Cale Iorg

Garth Cale Iorg (born September 6, 1985 in Toronto, Canada [BaseballAmerica Stats, http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/players/cards/?pl_id=34076] ) is a minor league baseball player in the Detroit Tigers organization. He is the son of former Major League Baseball player Garth Iorg and nephew of former Major Leaguer Dane Iorg. [Baseball America 2008 Detroit Tigers Top 10 Prospects, http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/features/265469.html] Iorg graduated from Karns High School in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2004 and went on to play college baseball for the Alabama Crimson Tide. [Alabama Crimson Tide Baseball 2005 Media Guide, http://www.rolltide.com/fls/8000/files/baseball/2005/mediaguide/030-061.pdf] After his freshman season at Alabama, Iorg put his baseball career on hold to go on a Mormon mission to Lisbon, Portugal. [Jon Paul Morosi, Detroit Free Press, Iorg on a Mission,http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/minors/features/265427.html] When he returned, he impressed Detroit Tigers scouting director David Chadd in summer workouts [Jon Paul Morosi, Detroit Free Press, Iorg on a Mission, http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/minors/features/265427.html] and was drafted by the Tigers in the sixth round (211th overall) of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. [MLB.com 2007 Draft Tracker, http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2007/drafttracker.jsp?p=0&s=30&sc=pick_number&so=&st=number&ft=RD&fv=7]

High School and college

Iorg was a four-year starter at Karns High School. As a junior, he batted .489 with 20 RBI and 19 stolen bases. In his senior season, he batted .495 with 15 home runs and 57 RBI, while compiling a .698 on-base percentage and a 1.131 slugging mark. He also scored 52 runs and was stole 34 of 36 bases. [Alabama Crimson Tide Baseball 2005 Media Guide, http://www.rolltide.com/fls/8000/files/baseball/2005/mediaguide/030-061.pdf] In his freshman and only season at Alabama, Iorg batted .280 with an on-base percentage of .331 and slugging percentage of .415 as the Crimson Tide's starting shortstop. [Alabama Crimson Tide 2005 Season Statistics, http://www.rolltide.com/fls/8000/files/baseball/2005/teamcume.htm]

Mormon mission

After his freshman season at Alabama, Iorg went on a Mormon mission to Lisbon, Portugal. He told "The Birmingham News" that leaving Alabama had nothing to do with baseball. It was a matter of faith. [Nick Gates, Matter of Faith for Cale Iorg, http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2007/jul/26/matter-offaith-forcale-iorg/] While in Portugal, Iorg had little time for baseball. He had time to work out for about 30 minutes per day during the mission and once a week he had additional free time in which he often played soccer. [Jon Paul Morosi, Detroit Free Press, Iorg on a Mission, http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/minors/features/265427.html] He returned from Portugal on July 14, 2007. [Jeff Metcalfe, The Arizona Republic, Iorg commits to Arizona State http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/0720asubase0721.html]

Minor Leagues

Iorg began his professional career playing a total of eight games for the Gulf Coast Tigers and Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2007. [Cale Iorg Minor League Statistics, http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Cale%20Iorg&pos=SS&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=518836] The Tigers sent him to play Hawaii Winter Baseball for the North Shore Honu to work on his hitting [Stacy Kaneshiro, HWB Notebook, http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/features/264989.html] . His winter season was cut short when he injured his hamstring in mid-October. [Jon Paul Morosi, Tigers Organization Report, Now or Never, http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/printer/p265054.html]

References