The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

VETERAN outfielder Anfernee Seymour is headed to another professional baseball league for the 2022 season.

Seymour signed with the Charleston Dirty Birds of the Atlantic Professional Baseball League.

Dirty Birds manager Billy Horn said: “Seymour brings an explosive dynamic to our ball club and I am looking forward to seeing him set the tone at the top of the lineup for us this year.”

Opening day for the South Carolina-based Dirty Birds’ 2022 season is Thursday, April 21 at Appalachian Power Park against the Staten Island Ferry Hawks.

The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is considered one of the most successful and highest levels of baseball among independent leagues. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States.

The Atlantic League operates in cities not served by Major League Baseball (MLB) or Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams; most of its teams are within suburbs and exurbs too close to other teams in the organised baseball system to have minor league franchises of their own. When Atlantic League professionals are signed by MLB clubs, they usually start in their Double-A or Triple-A affiliates.”

The ALPB uses a set of progressive rules such as a pitch clock and limits the time between innings in an effort to speed up the game. Seymour spent last season with the Kane County Cougars of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He led the league in stolen bases with 37.

On the season, he hit .231 with 71 hits, 10 doubles, four triples, 32 RBI, 50 runs scored, a .646 OPS, and 104.

The AAPB is an independent Major League Baseball Partner League.

At the Major League Baseball level, 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. 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 and returned to the Marlins for a second stint in 2018.