The Owners' Conference
At the owners' conference, the league decided to implement the expected two-year free agency rule. The only problem with the rule is that it might make it hard for fans to follow players and develop loyalties to teams with players moving around so often. The owners generally agreed that once financial stability was restored, the free agency period should again be extended.
The league minimum salary was also raised to $4000 a year, effective after the end of this season. For the 2010 season, it would be raised to $5000 and thereafter adjusted for inflation. The small-market clubs objected, but not too strenuously, because attendance and merchandise figures were showing some strong gains. North Pole, in particular, was starting to look like a large market team, as the Nicks secured a bigger fan base in the Fairbanks area than did the Goldpanners.
The 2008 All-Star Game
View of Chugiak in the foreground, Anchorage in the distance
July 6th, 2008 - The second annual AKL All-Star Game was held at Oberg Field in Chugiak, Alaska, the home of the Jets. There were some familiar faces on the divisional teams, but also some new ones - and some surprising omissions.
From the Seward Division, it was no surprise to see Kodiak's slugging catcher, Alan Sellick, or their reliable center fielder, Dominique Gaudet. Tom Robbins - the Alabama Slammer - was back as well, but he was having a down year and wouldn't start this game. He'd hit just .239 with one homer in May, and even a stellar June couldn't quite match last year's numbers.
Some impressive new faces in the Seward Division were Mat-Su's catcher, Pierre-Alexandre Langlois, who had posted a .915 OPS in May and a 1.025 OPS in June. He was making his big offseason contract extension look modest. Second baseman Duncan Sutherland was another entry from a surprising Kodiak team that had clawed into second place. He had already hit 20 doubles in 171 AB, with a .305 batting average.
Among the Seward Division's pitchers, Bryan Kendall was a standout. Coming off a mediocre season, he had been dominant on the mound in May, going 4-0 with a minuscule 0.56 ERA. The Bucs' ace, Jack Hatt, was among the league leaders in strikeout-walk ratio, with 54 K's compared to just 16 walks - and 2 home runs allowed. The much-ballyhooed Alan St. George was pitching pretty well for his new team, the Oilers, posting a 4-4 record and 3.91 ERA in 67 innings, and was one of the final selections for the roster.
However, last year's Pitcher of the Year, Gary Tufts, would miss the game. He hadn't gotten much defensive support, with a BABIP around .340 and ERA just over 5.00. Last year's runner-up for Hitter of the Year, Dave Bonnar, also failed to make the team for a second straight year. He'd had a really slow start, hitting just .175 in May. Tuft's and Bonnar's problems were part of the reason the Glacier Pilots were still languishing in fifth. Their ERA champ from last year, Vincent Robinson, did make the team, but barely.
On the Denali Division side, the brash, cocky Bob Horton - he whose contract with the Bucs had inspired Tom Robbins to seek out the Glacier Pilots, he who had held out from signing almost until Opening Day, when he finally went with the Nicks - was one of the Denalis' marquee players. He had hit .333 in May and .350 in June, scoring 36 runs in 45 games. Last year's batting champ, Fairbanks first baseman Gary Johnson, was also there and sporting a .374 average to this point. Doug Beard - the guy acquired for St. George in that infamous trade - represented Juneau, bringing in a .349 batting average. The unassuming Connor Poapst of Sitka was the home run leader with 17 in 160 AB and made his first All-Star appearance. Ketchikan's big signing John Horswill also made the team.
On the pitching side, Senator starter Scott Northeast was a familiar face, but he wasn't doing as well to this point (4-5, 3.88). The only other Denali Division pitcher to make the team for a second team was 39 year old Nick reliever Murdock Hobbs.
The game was an exciting one. A runner was thrown out to end the top of the first, then in the bottom half the first two batters reached base. Knowing the weakness of Vincent Leroux's arm, the Seward manager, Gilbert Lidstone of Mat-Su, tried a double steal. Sure enough, Leroux threw it away and a run scored. Alan Sellick followed up with a two-run shot to make it 3-0 early.
The Denalis tied it up in the fourth, but the Sewards promptly took the lead back and then added two more in the seventh to make it 6-3 going to the eighth. In the top of the eighth, Connor Poapst knocked in John Abston with a home run, making it 6-5. Glacier Pilot closer John Adams was brought in to nail it down in the 9th.
After getting one out, Adams allowed two singles, and then Abston hit a three-run homer to give the Denalis their first lead of the game.
In the bottom of the ninth, the first two runners reached base on singles. Again, Lidstone rolled the dice with a double steal, but this time Leroux gunned down the lead runner. If the steal had worked, a single could have tied it, but now it would take a homer. Sellick, who had done it earlier, came to the plate and lined into a double play to end the game. The Denali Division won it, 8-6; Gary Johnson won All-Star MVP for going 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored, and two runs batted in, hitting in the leadoff spot.