By George Bremer, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer
ANDERSON — Adam Lind himself seems to be at least a tad in awe of his breakout 2009 season.
“It’s unimaginable,” he said late in a campaign he would finish with a .305 batting average, 35 home runs and 114 RBIs for the Toronto Blue Jays. “You’ve known me since I was in high school (at Highland). This is something I could never have dreamed about.”
Twelve days after making that statement, Lind hit a three-run homer off Detroit’s Justin Verlander to reach 100 RBIs. A day later, on Sept. 14, he hit his 30th homer of the season off Sergio Mitre of the New York Yankees.
Those marks have long been held as offensive benchmarks in the majors.
“It’s pretty impressive for anybody but especially for a young kid,” said Blue Jays hitting coach Gene Tenace, the 1972 World Series MVP with Oakland. “He’s got one full year in the big leagues, but he’s figured out a lot of things offensively. And he’s been able to take it in between the white lines and execute it.”
The 26-year-old Anderson resident ultimately was shunned in online voting for the All-Star Game at St. Louis in July, but he won a Silver Slugger Award and the Edgar Martinez Designated Hitter Award during the offseason for his offensive exploits.
Along the way, Lind’s success pulled the city together during an often tumultuous summer. The ability to cast his hometown in a positive light made Lind one of the finalists for The Herald Bulletin’s Person of the Year honor.
“I think it’s amazing,” Matt Bair, the baseball coach at Highland and dean of students at Anderson, said as the All-Star vote got under way. “I know it means a lot to Highland, but I think it means a ton to the city of Anderson. We’re going through some tough times, but we have somebody in the Final Vote for the All-Star Game. That says something about us, and that’s a good thing.”
