Southern Maryland Blue Crabs manager Butch Hobson has announced that starting pitcher John Halama has returned to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs for the 2009 Atlantic League Playoffs, after finishing the season with the Gwinnett (GA) Braves of the Triple-A International League.

Halama had his contract purchased from the Blue Crabs on June 13 by the Atlanta Braves, after making nine starts for Southern Maryland this season with an 8-1 record as the most dominant starter in the Atlantic League. Halama has Major League experience in nine seasons from 1998 through 2006.

Halama was named the Atlantic League’s Pitcher of the Month this season for games played in April and May. His eight wins led the league at the time of his departure, as did his 66.0 innings pitched. The lefty earned a winning decision in his first seven starts of year, striking out 37 and walking just 13. Halama’s earned run average of 2.05 placed him second in the Atlantic League as well.

With Gwinnett this season, Halama appeared in 16 games, making 13 starts for the Braves. Tossing 90.1 innings total for Atlanta’s Triple-A club, he carried a 3.69 ERA 75.2 innings pitched as a starter. He compiled 54 strikeouts opposed to 33 walks, holding International League opponents to a .267 batting average.

With a career Major League record of 56-48, Halama made his MLB debut with the Houston Astros in 1998, going 1-1 in six starts. Halama was then sent to the Seattle Mariners in October of that year, as the player to be named later in the trade that sent hurler Randy Johnson from Seattle to Houston before the trade deadline earlier that season.

Halama would spend the next four seasons on the Mariners roster, amassing a 41-31 record in 130 appearances and 81 starts from 1999 through 2002.

Through free-agency, Halama would go on to suit up in the big leagues for the Oakland Athletics (2003), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004), and the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals in 2005.

Halama’s most recent season in the Major Leagues came in 2006, when he went 3-1 in 17 appearances and a start for the Baltimore Orioles. Halama spent the 2007 season with the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League and made 26 starts, before transitioning to the expansion Blue Crabs for 2008.

After sparkling in eight starts, going 4-1 with a microscopic 1.91 ERA, Halama was inked to a deal by the Cleveland Indians and assigned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons of the International League. He would prove to be just as dependable for Buffalo, notching 16 starts with an 8-6 record and two complete games.

Halama has put together an impressive 133-97 record at all levels in his career. He was originally drafted by Houston in 1994, and made his professional debut that summer in their organization at Class A Auburn in the New York-Penn League. The lefty has 492 strikeouts at the Major League level.

For those interested in attending the Blue Crabs first play off games can check out availability and schedules here.