An O's minor league outfielder who elevated his game this year

It can be exciting to see a minor league player who has had more downs than ups for a certain period of his career, but then has a big year and turns a bit of a corner. This is one of those stories.

The Orioles selected outfielder Randolph Gassaway out of a prep program in Georgia in the 16th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft with the 489th overall selection. Gassaway produced three seasons of modest stats, but that changed last summer for the 21-year-old left fielder.

From 2013-15, he played in short-season ball in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and at short-season Single-A Aberdeen, hitting .246/.289/.324 with two homers in 451 at-bats. This year, he hit .340/.384/.535 with seven homers in 200 at-bats at Single-A Delmarva. He had so few at-bats with the Shorebirds because, for the third year in a row, he began the season in Florida at extended spring training in April. He did not make the roster of a full-season O's farm club.

But Gassaway didn't get bitter, he got better. Coaches and instructors from the organization I've spoken with paint a picture of a hard-working, upbeat kid with a great attitude. Some of that started paying off last season.

He went back to Aberdeen for the IronBirds' June 17 season opener. In five games, he went 8-for-18 with four doubles and a triple. He then moved to Single-A Delmarva, where his bat continued to take off. In August, Gassaway hit .356/.405/.634 playing left field for the Shorebirds with seven homers and 15 RBIs in 28 games.

He certainly impressed Jeff Manto, the Orioles' minor league hitting coordinator.

"This kid wants to learn," Manto said. "He's engaged all winter long. He'll text me and send me videos. He is just a ton of fun to work with. And because he wants to work and he retains information and he wants to try everything you ask him to try, coaches love that type of player. You want to be around this guy.

"It's a credit to him. To tell you what type of person he is, he got sent back to the Gulf Coast League and extended spring (this April). And he was upset, but he didn't let it affect his play and he agreed he needed some work. He came back and proved he belonged and he has a chance. He didn't pout. He played. That is when the makeup shows up, and this kid has makeup off the charts."

So I asked Manto what allowed Gassaway to take off after three years of so-so stats.

"He just needed to be more aware of the strike zone," Manto said. "He was chasing some breaking balls down. He saw a lot of breaking balls because when he walks up to the plate, he has a real presence (at 6-foot-4, 210 lbs.) Milt May (GCL batting coach) did a great job with him. Got him to pay attention to the strike zone, and once he got better at learning his zone, he started to hit pitches and hit them hard."

Gassaway was certainly among the most improved on the farm this year and has a chance to break into a listing of the club's top 30 prospects. Now the Orioles wait to see what 2017 holds for him as it figures to be his first year playing the entire year in full-season minor league ball.

A ratings winner: The numbers are out and Game 7 of the World Series between the Cubs and Indians on FOX produced the largest audience for a major league game in 25 years. The World Series average rating was the best in 12 years.

Game 7 was seen by 40.045 million viewers, the most to watch a major league game since 50.3 million viewed Game 7 of the 1991 World Series between Atlanta and Minnesota. The audience peaked at 49.9 million between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. The Game 7 rating outpaced every night of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The series average was 23.4 million viewers, the most since the 25.4 million for the 2004 World Series between Boston and St. Louis. The Mets and Royals last year were seen on average by 14.7 million.

2016 World Series viewership:

Game 1: 19.4 million
Game 2: 17.4 million
Game 3: 19.4 million
Game 4: 16.7 million
Game 5: 24.1 million
Game 6: 23.4 million
Game 7: 40.0 million