Career Minor Leaguer Makes the Most of Major Opportunity

It took Bobby Scales 11 years and 1013 minor league games before he got his chance to shine in the Big Leagues, but the 31-year-old "rookie" is making the most of it.

Scales has spent time in the Padres, Phillies, Red Sox and Cubs organizations, playing in places like Idaho Falls, Fort Wayne, Scranton, and Des Moines. He's played the past two seasons with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs and is a career .285 hitter in the minors with 65 homers and 425 RBI's.

But on May 5, Scales finally got his chance, the journeyman infielder got the call-up to the Big Leagues. And it didn't take Scales long to make an impact with the Chicago Cubs. He has reached base in all five games since being called up by the Cubs on May 5. He has six hits in 14 at-bats.

Last night, Scales added another major milestone to his big league career. He led off the 7th inning as a pinch hitter and sent the first pitch his saw from Edwin Moreno into the right-field bleachers. Scales sprinted around the bases as if he was trying to leg out a double.

"Even in the Minor Leagues when I hit home runs, there's no point in showing anybody up," Scales said to Cubs.com. "You hit it and it went over the fence, and that's enough. Hit all four bases and get off the field."

Initially, Scales was called up to replace the injured Carlos Zambrano, and it was thought that he was only going to be up in the Majors for a couple days. But since Joey Gathright was traded for Ryan Freel and Aramis Ramirez was placed on the disabled list with a dislocated shoulder, his timetable could be a little bit longer.

"It may sound hokey, but I knew, deep down in the depths of my soul, I could play this game," Scales told the Chicago Tribune.