NLN Exclusive
Francis Ferry, NLN beat writer

July 19, 2012: Aurora, Colorado – Last summer, the Aurora Borealis franchise stepped up to the plate for the Front Range community, teaming with 1B Alexandre Poirier, his art gallery AuroBora and the Autism Society of Colorado to raise over $100,000 for autistic children and research.  This year, the Borealis once more stepped forward for another great cause – prostate cancer research and the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers – with their second annual team art auction.

On an off-day following a quick three-game series in Reno, before the start of a home series with Kalamazoo, thousands of art patrons and fans turned out for the event despite a record heat wave in the Denver Metro area.  Thunderstorms were forecast for the area, but despite the threat, the street in front of the gallery was closed as the auction took to the street this year in anticipation of the huge crowd.  The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra provided the pre- and post-auction entertainment with their high-energy performance.

Unlike last summer, when the Aurora players created pieces of art from their personal inspiration (such as George Thompson’s “Pat Lilly’s Swing”), this year’s subject was self-portraits.  The medium chosen by the players was up to them and ran the gamut from traditional oils, watercolor and pastels to photonegatives, mosaics or simple paper cuttings.  Just as the Aurora players showed amazing ability last year, once more the team astounded the crowd with immense creativity.

Amongst the pieces that caught the eye of many patrons was a color pencil sketch done by the surprising Cory Pierce.  The Aurora LF, who is leading the league with a .412 average, showed great depth for such a basic medium.  Speaking of basic media, “Ice Cold” Mark Richardson may be showing tremendous ability with the bat this year – coming off his Royal Raker award-winning season by leading the Sovereign League in HR – but his artistic side is all right-brained.  He provided fans with a cut-paper piece entitled, appropriately enough, “Me”.

Not all the pieces this year came from members of the Aurora family.  Inspired by last year’s work, former Yuma and current Arlington 2B Bud Hoffman did a fantastic pastel piece titled “IL Rules”, a bitter jab at his former SL team.  Octávio Pexego showed fans that his creativity goes beyond the batter’s box as the Brazilian native produced a stunning photonegative piece, “…depicting the negative side of [Octávio’s] personality.”  The title, shockingly, was “El Chupacabra”.

After ninety minutes of socializing and viewing, the crowd was welcomed to the auction by Aurora President and CEO Michael Topham, who introduced the Master of Ceremonies, Mark Gunter.  Gunter explained, “My partner, George Crocker, was supposed to be here tonight, but he ran off on one of his ‘baseball tryouts’ to Bogota two weeks ago and hasn’t been heard from.”  This was greeted with much from the displeasure of the crowd.  The zany Crocker has become quite the crowd favorite for his antics on radio broadcasts.

The bidding was fast and furious as patrons sought to garner a piece of history, and perhaps a unique autograph.  The piece of the night, fetching $5,000, was a stunning watercolor by 3B Jim White.  The All-Star 3B for the Borealis, who has been on the DL for the past 5 weeks, was stunned that his piece was so well received.  “I had a couple of art classes in high school and we learned about watercolor as a medium, but I never thought that a piece as simple as that would command so much attention.”

The thunderstorm that threatened the region never materialized, and after the auction, much of the crowd stayed and mingled  with some of the players in attendance, dancing to the outstanding music of the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra.  A beaming host, Alexandre Poirier – who has been linked to many trade rumors this season – was asked about the event.  “I am so proud of my teammates and of the community for stepping up to bat for such a great cause.  I’m thrilled that AuroBora could host this event again, and I’m already looking forward to next year, although I may be wearing something other than Aurora Blue.”  A look of remorse rose slightly on his face.  “I am – and forever will be – a part of the Front Range community.  I think next year’s event will be bigger, and with Bud Hoffman’s contribution to this year’s event, I think more PEBA stars will get involved.”