2037 All-Star Game

[Board of the PEBA]

The 2037 All-Star Game will be held as part of Thursday's (2/9) sim and we will have a live broadcast of the game in a special Slack All-Star channel – to then be transcribed here!! Be sure to get in there ahead of time (in case you need an invite – however that works) so you don’t miss the action. We will have a special 3:30pm PT cut-off for exports so that I can do all the grunt work of setting up the All-Star teams and do the broadcast. Game time is tentatively scheduled for 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET - but I'll begin when I've got it ready to roll. Grab your tickets, a Huesos De Perro and some churros! Our hosts for this year’s game, the Reno Zephyrs, have Washoe Field all sparkling and dressed up for the festivities – hang out in the bleachers for batting practice and enjoy the views of the eastern Sierra. There's even talk of a pre-game poker tournament for the fans to enjoy! There might even be an ace on the river…

[Board of the PEBA]

Reno native, businessman and Zephyr owner Steve Poppington was joined by City leaders, Zephyr GM Scott Maynor and manager Antonio ‘Trashmaster’ Morales outside Washoe Field, welcoming fans to the 31st PEBA All-Star Game! This year's game will be the first hosted by Manchester and is the 8th PEBA Midsummer Classic hosted by a Desert Hills club – Aurora hosted the 2009 game (an IL 8-3 win, with Florida’s Tsumemasa Morimoto the MVP); Tempe hosted the 2012 game (an IL 6-5 win in 11-innings, with Omaha’s Narahiko Imada, the MVP); Bakersfield hosted the 2013 game (a IL 3-2 win in 13-inninga, with Arlington’s Rob Raines, the MVP); and most recently, Palm Springs hosted the 2030 game (a SL 6-2 win, with Toyama’s Armando Gandarilla the MVP). It’s worth noting that Yuma has been a three-time host – 2019, 2021, and 2027 – with the IL taking 2 of the 3, with Chad Collins (Crystal Lake), Julian ‘Rainmaker’ Thomas (New Jersey), and Luis Cedeno (Hartford) the MVP’s. All-Time, the Sovereign League holds a 16-14 advantage as the SL snapped an IL two-games win streak last year at Manchester.

Amongst the luminaries who attended the opening festivities, was PEBA Commissioner ‘Harry’ Castle, Reno single season average holder, Jeff Patterson , career hit and HR leader, Ramon Leach , and career saves leader David Chesney.

[Board of the PEBA]

The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance
Announces
2037 Imperial League
All-Star Team

Manager: Felix Garza – Florida

Starters
C Iwao Yamamoto, AMS
1B Francisco 'Cool Hand' Lucador, WV
2B Michael 'XXX' Roberts, FLA
3B Juan Ramos, SCO
SS Antonio 'Mounds' Gallo, SCO
LF Sandor 'Pooky' Vis, AMS
CF Gordon 'Strum' Knopp, FLA
RF Paul 'Bananas' Oglethorpe, SCO
DH Tomas Martinez, NJ
SP Edgardo 'Sureshot' Treveino, FLA

Subs
C António Mesegue, KTY
INF Jose Perez, FLA
INF Kaleb Felton, ARL
INF John Lightbody, NJ
INF Naomi 'Dr. Evil' Honma, KTY
INF Pedro Macias, MAN
OF Pedro 'King' Coronado, FLAL, R
OF Roberto 'Poseidon' Garcia, SCO
OF Javier 'Doppler' Drake, WV
OF Juan Chavarria, LON
DH Antão 'Iron Curtain' Crilanovich, HAV
SP Luppe 'Terrible' van Dam, FLA
SP Orlando Trujillo, NJ
SP Derek 'Spaceman' Valera, MAN
SP Cheh Zhang, WV
SP Jorge Alverez, SA
RP Hideo 'Pluto' Miura, NO
RP Noboru Imai, CST
RP Paddy Ladd, GLO
RP Andrew MacElfrish, SJ
RP Sotatsu Kobayashi, HAR
RP Michael Henderson, MAN
RP Norm Batstone, LON

Vito 'Drang' van Wondel and Jose 'Smoke' Rios, both of Florida was elected, but is injured

[Board of the PEBA]

The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance
Announces
2037 Sovereign League
All-Star Team

Manager: Chris Harris – Niihama-shi

Starters
C Kevin 'Iron Heart' Newton, TOY
1B Scotty 'The Grinch' Weeks, SS
2B Esteban 'The Celestial Jaguar' Rodriguez, NII
3B Antonio 'Dandy' Herrera, DUL
SS Pablo Ortiz, OKA
LF Ramiro 'Footloose' Salinas, TOY
CF Angel 'Otter' Silva, AUR
RF Juan 'Chief' Velasquez, DUL
DH Eng-hee Chin, TEM
SP Seong-chin Kim, MAD

Subs
C Claudio Perez, KAL
1B Noberto Escamilla, TEM
INF Pedro Rodriguez, OKA
INF Robert 'Iguana' Tall, NII
INF Barry Wallace, CL
INF Alexander Craig, KAL
OF Angel 'Blinky' Franco, NII
OF Pat Watson, DUL
OF Alfredo 'Njord' Torres, YUM
OF Eric Montoya, NT
DH River McCausland, CL
SP Yuji 'Mjølnir Yamada' Yamashita, NII
SP Victorio 'Lanza' Guerra, AUR
SP Daniel 'El Toro' Hernandez, TOY
SP Jose Ojeda, REN
SP Jose Joje, FAR
RP John Velasquez, PS
RP Jonathan Andrews, BAK
RP Toshikuni 'Werewolf' Kichida, AUR
RP Ernest 'Professor' Middleton, KAL
RP Pedro Molina, MAD
RP Antonio 'Grin' Cuervas, CL
RP Hector 'Machete' Gutierrez, AUR

Pablo Garza of Okinawa was voted in, but is injured

[Borealis]

The 2037 All-Star committee, in conjunction with the Reno Zephyrs and the National Mechanical Bull Riders Association teamed together to put on a Mechanical Bull Riding competition for the All-Stars and was held at the BOOMTOWN Casino, on the outskirts of Reno, not far from the Nevada-California state line.

The BOOMTOWN Casino and it’s sister venue, the BOOMTOWN Saloon in Lewiston, Idaho have put on Mechanical Bull Riding competitions for years, and this competition promised to be especially spicy. 16 All-Stars choose to participate in the event – illustrating that ball players can be a unique breed. The participants included ‘Cool Hand’ Lucador, ‘XXX’ Roberts, ‘Bananas’ Oglethorpe – who told the crowd before the event that he needed to make the most of his lone All-Star trip and wouldn’t miss it for the world. 'Iron Curtain' Crilanovich and ‘Mounds’ Gallo – who wanted to know if riding a mechanical bull was like riding a Hairy Coo, were part of the mix, as was ‘Pooky’ Vis, ‘Poseidon’ Garcia and rounding out the IL squad was Norm Batstone, who proudly announced that ‘Canadians will ride anything’!

Riding for the Sovereign League was ‘The Grinch’ Weeks, ‘The Celestial Jaguar’ Rodriguez, who vowed to win this and then tame a mechanical jaguar; ‘Chief’ Velasquez, who asked for a buffalo and ‘Footloose’ Salinas – who simply sang that he was footloose; ‘Blinky’ Franco was pulled away from the Pac-Man machine in the ‘Old School Arcade’ to participate along with teammate ‘Iguana’ Tall; Alexander Craig and ‘Grin’ Cuervas – who said whatever Batstone can do, I can do better, rounded out the SL team. Pat Watson was asked why he declined the opportunity and he responded with, “You know in Fargo they call me ‘Glass’.

The competition began with groups of four riders at a time – the rider who lasted the longest before the 15 second clock expired won the heat, and if a tie, a select panel of former-All-Star MVP’s would vote who had the best ride. The five judges were Antonio Santos, Rocky Kowalski, Tony Parker, Mike Britt, and Ramon Leach.

[/img]

After a demonstration on the do’s and don’ts of mechanical bull riding, the contest began. First up was Batstone, Crilanovich, Cuervas and Weeks as each League sent up a pair in each heat of the first round. First up would be Norm Batstone, and when the horn blew, and the bull jerked to a start, the London closer flew off for a time of 0.1 seconds. Norm jumped up – hands spread wide looking for a mulligan, but he was told, ‘alas, this ain’t golf’. Be it luck, divine fate or a sense of a bad (or good) joke, Antonio Cuervas was up next – and he survived that first jerk – but nothing else as he spun off into the air, laughing as he flew as he did after his 1.2 second ride - indeed last longer than Batstone.

It would be Scotty Weeks who survived the 1st heat, and as heat #2 came it was apparent that at least some of the All-Stars were paying attention as Esteban Rodriguez, Ramiro Salinas, Sandor Vis and Antonio Gallo all managed to survive their rides – Vis by literally giving the bull a death-grip hug during his 15 seconds of ‘eternal hell’. It would be the ‘Jaguar’ who was voted the winner – who turned and jumped, spun and tumbled towards Salinas, shouting ‘Footloose, Louise, give me my Sunday shoes!’ Heat 3 came down to ‘Cool Hand’ and ‘Bananas’ – both staying on their bull while their SL counterparts met quick, painful looking endings. In the end, it was the Alleghenies 1B who managed a brief 2-seconds with his arm in the air like a real cowboy who earned the judges award. The last heat saw ‘XXX’, ‘Poseidon’, Alexander Craig and ‘Blinky’ all fall off – leaving the judges to vote for the best fall – which went to the young Florida 2B for his dramatic rolling, crotch grabbing, screams of agony as the last rider of the round.

So it was Weeks, Rodriguez, Lucador and Roberts in the second round – and the judges choose to have the IL riders face off and the SL riders face off – so it was a battle of the Rising Sun with Weeks v. Rodriguez, and West Virginia v. Florida for a shot at the title of All-Star Mechanical Bull Champion. Scotty Weeks led the semi-finals off with a solid ride, despite fighting the bull with every jerk and whirl. Esteban Rodriguez started smoothly, seeming to know where the bull was going – but in the final seconds, he got cocky and let go with his right hand – and went flying off his ride, putting Weeks into the final. Lucador and Roberts rode their metal opponents well – each finishing their ride – and when Antonio Santos and Tony Parker voted with the Farstrider and Rocky Kowalski and Ramon Leach sided with the Allegheny, it was up to Mike Britt to break the tie – leaving Roberts screaming about Britt’s vote and ‘Aurora Bias’.

A coin flip determined that it would be the Evas Weeks going first and as he mounted the bull, the horn blew as the announcer informed the crowd that the bulls had the settings nudged up a tad. The surprised Scotty Weeks’ eyes bulged as the bull jerked with a force not seen earlier – he held on, but barely and was in no position to survive the second jerk – and in a matter of moments, 'The Grinch' was staring at the floor. So it was the luck of a coin flip that the lucky Lucador was able to hold on – at least a bit longer than Weeks, before ‘Cool Hand’ Lucador also landed on the ground. The judges unanimously voted for the longer ride and the Allegheny was presented with a bucking bull trophy and a tall, cowboy boot shaped glass of beer as victor of the competition.

[Ghosts]

My personal trainer is going to have some words with young Rodriguez.

[Borealis]

The Office of the Commissioner and, Florida and Imperial League All-Star manager Félix Garza, are pleased to introduce the starting line-up for tonight’s 2037 All-Star Game:

CF Gordon ‘Strum’ Knopp - FLA
2B Michael ‘XXX’ Roberts – FLA
LF Sandor ‘Pooky’ Vis - AMS
1B Francisco ‘Cool Hand’ Lucador – WV
DH Tomas Martinez – NJ
RF Paul ‘Bananas’ Ogelthorpe - SCO
3B Juan Ramos – SCO
C Iwao Yamamoto – AMS
SS Antonio ‘Mounds’ Gallo - SCO

Tonight’s starting pitcher is Edgar Trevino of the Florida Farstriders.

Edgar ‘Sureshot’ Trevino, in his fourth full season with the Farstriders and has had an amazing 1st half – 11-1, and a 1.72 ERA. He is making his first All-Star appearance… ‘Strum’ is participating in his fifth straight All-Star game as a 4-time Royal Raker, hitting .342 on the year… Florida’s 2B, ‘XXX’ will be in his 4th All-Star game in as many seasons, leading all of the PEBA with a .366 average… Sandor ‘Pooky’ Vis of Amsterdam is making his second All-Star appearance. The former-4th overall pick in the 2031 draft is hitting .338 – 5th in the IL and his 55 SB are second in the IL… ‘Cool Hand’ Lucador makes his 2nd All-Star team with a .283 average and 25 HR… Tomas Martinez, the former-Neo-Tokyo player, who signed the 2nd richest contract in PEBA history in joining the New Jersey Hitmen, is making his 5th All-Star game – the first for the IL. The former-Royal Raker is hitting .291 with 22 HR and 60 RBI… Paul ‘Bananas’ Oglethorpe at age 30 will be making his All-Star debut after a break-out first half hitting .330 with 25 HR for the Scottish… Scottish 3B Juan Ramos will be making his 2nd All-Star Game, getting the nod with a .298 average and 21 HR… C Iwao Yamamoto, the 6th pick in the 2031 draft, is making his first appearance in the All-Star game, is hitting .273 and has nailed 35% of all base stealers… 24-year old SS Antonio ‘Mounds’ Gallo of the Scottish will be making his All-Star debut – breaking the hold that Ricardo Matos had on the spot. Gallo is hitting .301 and was a 4-time participant in the Prospects Game…

Vito ‘Drang’ van Wondel and Jose 'Smoke' Rios, both of FLA, were voted onto the team, but are injured.

[Hitmen]

I appreciated Tomas Martinez not being involved in the bull riding shenanigans so he can focus on the game at hand

[Borealis]

The Office of the Commissioner and, Niihama-shi and Sovereign League All-Star manager Chris Harris, are pleased to introduce the starting line-up for tonight’s 2037 All-Star Game:

CF Angel 'Otter' Silva - AUR
DH Eng-hee Chin - TEM
C Kevin ‘Iron Heart’ Newton - TOY
SS Pablo Ortiz - OKA
1B Scotty ‘The Grinch’ Weeks - SS
3B Antonio ‘Dandy’ Herrera - DUL
RF Juan 'Chief' Velasquez - DUL
2B Esteban ‘The Celestial Jaguar’ Rodriguez - NII
LF Ramiro ‘Footloose’ Salinas - TOY

Tonight’s starting pitcher is Seong-chin Kim of the Madison Malts.

Seong-chin Kim, originally drafted by Shin Seiki, is making his first All-Star appearance and currently is 10-4 with a 2.48 ERA over 17 GS. He was a Short A and AAA All-Star and currently has the second-best ERA in the SL... Aurora's young CF, 'Otter' is making his second consecutive appearance with a .315 average... Eng-hee Chin, Tempe’s will take part in his first All-Star game after appearing as an All-Star in the Short A game previously. He is hitting .278 with 14 HR… Toyama catcher Kevin Newton is appearing in his 2nd All-Star game – and first since 2034. He is hitting .296 and thrown out 31.6% of base stealers… Pablo Ortiz, Okinawa’s fine shortstop is in his 5th All-Star game thanks to a .315 average, 24 HR and 29 SB first half of the year… Scotty Weeks, Shin Seiki’s 1B is riding a career year – hitting .330, to his second All-Star appearance. He is leading the SL in average, SLG, OPS and XBH… Sweet-swinging Antonio ‘Dandy’ Herrera will be appearing in his second All-Star game, hitting .325 – second best in the SL… 'Chief' is in his 4th season with the Warriors and is 2nd on the Warriors with a .302 average. This is his second All-Star game... ‘The Celestial Jaguar’, who is in his first full season for the champion Ghosts is having a breakout season with a .325 average with 13 HR and 57 RBI.

Pablo Garza, OKA was voted onto the All-Star team, but is injured.

[Borealis]

Fans had plenty to do while in Reno, strolling around the downtown casino area, before wandering down to Washoe Field for the Home Run Derby and Prospect's Game, were treated to a variety booths along North Virginia Street, which had been blocked off for pedestrian traffic, from the Famous Reno Arch, proclaiming Reno as ‘The Biggest Little City in the World’ to the Truckee River, offering a mixture of food, art fare, and gaming ‘tutorials’ – teaching fans how to play the multitude of card games and other gambling offerings – while handing out free $10 chips. The Streets Casino joined Harrah’s and Grand Sierra Resort in sponsoring a massive concert at Wingfield Park Amphitheater that lasted well into the late night.

Many left the heat of the Reno valley and drove the hour and change up I-80 to Lake Tahoe, looking to raft down the Truckee River – which was flowing strongly after a bountiful snow season (despite the continuing dire global warning threats), picnic on the numerous beaches along the shoreline – be it Kings Beach, Crystal Bay, Meeks Bay, or the many rocky outcroppings on the east side, or day hiking up into the eastern edge of Desolation Wilderness, rock hopping along the edge of Lake Aloha. People watch as they enjoyed a coffee across from ‘Fanny Bridge’, or water ski in Tahoe’s famously chilly waters.

As the evening came to a close, the National Automobile Museum sponsored a parade of their unique cars – specialized rides, Celebrity wheels, and built for speed rockets, while in the evening, after the sun set over the Sierra Nevada, Fireworks cascaded over the promenade along the Truckee River as it slowly meandered towards the desert.

[Board of the PEBA]

The Prospects game was the first of the events and the IL handed the SL prospects their lunch as they pounded out 17-hits and scored 11 as the SL was routed 11-4. Florida’s Troy ‘Circus’ Thomas picked up the win, while Kalamazoo’s Juan Castaneda picked up the loss allowing 3-runs in the 1st inning. Han-so Yi, of Fargo, had the lone home run of the game. Tony Gonzalez (KTY) and Gerald Contado (SJ) were each 3-5 for the IL - Contado netting 4 RBI. Noberto Marquez (TEM) was 2-4 for the SL. Edward Anderson (KTY) pitched the final 2.1-innings with 3 K and Toyama’s Billy Summers the final 3-innings, with 3K for the SL.

[Board of the PEBA]

The HR Derby was a tight one as 8 sluggers paired off - with each of the first round matches being won by a single homer - with Paul Oglethorpe beating Lorenzo Valdes 13-12, Tomas Martinez losing to ‘Clogger’ 9-8, Gilberto Fernandez sneaking past Pablo Ortiz on his last swing 10-9, and Pedro Coronado besting ‘Cool Hand’ Lucador, 12-11.

The second round had Oglethorpe and Eremitani swinging off and it was the Scottish player beating the London slugger, 10-9 as ’Clogger’s last swing banged off the fence. Fernandez beat Coronado by 2 - 12-10, as Florida’s ‘King’ started very slowly, only to strike quickly at the end - but falling short.

In the end, Gilberto Fernandez tired, while ’Banana’s did not. Paul Oglethorpe, with a 12-8 win is your Home Run Derby Champ!

[Board of the PEBA]

The fans settled into their seats, carrying popcorn or savory pork buns sponsored by LuLou’s; a brew or a scrumptious Bloody Mary for those who were just waking from a wild night at the casinos. Reno’s own Audrey Karrasch provided the pre-game entertainment – including her hit single ‘If I Were a Boy’. The All-Stars were introduced and as they lined the field, Reno Zephyrs mascot, ‘Windy’ escorted country artist Jake Jacobson to the mound to sing the Anthem - to a raucous round of applause.

[Board of the PEBA]

The Sovereign League takes the field to a cheer from the Reno fans! Madison’s Seong-chin Kim finishes his warm-ups and we are ready to get this one started!!

2


Dan - Ghosts
4:13 PM
I hope the hr derby finals pitcher wasn't a lefty lol
4:13
Go SL! ESTABLISH DOMINANCE ONCE AGAIN


Mike - Borealis
4:17 PM
Florida’s Gordan Knoop steps in… and he swings at the first pitch and hits it high and deep to CF, but Angel Silva is there for the catch - and that is how this one starts…

Next up is ’XXX”, ’Strum’s teammate from Florida - Michael Roberts… He rolls a 2-2 pitch to ‘The Celestial Jaguar’ at 2B, and easy play for the Niihama 2B… two down…

Amsterdam’s Sandor Vis swings at the first pitch, and inside-outs it to 3rd, where Antonio Herrera gathers it and makes the play to first…

After the top of the first…

IL 0 - SL coming up…

[Board of the PEBA]

Florida’s Edgardo Trevino will be on the mound for the IL - finishes his warm-up tosses, turns his back to the plate, speaking into his glove, slams his fist into it and straddles the rubber…

Aurora’s Angel Silva leads off for the SL… and ‘Otter’ rolls a 2-2 pitch to Roberts at 2B for the first out…

Eng-hee Chin of the surprising Tempe Apollos is up and he slashes one to the opposite field - past Juan Ramos and into left for the games first hit…
That brings up Toyama catcher Kevin Newton, but Trevino baffles the right-handed hitter, as Newton is caught looking at a 1-2 curve…

Pablo Ortiz of the Okinawa Shisa is hitting forth for the SL and after taking a ball he lines the ball into center for a single, with Chin racing around to third - the SL has the first threat of the game…

Scotty Weeks, the hot hitting 1B for Shin Seiki hits it sharply to Gallo at short, who flips it to second for the force - ending the inning…

After 1…
IL 0 - SL 0