BURLINGTON, Iowa --Former Tennessee Tech slugger A.J.
Kirby-Jones, the all-time Golden Eagle home run leader, was named
Tuesday as the Midwest League's Offensive Player of the Week
following a solid string of games for the Burlington Bees.
A ninth-round pick by the Oakland A's in 2010, Kirby-Jones was
twice named the Northwest League's Player of the Week last summer
with the Vancouver Canadians. After getting off to a slow start
this season with the Bees in APril and May, the Knoxville Webb
School product warmed up to a .366 mark in June.
Last week, Kirby-Jones had hits in each of his six games and
slammed home runs in four games, capped by a weekend performance at
Wisconsin Rapids that saw him go deep twice and drive in eight runs
in two games Saturday and Sunday.
The power surge has lifted him to second on the Bees' home run list for the season with 12. For the week, Kirby-Jones batted .364 with a .955 slugging percentage, going 8-for-22 with 12 RBI.