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BLACKSBURG – On Saturday, September 3, the Detroit Tigers officially announced the promotion of former Virginia Tech pitcher Joe Mantiply to the Major League level. Mantiply became the 19th Hokie to reach the highest level of professional baseball and joined the club in Kansas City that evening.

The Tigers wasted no time in getting the rookie on the field, as Mantiply appeared on the mound on Saturday. Called in from the bullpen into a second-and-third, two-out situation in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Royals, lefty Mantiply used just two pitches to get left-handed hitter Jarrod Dyson to fly out to center to end the threat (see video here).

Detroit media has written several stories on Mantiply’s “surprise” promotion, check out those links here -
Detroit Free Press article
Michigan LIve article
Motor City Bengals article

With Mantiply’s call up, it gives the Hokies three former players currently in the Majors, as he joins Oakland’s Chad Pinder and Milwaukee’s Ben Rowen. It’s only the seventh time in the history of the MLB that three former Tech players are in the league. Also, with Jesse Hahn pitching for the Athletics earlier this season, it marks the first time in school history that four Hokies have played in the Majors in the same season.

Some other interesting notes regarding the call up:

• Pinder and Mantiply join Hahn and Rowen (2014) as the only two times two Hokies made their major league debut in the same season.
• Mantiply is the third Hokie to play for the Tigers organization and the second to make his debut with them as Erwin Renfer (Tech’s first major leaguer) made his debut back on Sept. 18, 1913. Franklin Stubbs played the 1995 season with the Tigers.
• Mantiply actually becomes the second Hokie to make his major league debut on Sept. 3, as George Canale made his on the same date for the Milwaukee Brewers back in 1989.
• Mantiply is the eighth former Tech pitcher to appear in the major league.

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