2040 All-Star Game

[Borealis]

The 2040 All-Star Game will be held Thursday, May 30 and we will have a live broadcast of the game in the Slack All-Star channel – to then be transcribed here!! Be sure to get in there ahead of time so you don’t miss the action. We will have a special 3:00pm PT (6pm ET) 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 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET - but I'll begin when I've got it ready to roll. All-Star rosters will be announced Monday - post-sim.

Head on down to the East Hartford Brewing Company and have some Dirty Penny Ale or Ten Penny Ale and Inpopnito popcorn or Pan de Oro chips and salsa – all made locally. Our hosts for this year’s game, the Hartford Harpoon, have Mack Stadium primed with bunting and the field looking fantastic. The town plans on going all-out for this festive event – the first held in New England in since the 2036 game in Manchester – a 9-6 SL win.

[Trendsetters]

How is the All Star site chosen?

[Borealis]

Good Question Chuck!

Since I took over in 2028 I simply made a list of the teams that had already hosted and then alternated, mostly, between SL and IL, and then by divisions, so that each division is apt to have a host every six-seasons. Because the past was not necessarily thought out - and OOTP has a bad habit of chasing whomever (that's how Yuma has three ASG, and Havana 2 of 3 years - I was absent the 2nd one), it was an uneven distribution. New Orleans was my first ASG.

You can check here for the remaining teams:
viewtopic.php?p=111419#p111419

There are three teams left... I could tell you who get's the 2044 game, but I bet you can guess...

[Borealis]

The City of Hartford, centrally located in the state of Connecticut, is a short 40-minute drive south on Interstate 91 to New Haven and the Long Island Sound, where one can sail or explore many of the small, quaint, villages along the coast. Although Hartford is known as the Insurance Capital of the World, the city has much to explore – including the Mark Twain House and Museum, the Wadsworth Anatheum, and Bushnell Park – the oldest public park in the country. Dennis Hall, the Harpoon owner in his 5th season, was joined by city leaders and manager Fernando Munoz, in welcoming fans to the 34th PEBA All-Star Game! This year's game will be the first PEBA ASG hosted by the franchise that began PEBA history as the Omaha Cyclones. This is the 8th All-Star Game hosted by what was once the Pan Atlantic division and now is the Seaboard division – New Jersey hosted the Inaugural game in 2007 – an SL 10-3 win with Reno’s Jeff Patterson the first ASG MVP; Arlington hosted the 2014 – and the first of three consecutive Seaboard hosts - game, an 11-inning, 6-5 IL win, with Canton’s Chris Wright as MVP; The 2015 game was in London, an IL 5-0 win, with Connecticut’s Ronald Lowry the MVP; and Gloucester hosted the 2016 game, the SL winning 5-3, with Aurora’s Bob Keller the MVP; It was four Seaboard hosts in 5-years as the Nutmeggers of Connecticut hosted the 2018 game – an IL 3-2 with with Omaha’s Arthur Collins the MVP; it would be 13-years before the Mid-Summer Classic returned to the Seaboard as West Virginia would host the SL’s 5-1 win with Vito Valkenburg of Manchester the MVP; and lastly Manchester hosted the 2036 game, a 9-4 SL win, with Fargo's Antonio Santos the MVP. The SL has won four of the seven games in this part of the PEBA.

All-Time, the Sovereign League holds a 18-15 edge after winning last year’s game, 7-4 at Niihama-shi – with Duluth’s Antonio Herrera the MVP. The SL has won 7 of the past 10 games.

PEBA Commissioner ‘Harry’ Castle hosted the opening festivities, which was attended by numerous dignitaries and celebraties including State and City governmental representatives. Amongst the others in attendance are franchise greats Narahiko Imada, who played 13-seasons of Omaha, and is the franchise HR leader with 402 of his career 405 – which is 15th All-Time; Luis Cedeno, who played his first 7-seaosns with Hartford and is their All-Time WAR achiever with 58.4 – and 89.3 in his career; and Ray Graham, the leader in career (80) and seasonal (18) wins for Hartford. Distinctly missing was GM Daniel Mays, who reportedly was taking some R&R in the Florida Keys – despite the possible threats of Hurricane Michael out in the Atlantic, still deciding if it wants to be just a tropical storm or a full-fledge… Cyclone??

[Board of the PEBA]

The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance
Announces
2040 Sovereign League
All-Star Team

Manager: Antonio Morales – Reno

Starters
C Freddy Morales - PS
1B William Docherty - TEM
2B Guoncallo Carvalhas - TEM
3B Antonio Herrera - DUL
SS Jin-song Zambrano - NII
LF Ramiro Salinas - TOY
CF Angel Silva - AUR
RF Hyo-sang Park - NII
DH Pablo Garza - OKA
SP Rene Padilla – DUL

Subs
C Pedro Hernandez - OKA
1B Robby Rollins - PS
INF Santiago Aranda - NII
INF Raul Ibarra - KAL
INF Hang-ki Fu - MAD
INF Yu-eh Bao - CL
OF Carl Burrough - CL
OF Masami Sanu - CL
OF Juan Velasquez - DUL
OF Harold Stowe - NII
DH Paul Oglethorpe - REN
SP Danny Garcia - FAR
SP Jose Ojeda - REN
SP Oliver Flores - BAK
SP Ernest Smith - TEM
SP Will Taylor - TEM
RP Bob Burns - NT
RP Anthony MacDonald - YUM
RP Ramiro Ramos - SS
RP Hideo Miura - TOY
RP Motonobu Yoshida - TOY
RP Earl Lucas - NII
RP Pedro Gusman – MAD

[Board of the PEBA]

The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance
Announces
2040 Imperial League
All-Star Team

Manager: Anastasio Lopez – Florida

Starters
C Iwao Yamamoto - AMS
1B Ramon Francisco - NJ
2B Carlos Garza - WV
3B Vvito van Wondel - FLA
SS Pablo Ortiz - NJ
LF Michael Nunez - CST
CF Gordon Knopp - FLA
RF Pedro Bermudez - KTY
DH Jose Rios - FLA
SP Ken Stewart – NJ

Subs
C Leonard Ortega - NJ
1B Maurice Page - CST
INF Zinedine Cozens, SJ
INF Ricardo 'Ogre' Mateo - HAV
INF Rob Woodard - SCO
INF Tenshin Kudo - NO
OF Reggie Raines - ARL
OF Zak Osmond - LON
OF Tomomi Harada - AMS
OF Camiel Human - GLO
DH Pedro Gonzales - SCO
SP Aaron Goater - HAR
SP Hen-to Tse - FLA
SP Manny Garcia - WV
SP Roberto Rivera - KTY
SP Masahiro Maryuyama - HAV
RP Ash Thompson - SA
RP Dong-Hyun Pak - MAN
RP Soseki Yokohama - SJ
RP Robin Castano - NJ
RP Jorge Ruiz - LON
RP Jorge Luna - LON
RP Leon Zamora – FLA

Was elected but injured: Ignacio Sanchez - CST

[Board of the PEBA]

The weather was as beautiful as one could ask for in Hartford – and New England as a whole. Cool breezes bought out a regatta’s worth of craft upon the Connecticut River – many flying the Harpoon colors – or flags resplendent with Harpoon logos or old whaling themed flags; some even flew old Hartford Whalers flags from many decades ago. Many fans for outside Connecticut took a day to explore the coastal towns, such as Old Saybrook, situated at the mouth of the river or Old Lyme, situated just upstream in the river’s estuary. The Performance Pavilion in Bushnell Park saw a parade of jazz performers who were in town to get a head start on the renowned Hartford Jazz Festival that is but a week away.

It was at the Performance Pavilion that the Annual All-Star game Competition was held. Over the years there has been plenty of excitement, such as Cleve Douglas of Charleston taking home the golf honors in Palm Springs or Rien Leeuwenburgh of the Arlington taking home the frisbee golf championship in Manchester; Francisco Lucador of West Virginia being deemed the PEBA bull riding champ in Reno or Claudio Hernandez and Dean Walden winning the Paddle & Portage in Madison. Last year it was an Otedama competition and it was Norishige Ito of Gloucester taking home the crown.

This year it was a distinctly Connecticut event – Steinholding, and unlike years past, nearly every All-Star was on stage for this one – with only Florida’s Vito van Wondel sitting out – which drew a raucous boo and plenty of jeers from the partisan Hartford crowd.

Steinholding is exactly what it sounds like – holding a stein. It’s an endurance event in which, in essence, you hold your beers stein up – without spilling, the longest. Sure – there are rules: posture, hand position, and the such, but at the end, it’s endurance. For this competition the players will abide by the formal rules and will compete with a 1-liter, glass stein weighing in at 3-pounds, filled to the brim – more or less. The steins are emblazed with the PEBA logo on the one side and the All-Star logo on the other and after the competition the players will be autographing them and a post-competition auction will be held, raising money for each players designated charity.

And so the steins were lined up along two lengthy tables – the SL on the left and IL on the right, with each player assigned a spot, with their beer of choice – donated by Thomas Hooker Brewery, filling their stein.

The starter, Luis Cedeno, walked to the front of the stage, and with all the players confirmed ready to begin, Cedeno blew a whistle to signify the start of the even.

And it did not take long for the fireworks to start!

Tempe 1B William Docherty – the burly Scotsman, promptly raised his glass – to his mouth, and proceeded to chug the entire liter of Jerry Amber Lager – then turning his stein upside down and slamming it to the table as if he were doing shots of tequila!! Needless to say the crowd went wild, while those near him – Robby Rollins, Carl Burrough and Hyo-sang Park, almost immediately spilled their beer as they were caught in hysterics – they were laughing so hard. Instead, they stood there and downed their beer as they watched the event from behind the table.

The world record for Steinholding is 21-minutes and 17-seconds – and though no one was expecting a record this day, by the time we got to the 5-minute mark, a third of the group was gone by either careless lifting – and spilling, laughing at the antics of Docherty and those around him, or simply decided to join the Apollo and outright drink their brew.

But those who took it seriously. Aaron Goater held a stern posture and was calling out other players – “Angel,” he yelled across at Aurora centerfielder Angel Silva, “Watch that thumb – you’re cheating!” to which ‘Otter’ replied, in Spanish something that sounded like “Tu madre…”. When Goater turned his attention to Arlington’s Reggie Raines and when the young son of the GOAT himself seemed oblivious to Goater’s taunts, the Hartford fan favorite – who was cheered for his pokes at his opponents, zigged when he should of zagged and spilled his I’m Super Single IPA – and he was super outta the contest.

By the time the 10-minute mark came, there were just a handful of players left – Reggie Raines, Pablo Ortiz, Pablo Garza, Anthony MacDonald and Harold Stowe. The group of five had held on steady over the course of the 10-minutes – they didn’t engage in the trash talk that was the downfall of the likes of Goater or Ramiro Salinas, who had tried to distract his fellow Illinoian – MacDonald, but failing to do so, got bored and decided to drink a very tasty-looking Irish Red Ale instead. “Mountain Man” found himself eliminated when an unexpected sneeze hit him at 13-minutes, spilling his Oktoberfest brew. Afterwards, when asked about the sneeze and his beer choice, he pointed out that the Oktoberfest was the obvious and “only beer for a drinking contest!” He may have had a point.

And so, it was Harold Stowe, the Niihama outfielder and 2nd-time All-Star, and young Reggie Raines – having a break-out of sorts in his fourth season in the bigs with Arlington. They were neck-and-neck into the 16th minute when Stowe lifted his off-hand to adjust his glasses – something he chooses to wear on off-days, preferring contacts on game days, and as he lowered his hand it grazed the table – and the judge saw it, blew the whistle, and the contest was over.

Raines, holding a Sizzling Hippie, raised his stein in triumph and poured the beer from a high, into his mouth – as if using a porron - and chugged as it splashed over his face and clothing – the winner of the PEBA All-Star Steinholding contest.

While the auction was underway, Raines was asked about his success in the event and replied, “Oh – it was easy. As a young kid, I watched my father do similar things – not with beer, mind you, but it was one of his exercises he’d use to strengthen his wrists; his flexor ulnaris and APL in particularly – ‘it’ll help you drive the ball’, he’d tell me. So I’ve incorporated that into my off-season regimen.”

The question on everyone’s mind as the event wound down was, why did Docherty chose to act as he did. The rumor floating through the crowd was that he couldn’t stand a good beer getting warm and wasted. No one knows for sure, as the Tempe first-basemen was seen snoozing in a chair in the wings of the stage.

[Evas]

Man, PEBA knows how to party!

Gotta love the All-Star game

[Board of the PEBA]

The Office of the Commissioner and, Reno and Sovereign League All-Star manager Antonio Morales, are pleased to introduce the starting line-up for tonight’s 2040 All-Star Game, as presented to the umpires by All-Star coach and Crystal Lake manage Steve 'Steve "Steve Hott" Hott' Hott:


SS Jin-song ‘Gigantor’ Zambrano - NII
2B Guoncallo ‘Facil’ Carvalhas - TEM
LF Ramiro ‘Footloose’ Salinas - TOY
DH Pablo ‘Mountain Man’ Garza - OKA
1B William Docherty - TEM
CF Angel ‘Otter’ Silva - AUR
3B Antonio ‘Dandy’ Herrera – DUL
RF Hyo-sang Park - NII
C Freddy Morales – PS

Tonight’s starting pitcher is Rene ‘Capuchin’ Padilla of the Duluth Warriors.

Rene Padilla will be making his 3rd All-Star game and his second starting nod. He has an SL leading 10-3 record with a 2.10 ERA… Jin-song Zambrano, Niihama’s outstanding shortstop makes his third straight ASG as he comes off his first All-Leather Award… Guoncallo Carvalhas will be making his first appearance in the All-Star game after a first-half .325 average and 48 SB – both leading the SL… Toyama 37-year old outfielder Ramiro Salinas makes his fourth All-Star Game with another stellar, consistent season in his 14th year… Okinawa’s ‘Mountain Man’, Pablo Garza is making his 6th All-Star Game, hitting .297 with 22 HR and 60 RBI… Tempe’s young 1B William Docherty burst on the scene last year, with 24 HR – but in making his first All-Star Team, Docherty already has 20… It will be a 5th consecutive All-Star appearance for Angel Silva, Aurora’s speedy centerfielder, who is having a bounce back year, hitting .312 with 39 SB… Antonio Herrera, now in his 8th season as the Duluth 3B makes his 4th All-Star Game, hitting .295 with 17 HR and 60 RBI – a near mirror image of his 2039 mid-season numbers… Young Niihama centerfielder Hyo-song Park will be making his first All-Star game after two solid seasons under the radar – hitting .296 with 10 HR… Palm Springs catcher Freddy Morales, playing for his fourth team in three seasons will make his 2nd All-Star game after a break-out first half, hitting .312 with 6 HR for the vastly improved Codgers.

[Board of the PEBA]

The Office of the Commissioner and Florida Farstrider and Imperial League All-Star manager Anastasio Lopez, are pleased to introduce the starting line-up for tonight’s 2040 All-Star Game:

DH Jose ‘Smoke’ Rios - FLA
CF Gordon ‘Strum’ Knopp - FLA
LF Michael Nunez - CST
3B Vito van ‘Drang’ Wondel – FLA
1B Ramon ‘The Wizard’ Francisco - NJ
SS Pablo Ortiz - NJ
C Iwao Yamamoto - AMS
2B Carlos Garza - WV
RF Pedro ‘The Dominican Dandy’ Bermudez - KTY


Tonight’s starting pitcher is Ken ‘La Flama Blanca’ Stewart of the New Jersey Hitmen.


The Hitmen’s rookie SP Ken Stewart has stormed into the PEBA and with a 2.03 ERA, he is 2nd best in the IL… Jose Rios makes his 4th All-Star appearance in a row, posting 13 HR and 30 SB for the IL-leading Farstriders… the 5-time Royal Raker ‘Strum’ is participating in his 8th straight All-Star game, hitting .338 on the year with 18 HR – on pace for his best number… Charleston’s Michael Nunez is making a 2nd appearance in the All-Star Game, hitting .304 with 16 HR…‘Drang’ van Wondel is on his 5th All-Star team, once more chasing the Triple Crown hitting .375, with 26 HR and 65 RBI… Ramon Francisco, New Jersey’s 1B, appears in his 3rd ASG and first for the Hitmen, hitting .253 with 22 HR and 63 RBI… Pablo Ortiz may be missing Shisa Stadium, but his .266 average and 14 HR propels the fine shortstop to his 7th All-Star appearance… Iwao Yamamoto has established himself as one of the top catchers, and makes his 3rd All-Star team with the best average of his career - .317… Carlo Garza, at 38 the oldest All-Star and the 2020 draftee is in his 16th season in West Virginia – hitting .310 for the Alleghenies... 'The Dominican Dandy' is having another excellent season and the 3-time All-Star has led a resurgent Thoroghbred club back into the playoff chase.

[Hitmen]

Stewart is ready, let's f*n go!

[Board of the PEBA]

The Futures game was held at Mack Stadium, an older stadium in downtown Hartford – and it got ugly early and just got worse. The IL scored 6-runs in the bottom of the 1st – followed by 3 in the 4th and a pair in the 5th for an 11-0 whitewash of the SL. The IL Pitching held the SL to just 4-hits and allowed only a single walk. The Scottish’s Julio Luna was the game’s MVP as he was 3-3, scored a pair and had an RBI. Fargo’s Jorge Fernandez had two of the SL’s four hits.

[Board of the PEBA]

The HR Challenge – always a fan favorite event, and the New England crowd was not shy as they cheered, jeered and heckled players from all points in the stadium. The pairings were drawn with the following pairs formed:

Vito van Wondel (FLA) v. Gordon Knoop (FLA); Ramon Francisco (NJ) v. Juan Carlos Ornelza (PS) (NJ); Pablo Garza (OKA) v. William Docherty (TEM); and Li Caporn (Tem) v. John Pulsifer (TEM).
This year’s competition will see the first round begin and end with teammates squaring off with ‘Drang’ and ‘Strum’ in the first pairing and Li Caporn and John Pulsifer – both of Tempe ending round 1.

It was van Wondel who would win the head-to-head with his teammate as Gordon Knopp managed just 8 HR in losing 14-8. Ramon Francisco opened with a solid 10 HR in his 1st round match, but it came down to the last swing for Juan Carlos Ornelza – and that swing sailed over the fence for a HR to win 11-10. The same was true for the third match as Pablo Garza struggled to find the home run swing and finished with 8, only to luck out against a clearly hung-over William Docherty – who had enough to squeeze his last swing over the fence – replays showing it literally nicked the back side of the fence for the decider – a 9-8 win for the Apollo. And it would be 3-for-3 last swing wins to end the first round as John Pulsifer nipped his teammate Li Caporn, 13-12.

Things continued to be tight in the 2nd round, as van Wondel had 12 in the round, forcing Ornelza to come up with a big number – and try as the Codger might, he got close, but his last five swings were popped up behind short – a dismal finish for him. Docherty showed he was fatigued from his Steinholding antics, and he mostly sprayed balls around the field, managing just 6 over the fence. That made it easy for John Pulsifer, who quickly bolted out to 7 and called it a round – setting up a match-up between van Wondel and Pulsifer – whose teams are both atop their respective Leagues.

In perhaps the most thrilling of Home Run Derby’s, the competitors made it six straight 1-homer decisions. Van Wondel looked fatigued – even grimaced a couple of swings, moving his torso about as if trying to loosen up an ache – and as a result, he managed just 8 homers in the final – while Pulsifer continued his hot swing from the earlier round and smoked his 9th homer in his 11th swing to take the competition, 9-8.

[Board of the PEBA]

Mack Stadium has one of the most intriguing menus in all of baseball, and as fans worked their way from the concession stands and into their seats through-out the pre-game batting practice and introductions, the smells of clam chowder, lobster rolls and clam-topped pizza reinforced the States rich history of cuisine from the sea – and for those who prefer something other than seafood, be sure to try a steamed cheeseburger from Ted’s!

The line-ups have been exchanged, the anthem sung, and the Imperial League All-Stars are taking the field!

[Board of the PEBA]

Ken Stewart takes the mound - 8-3 with a 2.03 ERA as a rookie for New Jersey, and it's Zambrano - Niiihama's impressive shortstop to lead it off...

Zambrano laces a 2B on a 2-0 pitch into the right-center gap for a lead-off double!

That brings up Tempe's young 2B Guoncallo Carvalhas. With one strike he pop's it up near home plate - Francisco races in and makes the catch.

That brings Ramiro Salinas to the plate and the Toyama outfielder is neither foot or loose at the plate as he watches a full count pitch go wide for ball four.

That brings to the plate the powerful 'Mountain Man', Pablo Garza. Garza swings at the first pitch and rips it to the center field gap - Know races over to cut it off but it's to the wall - Zambrano scores easily and this time he's Footloose, as Salinas scores all the way from first. 2-0 SL.

That brings up the man of the hour - perhaps - at least in the fan’s minds - William Docherty.

And the Tempe 1B never get’s the bat off his shoulder and looks at three strikes. two down…

Next up is Aurora CF Angel Silva. ‘Otter’ lines it to center, but Knoop was cheating in and made a running catch in the right-center gap.

But the SL is on the board first…
After half an inning…
SL - 2
IL - coming up