Trail Droppings 2034-5 Leonard and Grant Reach Milestones

[indiansfan]

Leonard and Grant Reach Milestones

Two Calgary Pioneers reached career milestones recently. On July 23 Dan Leonard recorded his 2500th hit and on August 5th Rupert Grant slugged his 300th home run. Both players are having great seasons this year, Leonard is hitting .339 and Grant has hit 31 homers.

Leonard, at 32 years old, becomes one of the youngest players to reach the 2500 plateau. He has a very good shot at reaching 3000 before he hangs up his spikes. He broke in as an 18 year old in 2020 and became a starter the next year. Three times in his career he has topped 200 hits and he has hit better than .330 four times.

If Leonard returns to Calgary next season, he should top Hector Cano as the team’s all time hit leader. He already is the team’s leader in singles and triples as well as ranking sixth all time in batting average. Leonard is a free agent at the end of the season and it is starting to look like he may hit the market after the season. With Francisco Marin ready to step into the lineup, the team is unwilling to extend Leonard at the $14 million he is asking for. It would be a shame to see him put on a different uniform after 15 years in Calgary.

Grant was a bit of a late bloomer in Madison, but finally came into his own when he left there. He has hit 121 home runs for Calgary in only about 3 full seasons after coming over from Phoenix midway through 2031. His best year was 2031 when he hit a total of 58 home runs. He hit 43 for Calgary last year and is on track to break 40 again this year.