On Saturday, Raider alumnus and former MLB All-Star Jeffrey Hammonds returned to the Scotch Plains-Fanwood varsity field to have his No. 11 retired by his high school team during Alumni Day festivities.
Hammonds was reunited with two of his former coaches, Mike Christadore and Brian Homm. Christadore was head coach of the team in 1987. In his debut season of 1989, Homm won a Sectional Title and went on the coach the team until 2003.
Jeffrey Hammonds, a 1989 graduate, was a two-time Sectional champ and All-State player for the Raiders. He was an All-Pac-10, two-time All-American selection as an outfielder at Stanford University, where he competed in two NCAA College World Series. He set the Pac-10 career record by stealing 102 bases throughout his career.
In 1992, he played for the US Olympic team in Barcelona. That year, he was drafted fourth overall in the first round by the Baltimore Orioles — ahead of Derek Jeter. Hammonds made a swift ascent through the minor leagues and became a Major Leaguer by the end of 1993.
Hammonds remained an Oriole through the 1998 season before being traded to Cincinnati. From there, he went to the Colorado Rockies in 2000. He would go on to play 13 big league seasons and retired in 2005 as a .272 career hitter with 110 HR, 423 RBI and 67 SB. Hammonds now serves the Major League Baseball Player Association as Director of Player Development, Programs and Initiatives.
After the ceremony the Raiders went on the play High Point and ended up winning the game 8-4 after a very exciting last few innings.
With constant pitching changes in order to prepare for the first round of states on Monday May 20th at home @4:00pm, the Raiders were consistent with hits and great plays.