| Cale Iorg | |
|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers – No. 19 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: September 6, 1985 Toronto, Ontario Canada |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Garth Cale Iorg (born September 6, 1985 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada [1]) 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.[2] Iorg graduated from Karns High School in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2004 and went on to play college baseball for the Alabama Crimson Tide.[3] After his freshman season at Alabama, Iorg put his baseball career on hold to go on a Mormon mission to Lisbon, Portugal.[4] When he returned, he impressed Detroit Tigers scouting director David Chadd in summer workouts[5] and was drafted by the Tigers in the sixth round (211th overall) of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.[6] Iorg was ranked as the third best prospect in the Tigers organization by Baseball America following the 2008 season.[7]
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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 stole 34 of 36 bases.[3] 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.[8]
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.[9] 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.[5] He returned from Portugal on July 14, 2007.[10]
Iorg began his professional career playing a total of eight games for the Gulf Coast Tigers and Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2007.[11] The Tigers sent him to play Hawaii Winter Baseball for the North Shore Honu to work on his hitting.[12] His winter season was cut short when he injured his hamstring in mid-October.[13]
On November 18, he was outrighted to the Toledo Mud Hens.