The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorstt@tribunemedia.net

ANFERNEE Seymour is back in professional baseball.

The veteran outfielder was one of the first signees of the Kane County Cougars for the upcoming 2021 season, the franchise’s first in the American Association of Professional Baseball.

The AAPB is an independent Major League Baseball Partner League.

The Cougars were formerly members of Minor League Baseball’s Midwest League.

But the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a reorganisation of the minor leagues.

The AAPB will also be under the umbrella of Major League Baseball for the first time this year.

The American Association plays a 100-game schedule which will include 50 games at beautiful Northwestern Medicine Field, beginning in May.

The 11-team league includes teams in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Canada.

The 30th season of Cougars baseball will begin on May 18 when they open a three-game set against the Chicago Dogs.

Seymour last appeared as a member of the Miami Marlins organisation with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp of the Double A Southern League. In 2019 Hurricane Dorian forced a premature end to the Southern League season.

Seymour finished the season just nine hits shy of 500 for his minor league career. On the season, he hit .261 with a .314 OBP, a .648 OPS and slugged .333 in 103 games. He totalled 72 hits, 92 total bases, 13 doubles, two triples, one home run, 28 RBI, 17 stolen bases and 30 runs scored.

Following the season, he opted for free agency in November.

Seymour’s return to the Marlins in 2018 saw him split time between the Double A and Single A levels. He was eventually re-promoted to the Jumbo Shrimp from the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Single A-Advanced Florida State League.

In the 2018 season across three clubs, Seymour appeared in 100 games, hit .257 with a .697 OPS, 35 RBI with 24 stolen bases and four home runs.

He began the season in the Atlanta Braves organisation with the Florida Fire Frogs but was released in May.

He was signed by the Marlins just four days later and was subsequently assigned to the Hammerheads.

He was originally drafted by the Marlins in 2014 and spent two years in the organisation before he was traded to the Braves in 2016.

At the Freedom Farm Baseball League’s 2020 opening weekend, Seymour hosted a Skills Competition as well as the Natasha Watley Clinic for girls’ softball. He has also hosted a series of local clinics, most notably at the Simpson Penn Centre for Boys.