Weekly Report: July 27, 1931

The 4th Uplantic Association All-Star Game was held in Deerborn on Tuesday. The biggest stars of the East and West divisions faced off in Kostinsky Park.

(Jump to All-Star Game)

The Bears and Guardians continued to vie for first in the UA West. The White Sox lost a key player, but look to continue their dominant 1931 run.

The Spiders and Reapers went head to head for first place in the NPL this week.

(Jump to UA Standings & League Leaders)

(Jump to NPL Standings & League Leaders)

UA News:

7/20:

The UA enters the 3-day All-Star break.
Salvation 2B Mark Dutertre has announced his retirement. Dutertre was one of the UA’s original roster players in 1928 with the Trail Blazers where he had his best season, hitting .312 with 39 RBI. Since 1929 he has been with the Brothers. “I hope we can make a run this year,” said Dutertre. “We came close to the Finals the last two years, and I can’t tell you what it would mean to me to win the Cup before I ride into the sunset.”
Salvation starter John George learns that he will miss around 2 weeks with biceps tendinitis. It’s more bad news for the Brothers, who are currently missing 4 of their 5 starting pitchers. Mike Gurr is still out for 2 more weeks with a herniated disc, and Jon Robertson is out for the season and possibly a chunk of next year as he recovers from surgery on his torn elbow ligament. The bright spot is that Whit Vorpoole should return this weekend. The Brothers have managed to hang around in the standings, and they could be poised to make a playoff run if they can remain in the conversation when Gurr and George return to the field.

7/21:

The White Sox get some bad news on their big day hosting the All-Stars. Legendary team ace Jorge Takato will miss at least 7 weeks with bone chips in his elbow. Takato hasn’t been the same pitcher of the last 2 seasons who dominated the league, although he hasn’t been terrible this season either. The White Sox will certainly miss his arm, but the league’s top team should still be able to compete at a high level in the season’s second half.

1931 UA All-Star Game

Kostinsky Park, Deerborn, Woodlyn

(Jump to All-Star Box Score)

Baseball’s best met tonight in Deerborn. 25,445 fans filled Kostinsky Park for the game while many more spent the three day break learning about the history of baseball’s great touring teams and players in the Kostinsky Park Baseball History Museum, including an expanded exhibit celebrating the first three seasons of UA baseball. Other festivities, such as meet-and-greet signings with some of the All-Stars, and a concert featuring the Deerborn Show Band have already made the 4th edition of the midsummer classic a great success. To close out the celebration, an 8-round boxing match between heavyweights Hubert Min’toki’i and Wallace Konzales is scheduled for tomorrow night at the stadium, and All-Star ticket holders receive discounted entry to the contest.

Coming into this year’s All-Star Game, the East is on a 2-year winning streak, having beaten the West last season in Taawa by a score of 5-4.

Brothers lefty Jeff Walker got the start for the West All-Stars with Stars righty Francisco Terawaa getting the nod for the East All-Stars.

RHP Tim Mitchell made history in the 2nd inning by becoming the first free agent to play in an All-Star Game. In a heartless move by Owls GM Dave Benton, Mitchell was released from the team this morning despite his All-Star selection. With the Owls having their worst season yet, the front office in Redwood is scrambling to build a contender and save their jobs, but it certainly seems that this move could have waited another day. Instead of the typical team patch on the right shoulder of his All-Star jersey, Mitchell wore a UA league patch on both shoulders.

The West started the scoring in the 3rd inning with Brothers LF Andy Thompson’s RBI single off of Roland’s RHP Paul Jensen. Miners 3B Hichem Colle added another with a solo home run in the 4th off of Stars ace Ron Rivera.

Platte’s Will Shufflebottom came on to pitch in the 4th for the West and had a disastrous inning, with back-to-back home runs from Stars teammates Mario Olivo and Antonio Teakowa, followed by a triple from Prissley LF Juan Tumaini, who would tag and score on a sac fly by RF Curt Sawyer of the White Sox to make it 3-2, East.

The East All-Stars expanded their lead in the 7th with Platte’s strikeout machine Manuel Pinto on in relief. A 2-out single from Rivals 2B Tim Rogers led to a 2-run homer by Stags SS Carlos Katamori to make it 5-2.

The East had their third straight win in their sights when White Sox closer Carlos Garcika came on to pitch in front of the hometown crowd in the 8th. Andy Thompson led off with a single, which led to a 2-run home run by Guardians 1B Cal Oluoch. He then gave up a solo shot to Bears CF Stan Davis. The West had tied it at 5, but Garcika left to an ovation from White Sox fans despite his horrific outing. Stars LHP Kevin Leroux came on the stop the bleeding, but could not. He managed to strike out Miners SS Lorenzo Adom, but then gave up a 3-run, line-drive laser to right field. With the 6-run 8th inning, the West found themselves on top, 8-5.

Curt Sawyer drove in another run in the bottom of the 8th with a solo homer to bring the East within 2, 8-6. In the top of the 9th, the West added some insurance when 1930 UA MVP Juan Tokorres of the Bears hit a 1-out single to bring home Andy Thompson and make it 9-6.

Salvation closer Fernando Varkas came on in the bottom of the 9th to close it out for the West. Stars C Jon Garcika started things off with a double. Carlos Katamori drove him home with a 1-out single, then moved over to 2nd base on a wild pitch from Varkas. With the East trailing 9-7, Mario Olivo walked, then Rivals RF Gary Holland smashed a line drive down the 3rd base line to bring home both runners and tie the game at 9. Holland stole 3rd, but Varkas managed to strike out Lia Tinta and Ogg to send the game to extra innings!

At this point, safety started to become a concern. Because of the exhibition nature of the game, the East had used all of its pitchers, while the West had only Platte’s Adam Evans and Northsouth’s Justin Morris remaining. However, both Evans and Morris had expected to sit, as they were still on short rest from their last starts.

Stars closer David Rogers was left to close the game out, win or lose, for the East. He and Fernando Varkas made it through the 10th with relative ease. At this point, the commissioner’s office had reportedly discussed calling the game in a tie, but pleas from players, including Rogers, Evans, and Morris, pressured the league into allowing the game to go on. All of this was unbeknownst to fans at the stadium, who were mostly thrilled to see extra innings baseball. Rogers registered a 1-2-3 11th inning. Adam Evans came on in the bottom of the inning to try to keep things going into the 12th for the West. Mario Olivo hit a 1-out double, then Gary Holland struck out looking. The West walked Jose Lia Tinta intentionally to bring up hometown favorite Rygh Ogg. Ogg hit a 2-out single to load the bases. Big slugger and league home run leader Curt Sawyer then came up, no doubt looking to mash one and end the game in dramatic fashion. Evans pitched around Sawyer, but with nowhere to put him, he walked him and sent home the game-winning run in the form of a walk-off walk.

The extra-innings win gave the East division their 3rd straight All-Star victory, 10-9.

Mario Olivo’s 3 for 5 performance with a home run and 3 runs scored earned him All-Star MVP honors.

The league has announced that the 5th annual All-Star contest will take place next year at Trefellen Field in Northsouth, Snowgate.

7/23:

Northsouth LHP Justin Morris strikes out 7 in 8 IP as the Guardians open the second half with a 4-3 win against the Stars. The Guardians take the first game in a series that could have playoff implications.
Prissley RHP Jeff Rogers strikes out 11 in 6 scoreless innings, but Taawa wins a thriller on a walk-off RBI single by SS Samir Devaux. Final: TAA 4, PRI 3.
Railey RHP Sonny Hernankez allows 1 run on just 2 hits and strikes out 8 over 6 innings as the Rivals knock off the Bears in Platte, 3-1.
White Sox RHP Roberto Tokorres notches 10 Ks and allows just 1 run in 7 innings; C Franco Garcika goes 3 for 4 with a double and 4 RBI in Deerborn’s 12-1 pounding of the Miners.
Roland LF Jose Lia Tinta ties the UA record with a 5 for 5 day, hits his 18th home run of the year, and drives in 4 runs as the Stags beat the Owls, 10-5.

7/24:

Trail Blazers LF Juan Tumaini hits his 20th HR, but the Chargers overcome Prissley again, 7-3.
White Sox RHP Martin Westfield notches 9 Ks in 5.2 IP as Deerborn beats Lia Kompos, 3-1.
Roland SS Carlos Katamori drives in 4 runs with a triple and a home run. The Stags tie it in the 9th to force extra innings and then erupt for 5 in the 10th to take down the Owls, 12-7. Stags 2B Albert Pentana hits 2 doubles in the win, but may be hobbled for a few days with groin tightness. Roland starter Gabe Kefentse leaves in the 3rd inning with back spasms, but should make his next start.
Platte 3B Juan Tokorres, last season’s MVP, leaves today game with a back strain. He is day-to-day, probably for a week or so. Bears RHP Travis Voelker allows 1 run on 3 hits over 8 innings while striking out 9. Platte beats Railey, 5-1.
Northsouth 1B Cal Oluoch hits his 18th homer and Delle RF Antonio Teakowa hits his 16th, as the Guardians prevail over the Stars, 7-4. They’ll go for the sweep tomorrow.

7/25:

C Gabriel Pentakaz of the Miners organization is named the UA’s top prospect as the Top 100 Prospects are published today.
Brothers LF Andy Thompson is hurting again, this time with back spasms that doctors say may last a week or two. He is not currently on the IL. Salvation drops below .500 again with a loss today to Cherricaw, 10-5.
Ron Rivera goes the distance for the complete game win as Delle tops Northsouth, 8-3.
The Chargers beat the Trail Blazers, 1-0, to sweep the series. It is their first sweep of the year. They’ve won 5 in a row.
Rivals RHP Michael Mercer goes 7 innings and strikes out 10, but the Bears win 5-3. Bears reliever Orlando Nunez leaves the game with a hamstring strain. He has missed 6 weeks this year due to his hamstring, but the injury is mild this time and should only bother him for a a few days.
White Sox RF Curt Sawyer goes yard twice. He has 22 HR this season. The White Sox beat the Miners, 10-5, and sweep the series with their 5th straight win.
Stags lefty Salim Mujer strikes out 8 over 8 innings as the Stags beat the Owls, 5-0, for the series sweep.

7/26:

Bears RHP Adam Evans strikes out 8 over 7.2 innings in Platte’s 2-1 win over Lia Kompos.
White Sox RF Curt Sawyer crushes 2 HR for the 2nd straight game, but the Owls top the Sox, 8-6. Owls CF Bruce Willard hits 2 HR of his own for 6 RBI in the win.
The Chargers beat the Rivals, 3-2, for their 6th straight win.
RF Brad Bailey’s grand slam home run in the 8th is part of a late 8-run rally to lift the Guardians over the Stags. With the win, Northsouth pulls even with Platte for the UA West lead.
Prissley closer Lass Len gets the save today, but he complains of elbow pain after the game and is being evaluated by team doctors. Final: PRI 3, CHE 1.
Brothers 1B David Holmes will miss around 6 weeks with a broken wrist after being struck by a pitch today. Andy Thompson sits and Salvations loses again. Final: DEL 5, SAL 4 (11 inn). Holmes hasn’t had a great year so far. If he is able to return for a potential Brothers playoff run, the Brothers may not want him.

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