Boston College Athletics
Butera, Locke Earn Honors From Astros
September 11, 2009 | Baseball
Sept. 11, 2009
HOUSTON, Texas - Former Boston College baseball players Barry Butera and Drew Locke were named the 2009 Most Valuable Players for their respective minor league teams, announced September 10 by The Houston Astros Player Development Department.
The eight MVPs, selected by the field staff of each team, will be recognized at a special pre-game ceremony at Minute Maid Park on September 26, prior to the Astros game against the Cincinnati Reds.
Butera, a 21st round selection in this year's MLB Draft by Houston, hit .267 (54-for-202) for the Tri-City ValleyCats in the Class-A New York-Penn League. He recorded 11 doubles and 11 RBI while stealing 16 bases in 61 games. He finished the season by being named Tri-City's Offensive Player of the Month in August when he posted a .358 (34-for-95) batting average and eight RBI.
Locke, a 19th round selection in 2005 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, was named MVP of the Corpus Christi Hooks of the AA Texas League. He hit .338 (170-for-503) with 20 home runs, 109 RBI and a .920 OPS. He was a Midseason All-Star and finished first in the Texas League in batting average, hits and RBI. Locke was also second in slugging percentage (.531), third in runs (81) and fourth in on-base percentage (.389).
Locke was acquired by Houston in the minor league phase of the 2008 Rule V Draft. He finished second among all Astros minor leaguers in batting average and RBI behind Koby Clemens.
The Astros currently have three of the organization's former minor league MVP honorees on their active roster, including Lance Berkman, Hunter Pence and Tommy Manzella.
