Burt Reynolds bats for the Princeton Rays. Credit NJ.com

Recently the Newark Bears asked fans who their favorite ball player on the club was dating back to the Rick Cerrone era. While many fans may have choosen popular names like Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco or even Armando Benitez; mine was a little bit off the wall. My favorite Newark Bears star of all time? Burt Reynolds. That's right, Burt Reynolds (name sound familiar?), an outfielder signed by the Bears earlier in the off-season that has yet to even play for the team.

While I do love the name, there is a lot more to like about Reynolds coming to the Bears. As Bruno Tedeschi points out in a 2009 article for the Newark Live blog on NJ.com, Reynolds actually came to Newark when he was a child from his native Dominican Republic and got his start on the baseball diamond playing at the North Ward Center Academy and Rick Cerrone's Little League right here in the Brick City.

Flash forward to 2006 when Reynolds was originally selected in the 30th round of the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals but opted to go to college for one year and did not sign. As a result, he eventually ended up in the talent rich Tampa Bay Rays organization in 2008 were he has spent his entire professional baseball career.

Not much has been written about the 22 year-old, as he was never considered a top-tiered prospect like Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. However, in December of 2008 RaysDigest profiled the third baseman. Here's what they had to say:

Burt Reynolds—no, this is not a joke that it is really his name—rounds out the top five. Reynolds, drafted by the Washington Nationals back in 2006, signed a minor league contract with the Rays in spring training after spending the last two seasons at Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Florida. A third baseman by trade, the Dominican native has a big-time arm, according to reports, and power potential.

Reynolds put up a solid line in his debut at Rookie Level Princeton, batting .289/.344/.444 with six home runs and 37 RBIs. His approach left a bit to be desired, though, as he produced rates of 6.8 BB% and 30.2 K% (70 Ks in 58 games). He is still raw at this point and it will be interesting to see how he handles more advanced pitching, but the 20-year-old infielder has some solid skills and is a prospect to watch as he continues to develop. It should not be all that difficult to remember his name, at least.

His career totals spanning time in the lower levels of the Rays farm system aren't very impressive. In 678 plate appearances, spanning three seasons, Reynolds hit for a .248 batting average with 10 home runs and 79 RBIs. Still though, if Reynolds can find his power swing that scouts were talking about earlier in his career there's a shot he could be quite productive for Newark this year, after all he still is only just 22 years of age. If not, Reynolds can always moonlight as an actor, right?