Homer happy Hessman looking to become Doctor Detroit

Hey guys, long time, no write. It's been a busy week. So let's get right to it.

Toledo's Mike "Howard" Hessman leads the Minor Leagues with 16 homers as of Monday morning and that's not a surprise. [Bonus points if any of you youngsters can tell me who Howard Hessman is.] The veteran slugger has been hitting bombs for the Mud Hens since 2005 and was one of the key members of their back-to-back International League championship teams. He has 99 homers with Toledo so his next round tripper will be a milestone of sorts.

If I'm reading the Hens media guide correctly, and I think I am, he's already Toledo's all-time leader in homers. Hessman is also tied for fifth with most homers in season after connecting 31 times last year. He has 270 career homers in the Minor Leagues and for the time being, he is the active leader, one ahead of Fresno's Scott McClain. The two should be dueling all season, barring a promotion, but ultimately I think Hessman will stay in front.

McClain has appeared in 30 Major League games since Baltimore drafted him in the 22^nd round in 1990. He'll turn 36 later this month and I can't imagine him getting much more of an opportunity even though he hit 31 homers last year for Fresno. He appeared in eight games for the Giants. He could re-sign with San Francisco after this season. He's currently hitting .254 with 26 RBIs.

With any luck, Hessman could approach 300 career homers this season and considering he's only 30 years old, reaching 400 someday isn't out of the question. Again, that would be good and bad because it means he'd have to spend three or four more years in the Minor Leagues.

Hessman appeared in 17 games with the Tigers last year as well and also appeared in 48 games with the Braves. While he has that on his resume, odds are he won't get prolonged time in the big leagues, especially with Detroit. But you never know. I'd love to see him get to the big leagues to stay for a few years but if he doesn't, Minor League records are cool, too.

Speaking of Toledo, they Hens are playing good baseball and they have to be. Every team in the IL's West Division is above .500. Which is more than I can say for the East. The Scranton-Wilkes/Barre Yanks are 26-11 and having a splendid year. They aren't too far back of Salt Lake in terms of having the best record in Triple-A yet haven't garnered nearly as much attention. But, they are 6-1 against Lehigh Valley and Rochester, two teams that are a combined 30 games under .500.

The Yankees are 26-11, relying mostly on pitching. Steven White has gotten off to a great start, going 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA. I wonder how many Yankee fans would like to see him called up and get a start this week instead of Kei Igawa, whose changeup looked like something I could hit in that start he made Friday night against Detroit.

Let's bounce around a little here. If anyone things the Diamondbacks didn't learn a thing or two from Mike Rizzo before he left to rebuild Washington's farm system isn't paying attention. The D'Backs drafted catcher Sean Coughlin in the 13^th round last year out of the University of Kentucky and this kid, at least for a few weeks, looks like the real deal.

Coughlin missed the first month of the season while recouping from off-season knee surgery but man has he made up for it at South Bend. He's tearing up the Midwest League, having hit in all seven games in which he's played heading into Monday's action. He'll turn 23 on Wednesday and shouldn't be spending too much more time in the Midwest League if he continues along this path. Coughlin was hitting .440 with two homers and 11 RBIs through 25 at-bats.

Compare those numbers to those put up by Matt Wieters, the fifth pick in last year's draft, through his first 26 at-bats this season in the Carolina League [yes, I know it's High-A, calm down] and they are favorable. Wieters was hitting .444 with three homers and eight RBIs. So let's keep an eye on Coughlin.

In case anyone's interested, Terry Tiffee continues to lead the Minor Leagues with a .439 batting average. The Las Vegas infielder has an 18-game hitting streak heading into Monday, during which his average has actually dropped from .472. By the way, if you're thinking he can make a run at the Pacific Coast League hitting streak record, think again. Joe DiMaggio hit in 61 consecutive games for San Francisco in 1933.

The highest season batting average in the PCL is .414, set in 1933 by Mission's Ox Exkhardt. The modern record is .383 set by Rick Short of New Orleans in 2005. Now, I don't think Tiffee will approach either of those marks. But, if he stays hot through the All-Star break, it will be difficult barring a complete collapse to see his average fall below .360 or so. Yet another player worth watching.

That should be enough to chew on for a few days. See you later in the week.