In a continuous effort to see as much baseball as possible, the powers that be at Bus Leagues will be dispatching me to Space Coast Stadium this Saturday for the Florida State League All-Star Game.
According to the host Brevard County Manatees website on the event, the festivities begin on Friday at a local hotel. Unfortunately, I won’t be at the pre-event soiree as I’ll be at Tropicana Field watching the Rays take on the Florida Marlins. Although not as heated as many of the college football battles, Marlins versus Rays is a battle for state supremacy.
Bright and early Saturday morning, however, I’ll be venturing on to the highways and byways of Central Florida, which, by the way, were recently ranked among the deadliest stretches in the nation – so we have that going for us.
My goal is get to Space Coast Stadium to make the local restaurant showcase that will take place a few hours before the game adjacent to the stadium. Depending on the fares and the wares, I may even have an accompanying food review to go along with the projected game review.
(Too bad we aren’t at ESPN.com and have one of those nifty sidebars where I can post an article in an post. Or is it a post in an article?)
After sampling the culinary delights, my plan is to watch the FSL home run derby. At this time I am not sure who is in the contest, but my initial guess would be at least sluggers Cody Overbeck of Clearwater and Jeremy Ferrell of Bradenton. Although I have yet to see Ferrell, I’ve seen Overbeck a few times and he can indeed mash.
Then of course there is the game itself, which should be entertaining.
Joining me at the ballpark will also be these fine individuals, many of them upstanding pillars of achievement. I can smell the potential.
On second thought, maybe that’s just the hotdogs.
From the Northern Division:
PLAYER/POS/TEAM
Austin Hyatt RHP Clearwater
Brayan Villarreal RHP Lakeland
Justin DeFratus RHP Clearwater
Henderson Alvarez RHP Dunedin
Adam Warren RHP Tampa
Matt Daly* RHP Dunedin
Trevor May RHP Clearwater
Aaron Shafer RHP Daytona
Wily Peralta RHP Brevard County
Rafael Dolis RHP Daytona
Position Players
PLAYER/POS/TEAM
Travis d’Arnaud C Dunedin
Mitch Abeita C Tampa
Yan Gomes C Dunedin
Cody Overbeck INF Clearwater
Rawley Bishop INF Lakeland
Tyler Pastornicky INF Dunedin
Corban Joseph INF Tampa
Matt Cline INF Brevard County
Gustavo Nunez SS Lakeland
Brett Jackson OF Daytona
Jack Rye OF Tampa
Erik Komatsu OF Brevard County
Kody Kaiser OF Lakeland
Sergio Miranda DH Brevard County
Coaches
NAME/POS/TEAM
Torre Tyson Mgr. Tampa
Greg Pavlick Coach Tampa
Julius Matos Coach Tampa
Kris Russell Trainer Tampa
Jay Signorelli Strength Tampa
From the Southern Division:
PLAYER/POS/TEAM
Noah Krol RHP Bradenton
Nick Barnese RHP Charlotte
Matthew Frevert RHP Palm Beach
Joshua Satow LHP Charlotte
Billy Bullock RHP Fort Myers
Zachar Quate RHP Charlotte
Marquis Fleming RHP Charlotte
Christopher Andujar RHP Charlotte
Jeff Locke LHP Bradenton
Juan Martinez RHP Jupiter
PLAYER POS TEAM
Tony Cruz C Palm Beach
Tony Sanchez C Bradenton
Stephen Vogt C Charlotte
Brock Holt INF Bradenton
Ben Lasater* INF Jupiter
Josh Satin INF St. Lucie
Jeremy Farrell INF Bradenton
Xavier Scruggs INF Palm Beach
Isaias Velasquez OF Charlotte
Richard Racobaldo OF Palm Beach
Sean Ratliff OF St. Lucie
Quincy Latimore OF Bradenton
Henry Wrigley DH Charlotte
NAME POS TEAM
Jim Morrison Mgr. Charlotte
Neil Allen Coach Charlotte
Joe Szekely Coach Charlotte
Chris Tomashoff Trainer Charlotte
Scott Smith Strength Charlotte
So if you see me there in a Tim Wakefield jersey 2009 American League All-Star jersey, and full afro-Bus Leagues regalia, feel free to say hello. It should be a great time.
