The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The ultimate goal is to make it to the Major League. But for now, Albert Cartwright is content with just being one of the best players in the minor league making his debut in the 2013 Eastern League All-Star Game.

As a result of his outstanding performance this season, Cartwright was named as the starting second baseman and will be joined by two teammates from the Reading Fightin Phils in the game that will be played on Independence Day, 7pm July 10 at the New Britain Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut.

“It’s a great feeling to be one of the guys selected to play in the All-Star game,” Cartwright told The Tribune yesterday after he got the news. “I think it should be a great experience to go out there and display my talent. It’s the best of the best in the league, so I’m just happy to be one of them.”

Pitcher Jesse Biddle, the Eastern League Player of the Month for April after a torrid start where he was 2-1 with a 1.74 earned run average (ERA) and 40 strikeouts over 31.0 innings, and first baseman Jim Murphy, who was also named Eastern League Player of the Year after batting .435 (10-for-23) with four home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored, are the other two Fightin Phils named to the team.

“Everyone congratulates you and wishes you the best, but afterwards, it’s the same,” Cartwright reflected on the team selection for Reading. “After about 10 minutes that they said it to you, you didn’t even know that they said it because we still had to go out there and perform at the end of the day.”

Cartwright, whose .968 fielding percentage leads Reading middle infielders, is hitting .250 with 14 extra-base hits in 65 games. He has an average of .326 (28-for-86) over 21 games in April, highlighted by a team-high 13-game hitting streak to start the season.

“It’s a great feeling that you are selected because only the best in the league are selected,” Cartwright noted. “But I was very excited and I’m looking forward to going to the game and being an All-Star.”

And with the game being played on Independence Day, Cartwright said he’s hoping that his performance will have that much more of an impact.

“They don’t celebrate it over here, but it’s Independence Day,” Cartwright said. “So I will just have to go out there and represent the Bahamas just like I do every day. Although I’m playing over here, I’m a Bahamian. Everyone knows I’m a Bahamian. I represent the Bahamas every day that I go out there on the field.”

On his performance so far for Reading, Cartwright admitted that it has been a roller coaster ride so far.

“Some days you feel good, some days you don’t. That’s just baseball,” he said. “You just have to continue to fight and continue to go out there and play hard and the numbers will take care of itself.”

And if he takes care of himself, Cartwright said he hopes that he will eventually get the call up to the major league - some day.

“At the end of the day, I really can’t think about stuff that I can’t control,” he said. “Getting moved up is basically out of my hands. I just have to make sure that I go out there and play hard and hopefully it will be enough for them to call me up. But in the meantime, I will continue to do what I’m doing right now.”

Cartwright, 25, is just one of four Bahamians playing in the pipeline in the minors. The other three are outfielder Antoan Richardson (29) with the Rochester Red Wings, pitcher Sean Albury (24) with the Helena Brewers and outfielder Champ Stuart (20) with the Kingsport Mets.

“Antoan has been up and down and he just didn’t have the numbers to make the team,” said Cartwright of Richardson, who during the season was promoted to Triple A. “I’m still confident in all of them. I know they’re doing what they supposed to do for the year.

“They’re playing hard. They’re putting up the numbers and helping their teams win ball games. They didn’t make the All-Star team, but that doesn’t mean that they are not playing that well. They just didn’t get a chance like I did, but they are still doing their thing.”

For now, it’s Cartwright’s time to shine.