SP - Ramon Cruz

The Sioux Falls Uber Giraffes finally found a pitcher who can be a leader in former New Orleans starter Ramon Cruz. The 26-year-old right-hander from New York, NY will find a taste of farm life in South Dakota. Cruz this season had less luck than in 2009, but in two years in the Classic Baseball Union has started 33 games each season, won 32 games and lost 18 for the New Orleans Voodoo. his 3.06 carer ERA and 332 strikeouts will be a very welcome addition to the Sioux Falls club. Fans in Sioux Falls have become very used to not seeing many strikeouts until the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. Cruz will fill in Christian Edgar’s void in the ace slot.

Leaving the Sioux Falls Uber Giraffes are short stop Nacho Tellez, outfielder Bobby Moore, and prospect Ramon Sanchez. Sioux Falls still has a overflow of outfielders, so the loss of Bobby Moore outside of his locker room antics is minimal, Nacho Tellez is going to be missed up the middle, however Sioux Falls management is confident in Juan Ortiz to make the transition to the major leagues an easy one. Ramon Sanchez as a prospect has faired pretty well in the minor league so far, he has a frame built for power and speed and has potential to fill out very nicely. Either way Sioux Falls fans should be very happy with this deal. Every 5th day Sioux Falls fans will have a shot to watch some great pitching, and if the hitting keeps chugging along, there’s an outside shot for a 20 game winner here.

“I would like to take this moment to thank the fans for their dedication to our team over the last 2 years.  We are grateful for your support while we have been a competitive force in the Landis League.”

However, I am here today to announce the departure of the Voodoo from New Orleans.  As of tomorrow, the Voodoo will be known as the Boston Bootleggers.” He continued, “This is the result of our on-going full organizational review.  We determined that in order to maintain a successful organization in New Orleans we would be spending beyond our means and desires.  Boston offers us the chance to remain competitive in the league while maintaining economic stability.”

Our minor league system will also be relocated to the Northeast as we look to integrate ourselves completely into the rabid fan bases of the area, especially Boston.”

The press conference abruptly stopped here as Carlson took advantage of the stunned silence of the crowd to swiftly move from the podium to his limo, which had been running quietly throughout the press conference.   As if suddenly awakened by sounds of the limo’s screeching tires, the crowd, now enraged, bulldozed through security and headed straight for team offices in the stadium.

Still confused and now dejected fans were seen soon after leaving the stadium. “I just don’t get it,” said Shane Vendrel, loyal fan, “the office is empty.  Literally empty. It’s just empty rooms.  No desks, no equipment, nothing. It’s a ghost town.”

Speculation around the announcement started immediately.  “There is no way it is not economically feasible to maintain a team here,” questioned one angry fan, “we almost hit the three million fan mark this year.  It’s nonsense. There’s something else going on here.”

Carlson, a wealthy businessman with an unknown background, was unreachable for comment.

The first question is, what is the focus for this team in the off season? Imran answered himself. “Hello, thank you all for being here this wonderful afternoon. I am honored to be the New Orleans GM and I feel like there is a legitimate chance that this team can be a contender for years to come. I love to win, the players love to win, and our fans love to win. We will win. While it is not in our best interest to trade away all of our prized prospects in order to compete this season, we will be looking to make acquisitions with some of our lower tiered prospects and cap-space. Our ultimate goal is to have a team competent enough to compete with the world champs, Orlando Orcas.”

He continued…
“When looking at our team from this season, we found a few weaknesses. We were last in the LL in slugging percentage. Quite a bit of that could be because of key injuries to some of our better sluggers like Randy Baker and Sergio Gutierrez however the team is confirmed with the idea of acquiring another slugger to put into the lineup, specifically a left handed slugger.”

“While we have some obvious weaknesses, we also have some great strengths which is the reason why this team won 83 games in a season of underachievement in the offensive portion of the team. Our pitching is very good. I feel that our rotation this season will be even better with David Edwards moving into the #2 spot in the rotation. David’s stuff is lethal and he should be a dominant force in that rotation in the up coming season. This isn’t that big of a hit to our team because our bullpen was the strongest in the league last season and still has quite a few quality arms in the pen right now along with a few youngsters that should fill in for the loss of Edwards. The closer position is still under debate and we will probably figure out more of who will be the closer when we reach spring training.”

Questions also sufficed about the new ball park that is being built in New Orleans. Imran answered the questions when he said,

“The new ballpark will be called Voodoo Village. It will be slightly favorable to the left handed power hitter as compared to the right handed counterpart. It will be a park where ground ball pitchers will excel in. We are looking for a extreme shift from last year’s ball park which was more of a pitcher’s park as compared to this ball park which will be a hitter’s haven.”

SP - Gustavo Diaz

44,686 fans were in attendance in the Princeton Fieldhouse as the best of the best in the Classic Baseball Union battled it out in the league’s first All-Star game. On a cool night with a slight wind the Landis League and Giamatti League All-Stars took to the field for the 7:05 game time to begin writing history. Taking the mound was Whitehorse’s ace Gustavo Diaz versus Gaston Couture of New Orleans. Couture would go on to line out to centerfield, Sioux Falls’s Bryan Wigmore would strike out, and Peoria’s Jose Garcia would ground out.

SP - Ramon Cruz

On the flip side of things New Orleans’s Ramon Cruz would take the mound first for the Landis League All-Stars. He would struggle through the first inning allowing singles to Harrison Swain (Portland) and Ed Webb (Rapid City), but ended the inning with a long fly ball from Colorado’s Blake Rankin to end the inning. Nashville’s Jim Hinton knocked the first hit for the Landis League All-Stars, and River Gordon (Sioux Falls) followed with a walk, but Diaz got Uber Giraffe Javier Equivel to strike out looking to keep the game scoreless.

RF - Antonio Pagan

Ramon Cruz came out again in the 2nd inning and shut down the Giamatti hitters in order with three straight groundball outs. Through 2 innings the fans in Princeton had seen a battle between the leagues best pitchers. The third inning perhaps featured the most exciting play in the entire game. Diaz struck out Salvado Lemus (High Point), then allowed a double to Gaston Couture. Next up was Bryan Wigmore and he hit a single between the gap at 1st and 2nd and Couture attempted to score from 2nd base. However a laser beam from right fielder Antonio Pagan cut down Couture at home. Diaz threw out a little cap tip to his Whitehorse teammate in right as Pagan started to trot back to his spot for the next batter. An infield single to Jose Garcia moved Wigmore to 3rd, but Diaz had the last laugh getting Swanson to strike out on a 1-2 pitch.

CF - Ed Webb

In the bottom of the third the Landis League All-Stars dipped into their deep bullpen and picked Sioux Falls’s Will Hill. Hill shut down pinch hitter Bert Dand, and on the next pitch allowed a single to Jesse Ramey. Swain would fly out bringing up Outlaw Ed Webb who on a 3-1 count crushed Will Hill’s fastball over the center field fence 420 feet. The crowd erupted as Webb circled the bases and Will Hill kept focus on the game. Angel Vazquez (Burlington) managed a single off Will Hill, bringing up Blake Rankin of Colorado again who was unable to muster anything as he drove a sinker into the ground right to the 1st baseman.

RF - Luis Gonzalez

Akron’s Earl ‘Warlock’ Grant would enter the game for the GL with a 2-0 lead. First hitter was outfielder Luis Gonzalez (West Tennessee) who drove a 1-1 pitch into center for a single. Jim Hinton followed him up with a walk on 5 pitches and the GL manager quickly pulled out Grant for Jose Munoz of the hometown Princeton Black Squirrels. Munoz however proceeded to walk River Gordon on 4 pitches, and then walk in the first LL run when Javier Esquivel watched a 3-1 pitch go wide. Salvador Lemus then singled getting in another run and tying the game. Giraffe 1st baseman Nick Donovan checked into the game and proceeded to crush a flyball to the wall scoring two on a stand up double. Wigmore followed his teammate with a ground out to 2nd allowing another runner to score and moving Donovan to 3rd. Peoria’s Jose Garcia failed to keep the rally going by striking out, but Swanson drew a walk bringing up Luis Gonzalez again as the team batted around by this point. Luis Gonzalez fouled off the first pitch, and then drove the 2nd pitch over the right field gap wall hitting a 3-run home run 405 feet.

C - River Gordon

As the GL was scrambling to warm up pitchers, Munoz was left in to walk Jim Hinton again on 4 pitches, before Alejandro Davila (Burlington) was warm enough to throw. Davila immediately came in and on a 1-0 pitch let one get by and hit River Gordon in the hip. Gordon walked to 1st base for the 3rd time in the game,  but not without angrily staring down the GL bench. Javier Esquivel made the 3rd out, but the damage had been done a 2-0 game turned into a 8-2 Landis League lead in a matter of a few minutes.

SP - Christian Edgar

Headed to the bottom of the 4th Will Hill gave way to fellow starter Christian Edgar who battled with Pagan for a few pitches before inducing a ground ball out. As Rapid City’s Tomas Perez walked up to the plate, he flashed a grin and said some words to River Gordon, no doubt something about the last pitch hitting him as Perez was the catcher behind the plate making the calls. Gordon remained in his position and without moving the next pitch came flying in and nailed Perez in the back. Both the benches stood up, and the umpires begun stepping in between all the players in attempt to remind the players it was just an all-star game, however the pride between these players made it worth more. Eventually the game continued and Jack Jarvis (Princeton) and Vince McMahon (Whitehorse) were shut down by Edgar to end the inning.

CF - Andrew Scott

After the 4th inning the intensity begun to settle as both teams realized the blowout they were facing. The next few innings featured nothing more than a few singles, until the top of the 9th when Bryan Wigmore teed off on Bluedog Arthur Peters for a cheap home run just hooking it inside the foul pole. Black Squirrel Bartolo Ramirez got the call to finish off the LL All-Stars but followed other Squirrels in their struggles in front of the hometown crowd. Andrew Scott took a 1-2 count pitch and drove it over the left field bullpen for back to back Uber Giraffe home runs. Luis Gonzalez got another at bat and managed a single, but Ramirez was able to get Jim Hinton to ground out to end the 9th inning.

LF - Jack Jarvis

The 9th inning finished with Roberto Ochoa (Sioux Falls) coming in to close out the 10-2 game, LF – Kazu Higuchi (Colorado) struck out swinging, Colorado’s catcher Nick Young followed his teammate with a strikeout looking this time. Threat for the batting crown Jack Jarvis walked to the plate with hopes of leading his hometown crowd on an improbable comeback. Jarvis watched a couple Ochoa pitches go for balls, then watched a strike down the middle. On the 2-1 count Jarvis got ahold of one and it skipped into right field for a single. What was left of the crowd got onto their feet and cheered for Jarvis and the GL All-Stars all the way through the Santiago Lopez (Redbank) at bat, however Lopez the last pinch hitter to get into the game couldn’t shake off the 3 hour sit down session and ended up grounding out the short stop to end the game.

Luis Gonzalez ASG MVP

Will Hill ended up with the win despite being the only Landis League pitcher to give up earned runs, Jose Munoz was credited with the loss. After the game West Tennessee’s Luis Gonzalez was awarded the All-Star Game MVP Award. The game took 3 hours and 39 minutes and was quite a show for fans all around.