player of the Year last season, became a Padre yesterday as San Diego formally completed two moves.
The club's leading All-Star Game candidates – right-handed pitcher Adam Eaton and catcher Ramon Hernandez – were put on the 15-day disabled list.
The matching moves were McAnulty being promoted from Mobile and right-handed pitcher Tim Redding being activated from the 15-day DL and recalled from Portland, where he was on a rehab assignment.
Eaton, who was going to miss a second start tomorrow because of the strained flexor tendon in his right middle finger, will be eligible to return July 1 – coincidentally a day when he is scheduled to start here against the Giants.
Hernandez, who had an MRI yesterday on his sprained left wrist, is eligible to return July 3.
Additionally, first baseman Phil Nevin last night missed a second straight game with a strained oblique muscle in his rib cage. Currently unable to take batting practice, Nevin will miss four or five more games and is also a possibility for the DL.
McAnulty, hitting .301 with 10 homers and 38 RBI in 67 games in Double-A, was promoted to give the Padres an extra left-handed bat on the bench because Robert Fick (catcher) and Mark Sweeney (first base) are starting against right-handed pitching.
McAnulty made his major league debut in the eighth inning, pinch hitting and lining out to second base with the bases loaded and one out. The Padres trailed 5-4 at the time.
"I am at a loss for words," McAnulty said yesterday afternoon in the clubhouse. "I am here to help where I can, watch and learn. I am just so excited about being here. I had no clue this was even the remotest possibility."
"Obviously, when you get called up from Double-A, that's the greatest feeling you can have," manager Bruce Bochy said. "When you are there, the majors feel pretty far away."
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