Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Where are they now?

Often times we forget about players that either retire or never make it to the big leagues. My job actually allowed me a chance to find one of those players recently. David Kelton was drafted with so much promise for the Cubs as a 3B, but never was given a chance and eventually had to change positions.
After a year in the Braves system, Kelton decided to call an end to his playing days. At work the other day, I got a call from a school in our area annoucning the hiring of a new coach. Kelton graduated from a local high school in LaGrange, GA. and I just happen to be a new sports writer at the LaGrange Daily News. Now if Mike Cameron would become a Cub, then I would be set (Mike graduated from LaGrange High).
That new coach was Kelton. Here is the press release from the School that hired the former Cub:

David Kelton was named Head Varsity Baseball Coach for the Springwood Wildcats on November 17, 2006. David recently retired from the Atlanta Braves organization after spending the 2006 season in Richmond.
David graduated from Troup High School in 1998 and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs. He spent 8 years with the Cubs. The last 3 of those years were in Triple A in Iowa. While in the Cubs organization, David spent 3 months in the big leagues. David was a 3rd baseman for the first 5 years, and an outfielder for the remainder of his career.
David is married to the former Meredith Hawkins of Lanett, a 2000 graduate of Springwood. Springwood School welcomes David and Meredith back to the community and David to his new position. Springwood looks forward to the 2007 Baseball Season under the leadership of David Kelton.