I know as much about Nate Spears as most of you do. Let's see...he was in the Orioles' organization in 2003, and he had wicked hat hair.
Fine, I'll dig deeper. Nate was Baltimore's fifth-round pick in the 2003 draft out of Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, FL. He spent three years in the low minors with the Birds, and made good contact and took some walks. In 2005, he batted .294/.349/.429 with 30 doubles as a 20-year-old with the Frederick Keys, making both the midseason and postseason Carolina League All-Star teams. In January 2006, Nate was traded to the Cubs in the Corey Patterson deal.