ARCHIE GILBERT Named MVP!!!!

Archie Gilbert went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored en route to postseason MVP honors. After hitting for the cycle earlier this season, he drove in six runs in the series opener, then delivered a bases-loaded single in the seventh leading up to Carter's grand slam.

"Archie, since day one of the playoffs, has really been very disciplined and intense at the plate," said Stockton manager Darren Bush. "It carried all the way through for him. He did a great job."
Gilbert was 0-for-11 with the bases loaded during the season but was batting .600 in the postseason before coming through with the go-ahead hit. He finished with eight RBIs in the four-game series.

It's the first championship for Stockton since the club signed on with the Oakland organization four years ago. The Ports' last title came as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.
Earlier Sunday, the Athletics' Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento won its second straight Pacific Coast League championship.


Danny Wild is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

ARCHIE IN THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2008

Former Pioneer Baseball Record Holder Expected to Rise Quickly
By Steven Tavares
Sports Editor

When former Cal State East Bay out­fielder Archie Gilbert was accepted to the California League All-Star team last month, he awaited his limousine dressed to the nines.

Stockton Ports Hitting Coach Tim Garland teased Gilbert about his classy sports suit, clearly divergent from the typical All-Star’s simple collared dress shirts and slacks.

“You’re dressed to kill ain’t you, little Ar­chie,” said Garland.

“I’m going to be a big leaguer one day, so I better start acting like one,” Garland recalls Gilbert saying.

During his playing days at CSUEB from 2002 to 2005, Gilbert’s career numbers would allow anyone to credibly argue he is statisti­cally the greatest Pioneer baseball player in the university’s history.

He owns nearly every career mark, exclud­ing home runs and batting average, where he ranks second and seventh, respectively.

Nonetheless, Gilbert went undrafted after his senior year when scouts from the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants decided to pass on selecting him.

“They said, 'he’s 21-years-old. This is probably the highest his ceiling is going to get,'” said Gilbert.

Part of the problem, Gilbert believes, is that playing Division III baseball at CSUEB had certain disadvantages that may have hampered his development.

“At a D-III school—I wouldn’t knock it—but, we don’t have the time, we don’t have the equipment, we don’t have coaches you could really relate to as a player,” said Gilbert. “We had a coach who knew a lot about hitting, but he was old school. He couldn’t really relate to the hitters. I know what he’s talking about now that I’m older, but back then he didn’t really have the time to explain how to hit.”

Gilbert signed with the Boston Red Sox organization as an undrafted free agent in 2005 but suffered an immediate setback when an inside fastball broke his pinky finger just 40 at-bats into his professional career.

The following spring, the first major disap­pointment in his life was handed down from the Boston front office.

“They said we have to let you go, but we think you can play somewhere,” said Gil­bert. “I was like, ‘I want to play here’, and I think that was the best thing for me. That was the first time I ever saw failure like that, but I knew I wasn’t done.”

Besides the injury the preceding season, Gilbert was the victim of a numbers game within the Boston organization where a num­ber of high-priced talent would be assured playing time over Gilbert.

“I’m glad they did it then because they could have left me to rot on the bench,” recalls Gilbert.
Three weeks later, the Chicago White Sox organization offered Gilbert a chance to play, but again he was relegated to the bench at Class A Great Falls (Mont.) and Kannapolis (N.C.).

Around this time, despite limited playing time, Gilbert said he began to apply himself to improving his game.

He met a ballplayer named Jack Gifford who introduced him to his workout part­ner, Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes.

“He said go to San Mateo and workout with these guys. I didn’t even know who I was going to meet until Eric Byrnes comes up to me and says, ‘Are you Archie?’”

Gilbert credits Byrnes’s workout program to his improvement as a ballplayer and said he tries to emulate the scrappy outfielder’s energetic style.

Another move was in the offing when the White Sox organization dragged its feet in offering Gilbert a new contract.

Gilbert said seven teams contacted him and Oakland offered him the best deal with a chance at increased playing time with the Stockton Ports.

Incidentally, coming back to Northern California to play in the Athletics’ organiza­tion wasn’t a dream come true for the Union City native who grew up a Giants fan and a follower of Barry Bonds.

But despite his personal feelings, he started the season on a tear, hitting .356 in April and stayed hot well into May with a 25-game hitting streak that fell just short of the California League record.

Gilbert seems to have a knack for long hit­ting streaks. He also holds the CSUEB record with a 36-game streak in 2004.

“I’ll tell you why, it’s because he makes contact and doesn’t strikeout a lot,” said Gar­land. “He puts the ball in play and because of his speed he gets some hits the average ballplayer doesn’t get. He doesn’t get deep in counts so the pitcher isn’t allowed to throw him their put-away pitches.”

Along with his selection to Class A All-Star Game where he started in leftfield and knocked in the Cal League’s only run in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina League June 24, Gilbert also hit for the cycle with a home run, triple, double and a single June 19 against High Desert.

“At the All-Star Game I just sat back and thought, ‘I used to sit the bench. I got re­leased.’ I must have done some kind of work to get here,” said Gilbert.

Gilbert’s maturation has become evident to many around the Ports ball club, including fans, numerous members of the media and the coaching staff.

Ports Manager Darren Bush sees Gilbert as a professional ballplayer who takes his career seriously.

ARCHIE HITS FOR THE CYCLE!!!

With a little help, Gilbert hits for cycle
Ninth-inning error was changed to single to complete A's farmhand's feat
By Danny Wild


The Stockton Ports pounded out 23 hits Thursday, but a late scoring change in the box score gave one particular one extra importance.

Archie Gilbert hit for the cycle and drove in four runs to lead the Ports in a 19-7 rout of the host High Desert Mavericks. His ninth-inning grounder to second baseman Cesar Fuentes was bobbled and originally judged an error, but the official scorer changed the ruling to a single a half-inning later.

"I didn't know what they'd do," Gilbert said of the scoring decision. "I thought it could go either way. I got a little excited when I saw it."

Gilbert went 4-for-7 and scored twice to raise his average to .278 in the best performance of his career. He slugged a three-run homer in the second -- his fifth of the season, tripled and scored in the fourth and doubled in the fifth. His four hits and four RBIs were career highs.
The unusual play was ruled an error at first, but no scoring decision initially was posted on the ballpark's scoreboard, leaving Gilbert and the Ports crossing their fingers. After mulling over the call for about half an inning, the play was ruled a hit.

"I was hoping they'd give me a hit, I was like, 'OK, I hit the ball hard.' But I thought, 'If they do, they do, and if they don't, they don't. But it would be real nice if they did.' When I finally saw it, I was pretty happy about it."

Gilbert's teammates were sure it was a legitimate single.

"Everyone wanted me to get it, so that was good -- everyone kept saying, 'That's gotta be a hit,'" Gilbert laughed. "Then they made it a hit, so they started cheering."
He might have been destined to get the single.

"The guys kept telling me, 'If I'm on base, I'm going to stop so you can't go to second,' Gilbert said of his teammates' desire to prevent him from getting an extra-base hit. "They said, 'I'm not gonna run, so you have to stop.' We all had fun, it felt good, it was a good day."

The entire Stockton dugout could agree with that sentiment. Every batter had a hit and seven of the nine starters had two or more. Chris Carter homered twice and drove in four runs, Gustavo Rosendo had three hits and four RBIs, Michael Affronti homered and scored four times and Josh Horton matched Gilbert with four hits.

The Ports scored in every inning but the first and fifth and gave their leadoff man more than a few chances to complete the feat. Gilbert, who led off the game with a groundout, bounced out in the sixth and flied out in the eighth before getting another shot in his seventh plate appearance.
"Honestly I wanted to drive the ball, my whole approach was the same," Gilbert said of his final at-bat. "It was like the first day of Spring Training. I tried to put [the cycle] in the back of my head. I wasn't nervous, I didn't change anything. I knew I needed a hit, but I didn't feel pressure."

The confident Gilbert entered the game in a 1-for-11 slide. The left fielder hadn't driven in a run in his last eight games dating back to June 10. He said he made it a point to relax Thursday.
"I felt pretty good today, I'm glad I could get these hits. I need to get back on track. I wanted to go back and see the ball, hit it deep and go the other way," he said."

It was the most RBIs for Gilbert since he homered and drove in three runs April 20 against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

Gilbert originally came up with Boston but switched socks in 2006 when he signed with Chicago as a free agent May 1. He hit .332 and led the Rookie Pioneer League with 35 steals in 54 games for the then-Great Falls White Sox that year before batting .289 with 49 RBIs in 101 games for Class A Kannapolis last summer. The California native joined Oakland in December.
"Oakland was close to home so I picked them, and I'm glad I did," said Gilbert, who grew up in Hayward, Calif. "It's a good organization and there's really no stress. They let you be a man, they don't hover over you.

"I kind of always knew I could do more if somebody gave me the time to play everyday. I learned a lot from the White Sox, but I'm glad I made the move. It's been better for me and my career," he added.

Gilbert was the second A's prospect to hit for the cycle this year. Jon Zeringue accomplished the feat in the Midland RockHounds' 9-7 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks in Double-A play May 1.