Busy day for Shayne
On Monday night, Shayne Busti was busy helping Mario's to a 3-0 victory over Bud Murphy's in a Fayette County Baseball League game in Republic.Less than 18 hours later, Busti was pinch-running for the Wild Things' Chris Raniere in the third inning of a game against the Midwest Sliders.
It was a quite a Tuesday morning for Busti, a native of Crucible in Greene County. The former California University shortstop received a telephone call from Washington manager Mark Mason at 9:30 a.m. The call went something like this:
Mason: Shayne, would you like to play for the Wild Things?
Busti: Sure. When do I have to be in Washington?
Mason: We have a game in 2 1/2 hours at home. We leave for a road trip after the game. Pack for six days. And get here as quickly as possible.
Washington had been playing for a week without a backup infielder. The emergency infielder was Kris Rochelle, who would have been moved from catcher to first base.
Busti had an individual workout with the Wild Things an impressed them enough that he was put on the team's "emergency call" list.
Busti played this spring for California – his only season with the Vulcans – and led the team in batting average (.415) and RBI (55). He also hit eight home runs. Busti also played for IUP and Penn State. He led IUP in home runs (11) in 2008.
A Carmichaels High School graduate, Busti is the first Greene County native to play for the Wild Things. He arrived so late for his first game that his new teammates didn't even know his name. For laughs, they called him "Fred," "Bill" and a dozen other names during the game.
Busti's debut had some rough spots. After Raniere injured a hip flexor running out a double, Busti went in as a pinch-runner. In the top of the fourth inning, Busti hustled out to third base at sprinter's speed. He was at his position before all but two of his teammates had left the dugout. Later in the game, Midwest's Zach Pace faked a bunt, which drew Busti in. When Pace pulled the bat back, Busti backed up and slipped, falling on his backside.
Busti walked in his first first trip to the plate and finished the day 0-for-2.
Labels: Shayne Busti
posted by Chris Dugan at
2:29 PM
13 Comments:
Great to see Shayne Busti as a Wild Thing. Helluva a player. Hopefully he gets a chance to stick around and succeed.
his debut at third was no worse than Laurent's at first. two throwing errors and didn't catch a popup that would have kept the 2-run lead. banks is coming back friday, it sounded like
RUMOR:
Starting June 30th, the WT will drop the parking fee to $2.
If they drop the parking rate to $2.00, will the promotion be called Thrifty Tuesday?
That's now 5 out of last 7 games won.Maybe starting to turn things around.This even even more encouraging giving the fact that Psomas and Sidick aren't hitting.
I am a scout for an east coast major league team and have been following Busti for a while now. Shayne Busti is by far one of the most intriguing prospects I have seen come out of Pennsylvania. To overcome the injury that ended his Penn State career and rebound to be picked up by the Frontier League is amazing in and of itself. It is no gaurantee that Busti will play at the major league level, but I wouldn't count out seeing him possibly sometime in the next two years be part of September cal-ups somewhere.
Shame on the Wild Things for releasing Busti after only two weeks and phenomenal defense! Mr. Shanklin certainly recognizes Busti's major league potential yet the Wild Things were quick to sacrifice this local talent. Hopefully, he'll get another chance to show the talent that made him a standout at Carmichaels, Indiana and California.
Shayne was 1 for 13 and just 1 walk. Not a good first impression. Seemed to be in over his head at the plate. Keeping Raniere as the backup infielder over Shayne was an easy decision. If Shayne has major league potential why aren't teams lining up to sign the guy?
I feel obligated to comment on this blog. I also have known, talked to, and watched Busti for years.He has always been a pleasure to watch; he plays hard all the time. From info online, he apparently has recortds at IUP, made 3 first team for the Mid-Atlantic Region at shortstop, and was on first team in PSAC. So what if he was 1 for 13 - earlier in the year another good ball player (Psomas) was 0 for 20 something but he came back. Concentrate on the Wild Things and wish them well! Busti will continue playing ball in the county league where he is batting over .500 - not the same caliber as the Wild Things but it's still baseball.
Shayne Busti may be a decent ball player...he is no phenom; he is a great county league player at best. His skills are a dime a dozen and there are a lot of young men ready to step up and take his place every time he gets hurt or gets demoted.
I was lucky enough to play with Shane in Legion and in the FCBL. He has always played hard and given 100%...he hustles and is better than just a good player. He seems to have done pretty well at IUP and CAL - you can talk to any of his coaches or fellow players like me. The mid-atlantic region 1st team and PSAC 1st team show this too. There are many good players - I know and have seen that but he is one of them. At least, he had a shot with the Things and looking at them now,,, well!
Let's not get carried away with Busti's credentials. He wasn't first team All-PSAC. Only All-PSAC West Division. So he was first team among 6 or 8 teams. The fact is the kid can't hit pro pitching. Take away the aluminum bat and pitchers with 84 mph fastballs and he's lost. Good college player, good sandlot player, not a pro player. The scouts see this (that's why nobody other the Wild Things have offered him a contract).
Give me a break - 13 at bats is not enough to make that kind of assessment nor is there a reason to continue to degrade a young man with a lot of proven talent and a career that speaks for itself. He was cut by the last place Things staff nearly three months ago, which makes one wonder why someone continues to critize him in this blog unless it's personal. Get a life.
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