The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
PO Box 850, 71 Webb Lane
Buena Vista, GA 31803
229-649-6397
tjournal@alltel.net

From the Sept. 20, 2006 issue
   Buena Vista native Chad Spann (22, 6’1”) continues to excel in his young professional baseball career. He recently capped off an All-Star season with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs (minor league team of the Boston Red Sox Organization) by being the team’s leading hitter for the year. He was also near the very top league-wide in several batting categories.
   The Portland Sea Dogs recently wrapped up the 2006 season by winning their first ever Eastern League Championship. Spann led the team with a batting average of .294 and also had the team’s highest slugging percentage (.472).
   League-wide, Spann’s .294 average was the fifth highest. He was also 6th in slugging percentage (.472), 8th in doubles (28), and had the 12th highest on-base percentage (.361).
   Last year (2005), Spann tied for the team lead in home runs (13) for the Class-A Wilmington Blue Rocks and was promoted late in the season to Portland. In 2004, he hit safely in 15 of the 18 games he played in (including a nine-game hitting streak) before being sidelined with a knee injury. In 2003 he was named the Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year for Augusta.
   Spann was a star high school player at Southland Academy in Americus. He hopes to become Buena Vista’s first major league baseball player since Josh Gibson played in the Negro Leagues many years ago. The various levels of play in professional baseball are: Rookie League, Class A-Short Season, Class A, Class A-Advanced, Double-A, Triple-A and