Sept. 5, 2005

Throughout the history of Indiana baseball, a large contingent of Hoosiers have gone on to play at the professional level. There are currently 10 former IU standouts playing professional ball and in the upcoming weeks IUHOOSIERS.com will take a look at how each player is doing with their respective ballclubs.

After catching up with Oakland Athletics' farmhand Vasili Spanos, Seth Bynum is up next. In two seasons (2003-04) with the Hoosiers, Bynum left his mark in Bloomington. Following the 2004 season, he earned District V Player of the Year honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Additionally, Bynum was a first team All-Big Ten selection as well as a second team All-Mideast Regional Team shortstop.

Bynum finished the 2004 season ranked among the top five in the country at his position in batting average. He hit .387 for the year with 79 hits, 10 home runs and 65 RBI. A starter in all 109 games he played at IU, Bynum was recognized by Baseball America as a Midseason All-American in April of 2004.

Bynum, a 38th-round selection of the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals in the 2003 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, inked a deal with the club following his final season in a Hoosier uniform.

The 6-0, 185-pound shortstop opened the season at Single-A Potomac (April 8-July 6), playing in 35 games before moving to Single-A Savannah, where he has caught fire at the plate. In 50 games, Bynum has produced a .301 batting average (56-for-186) with 21 extra-base hits (5 homers, 13 doubles, 3 triples) in addition to 29 RBI, 32 runs, 29 walks and six stolen bases.

After going 2-for-24 in his first seven games with the Sand Gnats, Bynum snapped out of his slump with a professional career-high 13-game hitting streak (July 15-31), in which he batted at a .500 clip (23-for-46).

With his rise in production at Savannah, the Louisville, Ky., native is now hitting .263 to go along with six homers, 35 RBI, 48 runs, 17 two-baggers, four triples, eight swipes and 34 bases on balls in 2005.