Huntsville Headlines 39.045: Velásquez makes history

[HoosierVic]

By Beauregard Sawyer IV
The Huntsville Times

Huntsville veteran Esteban Velásquez made a bit of history last week as he closed out his 300th career save in the Phantoms’ 5-2 victory at San Antonio on Sept. 15.

Velásquez

Manager Bret Richards recently returned Velásquez to the team’s closer role in hopes that the 36-year-old reliever could achieve his career milestone.

“It’s been a long and frustrating season, and we were hoping we could at least pull a little satisfaction out of it,” Richards said.

Making the achievement doubly sweet was that Velásquez had a number of friends and family members in the stands.

“To me, family is everything and knowing that my mom and dad and my wife and kids could be there to watch … well, that was nice,” Velásquez said.

He went on to save two more games later in the week, bringing his career total to 302.

Velásquez is in the final year of his contract with the Phantoms, and with a marked decline in his fastball velocity and overall effectiveness this year, it’s unlikely he’ll be making the move to Chicago with the team.

But for this week, at least, he was the toast of the Phantoms.

“This couldn’t have happened to a better guy,” Richards said.

[RonCo]

Very cool.

Must have been a nice night for the Velásquez family, what with having an entire stadium to themselves.

[HoosierVic]

Very cool.

Must have been a nice night for the Velásquez family, what with having an entire stadium to themselves.

Huh. Well that explains why the marketing department billed it as "An Intimate Evening With Esteban Velásquez And His Diminished Stuff Rating" ...