Lance Cormier Promoted to Arizona Diamondbacks
6/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Former Tide All-American Makes Major League Debut Saturday
Friday, June 18, 2004
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PHOENIX, Ariz – The call came late Thursday night on his cell phone in the most far-reaching stop in the Class Triple A Pacific Coast League.
Tucson right-hander Lance Cormier was informed by his manager Chip Hale that he would no longer be pitching for the Sidewinders. The former University of Alabama All-American got the call he had dreamed of his entire life. After three impressive starts at the Triple A level, Cormier had been promoted to the National League’s Arizona Diamondbacks, where he will make his Major League debut on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
“I got a call late (Thursday night) and when I looked at my phone it was weird to see it was (manager) Chip (Hale) calling me,” Cormier said in a telephone interview from Phoenix late Friday afternoon. “He just came right out and told me the news and I asked him if he was kidding. He said ‘Lance you are going to the big leagues. How do you like those apples.’?”
Cormier was 1-1 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts with at the Triple A level. He has improved his fast ball and added a sinker that enabled him to strike out 20 batters in 20 1/3 innings in those three starts. Those numbers impressed the Arizona brass enough to earn a promotion to the big leagues.
“I did not think it would happen this soon,” Cormier said. “I had always hoped it would happen, just not this early. At first I thought no way. I was a little shocked and a little shaky, but at the same time this is something I have dreamed about since I began playing baseball. After he called I realized my dream had just come true.
Assistant general manager Sandy Johnson made it official at the press conference Friday evening at the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. Johnson informed the Diamondbacks media that Cormier had been promoted and would make his debut on June 19 in game two of the series between baseball’s newest expansion teams.
Cormier flew out of Edmonton with his Triple A teammates on Friday morning. The team flew to Phoenix before heading on to Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Sidewinders open a four-game series Friday night. Cormier got off the plane in Phoenix and headed to his new home.
Cormier will chart pitches tonight in the third base dugout at Bank One Ballpark as the Big Unit Randy Johnson seeks to become the first 10-game winner in the Major Leagues. He will make his debut on Saturday opposite another former college standout Dewon Brazelton, who was a first-round draft pick out of Middle Tennessee State in 2001.
As soon as he got the news of his promotion, Cormier quickly called his wife Jamie and his parents Bobby and Charmaine Cormier in Lafayette, La. All three will be in attendance for his debut Saturday night at 8:07 p.m. (CT). The game will be aired live on Fox Sports Net Florida and is available on Direct TV and MLB Extra Innings package.
“I think this is a product of being blessed by God, a lot of hard work and being in the right place at the right time,” Cormier said. “Now I have a chance to do something special. Hopefully I can continue my success and stay here for a long, long time.”
With his debut on Saturday, Cormier will become the third Jim Wells-coached player to reach the big leagues since 1998, joining left-hander Tim Young (Montreal) and outfielder Dustan Mohr (Minnesota) as big league alumni. Young made his Major League debut on Sept. 4, 1998, while Mohr’s debut came August 29, 2001 against the Texas Rangers.
Cormier’s promotion came after three outstanding starts with the Triple A Sidewinders in the Pacific Coast League. In those three games, Cormier was 1-1 with a 1.77 ERA. He worked 20 1/3 innings and allowed 19 hits, four runs and four earned runs, with 20 strikeouts and only three walks.
He began the 2004 season with the El Paso (Texas) Diablos in the Double A Texas League. In 10 games with El Paso, Cormier was 2-3 with a 2.29 ERA. He logged 63 innings and allowed 66 hits, 19 runs and 16 earned runs, with 58 strikeouts and 17 walks.
His combined numbers are Double A and Triple A this season is 3-4 with a 2.16 ERA in 13 starts. He worked 83 1/3 innings and allowed 85 hits, 23 runs and 20 earned runs, with 78 strikeouts and 18 walks before his promotion to the Diamondbacks.
Cormier has spent two-plus seasons in the Diamondbacks minor league system before making the jump the major leagues. A fourth-round draft pick out of the University of Alabama, Cormier split the 2002 short-season with Yakima (Washington) in the Northwest League and the South Bend (Ind.) Silver Hawks in the Class A Midwest league. In 2003, he pitched in all three levels of the organization, including Class A Lancaster in the California League, El Paso and Tucson.
In his two-plus seasons in professional baseball, Cormier has compiled a 15-13 record with a 3.53 ERA in 54 minor league games. He has worked 275 1/3 innings and allowed 305 hits, 134 runs and 108 earned runs, with 65 walks and 194 career strikeouts.
A four-year letterman at Alabama (1999-2002), Cormier will be remembered as one the finest pitchers in Crimson Tide lore, leaving the Capstone with a degree in finance and four career pitching records. He appeared in 87 career games (42 starts) at the Capstone and compiled a 31-16 (.660) record with 17 saves and a 3.98 ERA. He logged 384 2/3 innings and allowed 393 hits, 196 runs and 170 earned runs, with 151 walks and 289 career strikeouts. He also added 12 complete games and was involved in four shutouts.
He began his career as the UA closer and set the UA rookie record and led the SEC with 11 saves in 1999. After two years in the bullpen, Cormier became a weekend starter in 2001 and rewrote the Bama record books in the process. As a junior (2001), Cormier was 9-5 with an SEC-leading 2.30 ERA. Over his final two seasons, Cormier was 20-8 (.714) on the mound, winning almost one-quarter of the Tide’s games in 2001 and 2002.
Cormier set UA career records for appearances (87), wins (31), innings pitched (384 2/3) and most strikeouts (289). As a senior, Cormier set the UA single-season record with 129 innings pitched.
