JMU BASEBALL PRO REPORT: MEYER GETS THE CALL

HARRISONBURG, Va., August 13, 2007 ? After over half a season of Major League Baseball action without a former James Madison University player to be found on an active roster, former pitcher Dan Meyer (2000-02) received the call on Monday from the Oakland Athletics.

A left-handed pitcher, Meyer was recalled by the A's Monday afternoon when fellow southpaw Dallas Braden was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. Oakland finished a four-game set in Detroit on Monday and will return to the bay area Tuesday to open a six-game home stand with three games against Chicago. Meyer is a candidate to take Braden's spot in the A's rotation, with rehabbing starter Esteban Loaiza also in the mix. Braden was originally scheduled to start Friday's game against Kansas City.

Meyer spent the first half of the 2007 season with the River Cats (71-51) in the Pacific Coast League. After struggling at times to a 3-3 record and a 5.06 earned run average in 2006, he had off-season exploratory surgery on his left shoulder that identified a bone chip. After removing the chip and rehabbing, Meyer has spent the entire 2007 campaign in Sacramento with much-improved results.

At the time of his call to Oakland, Meyer was 6-2 with Sacramento while sporting a 3.40 ERA, good for third in the Pacific Coast League. He had 93 strikeouts in 103 1/3 innings. He allowed a total of seven runs in his last six starts. Meyer rarely worked as many as six full innings for much of the season, but in his last six starts, he lasted at least 5 2/3 innings in each and worked at least seven innings twice.

Meyer was acquired by the A's in December of 2004 in the trade that sent pitcher Tim Hudson to the Atlanta Braves. He was the centerpiece of the deal that also included pitcher Juan Cruz and outfielder Charles Thomas. Meyer was the 34^th overall selection by the Braves in the 2002 MLB first-year player draft. He made his Major League debut with the Braves on September 14, 2004. He did not allow any runs in two appearances over two innings with the Braves.

Mike Venafro (1992-95) spent part of the 2006 season in the senior circuit with the Colorado Rockies, going 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA over seven relief appearances. He was invited to spring training camp by the Minnesota Twins in 2007 and started the season with the Triple