Who Was The Last Shreveport Captain To Play In The MLB?

This year will mark the 24th year without a Shreveport Captains opening day. Technically, its only the 22nd season without a Minor League Baseball opening day in Shreveport, but those last two years weren't "Captains" years...they were Swamp Dragons opening day games.

Shreveport actually has a very rich history when it comes to professional baseball. Even though the market is currently a wasteland when it comes to any pro sports, the history remains in the city's bones. From Babe Ruth playing Spring Training games in Shreveport to future World Series Champions cutting their teeth on minor league squads in the city, there is baseball history all over Shreveport's foundation.

But it has been a while since the Captain have been around. So long in fact, there are no longer any active Major League Baseball players who played in the Minors in Shreveport. Which got us thinking, who was the last Shreveport Captain that was an active Major League player?

Based on our research through Baseball Reference, it looks like we found our answer.

Looks like our winner is Jason Grilli.

Based on what we could find on Baseball Reference, Grilli played his last Major League Baseball Game in October of 2017. He pitched his last game for the Texas Rangers, after splitting the season between Texas and the Toronto Blue Jays. Grilli was 40-years-old during that season.

But way before all of that, he was a fresh-faced prospect that had just been drafted in the First Round by the San Francisco Giants. For his first professional baseball assignment, Grilli was sent to Shreveport where he became a Captain in the 1998 season.

With the Captains, Grilli had a 7-10 record with a 3.79 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 1998. Good enough to earn Grilli a spot on the 1998 Texas League All-Star team. After he finished his time in Shreveport during the 1998 season, he was off on his ascension to the Major Leagues.

In the 1999 season, he was named to the MLB Futures Game during MLB All Star Weekend, and was a pretty quick path to the majors. He would make his MLB debut on May 11th, 2000, after being traded to the Florida Marlins. During that season, he only had one appearance, and would continue to make call-up appearances though the next season.

Once Grilli became a regular Major League Baseball player, he found decent success over a 15 year career. He ended his MLB career with a 34-47 record, and a 4.22 ERA. He also racked up 79 career saves after he moved to the bullpen. His most successful season came in 2013 when he was the Closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That year, Grilli earned 33 saves, and was named to the MLB All Star team.

Jason Grilli will go down in history as the last Shreveport Captain to suit up for MLB action.