Steinbrenner High has first pro baseball player

Posted Aug 17, 2011 by Eddie Daniels

Updated Aug 17, 2011 at 07:24 PM

This isn’t exactly how Steinbrenner baseball coach John Crumbley expected to see his first Warriors player sign a contract.

He expected senior-to-be Gerald Bautista in the lineup next season as his third baseman. Well, about that.

According to Crumbley, since Bautista is also a citizen of the Dominican Republic, the Cleveland Indians signed him to a contract and he is now training at the team’s Dominican Republic facility.

As a Steinbrenner junior, Bautista hit .457 with 18 runs scored, 12 RBIs, five doubles and two home runs.

“He’s a very good player,” Crumbley said. “I don’t know if he’s going to do the virtual Florida school (to finish his diploma) or what.”

Bautista does have MLB blood in his veins. His father, Danny Bautista, was the right fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won the 2001 World Series. He also played for Detroit, the team that drafted him in 1989, and Atlanta.

“It’s pretty and such a unique situation for George Steinbrenner High School’s first major league signee,” Crumbley said.