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Elendil · 12-08-2007, 08:01 PM

2017 Opens!

Training Camp Injuries

This year's training camp turned out to be unusually brutal on the players, perhaps because of the often bitterly cold temperatures on the practice fields of Alaska.

The most serious injuries were suffered by Glacier Pilots right fielder Jerry Peterson, who fractured his ankle and would miss the entire year, Chugiak's promising young third baseman Leonard Marshall, who pinched a nerve in his neck and would also miss the entire season, Fairbanks backup catcher Ryan Harvey, who also put himself out of commission for the year, Nicks outfielder Dan Heap, who would miss about two months of the season, and Bucs backup first baseman Don Goodyear, who would miss the first month and a half of the season.

May 5, Opening Day

Shot of Oberg Field when it was a high school ballpark

The 2017 season kicked off at Chugiak's Oberg Field, where the rival Glacier Pilots and Jets clashed. Chip Becker started for Anchorage and Monzaemon Mihashi started for Chugiak. Becker got a complete game victory, throwing 125 pitches over nine innings in an 8-4 victory. Wynn Dunsmore, who hit a three-run homer, was named player of the game.

The Sonier-MacNeill incident

On May 7, one of the most controversial events in the history of the Alaskan League occurred.

In the fifth inning of a Senators-Yukoners matchup in Whitehorse, the Yukoners strung together three hits to take a 5-3 lead. Keith MacNeill had just slid home to score on a Yukio Mori double, when Juneau pitching ace Anthony Sonier took exception to the way MacNeill went in on catcher Greg Britton.

Sonier threw down his glove and charged the plate, shouting at MacNeill, even as Britton alertly scooped up at the ball and threw it to second to hold Mori there. The home plate umpire quickly called time as he noticed Sonier charging. MacNeill, who is black, is shorter but sturdier than Sonier and wrestled him to the ground.

The benches cleared, and a brawl broke out. By the time it was broken up, Sonier was on the ground writhing in pain. He was rushed to the hospital, where it was determined that he had torn a back muscle.

The whole Senators organization clamored loudly for a suspension for MacNeill, but the situation quickly became more complicated when MacNeill told the Whitehorse Star that Sonier had used a racial epithet as he was charging the plate, a charge that Britton denied.

A closed-session league hearing was held with the players involved in the initial scrum and the home plate umpire. The matter of the racial slur was not addressed in the league press conference that followed, but the league did announce a seven-game suspension - of Sonier, not MacNeill. MacNeill had merely been defending himself, the league argued, and his slide into home plate had been legal, if dirty by some players' standards. Of course, Sonier's injury meant that the suspension, which was the longest the league had ever handed down, was meaningless.

The decision divided Alaskan media like never before, with some commentators accusing the league of perpetuating the "Wild West" reputation of the league. Others argued, conversely, that the seven-game suspension of MacNeill was too harsh, a public relations gambit that penalized a player unfairly for what many others had done in the past and received a mere slap on the wrist.

Regardless, the whole episode charged up the Juneau fan base, even as it damaged their team's chances to pass Fairbanks for the pennant this year.

May events

On May 20, John Cormack of Fairbanks had one of the great single-game pitching performances of recent memory. He mowed down Whitehorse hitters in a 3-0 whitewash, striking out 14 batters, walking none, and scattering six hits.

On May 22, Colin Garrett of Fairbanks got the first cycle of the year in an 8-5 victory over Sitka. He ended up a neat 4-for-4, getting the triple on his last at-bat.

June events

On June 4, rookie Serge Labrecque of North Pole became the first player of the season to hit three home runs in a game, going 3-for-4 as the Nicks downed the Grizzlies, 4-1.

On June 7, disaster struck the Bethel Mushers when 23-year-old rookie center fielder Ken Yoshida, who was hitting .331 with 15 stolen bases in 118 at-bats, suffered a career-ending injury when he flubbed a line drive and the ball came up and hit him in the face. He was nearly blinded in his right eye and went in for surgery immediately.

On June 16, Garry Garrett of Fairbanks became the second player this year to blast three homers in a game, doing it against Peninsula in a 15-2 win. He went 4-for-5, adding a double, but all his home runs were solo shots.

On June 21, veteran Bryan Kendall broke out some nasty stuff as he completed his second shutout of the month. The Sentinels hurler chalked up 9 K's and walked none. Sitka beat the Bucs 6-0. Another veteran starter, Tom Pick of the Glacier Pilots, tossed shutouts in back-to-back starts in June, but in less impressive fashion - his defense was really the story. Finally, another oldster, Louis Mays of Peninsula, also dealt two shutouts in the month of June. The influx of good-fielding, speedy, wild-swinging youngsters into the league, exemplified by virtually the whole Yukoners lineup, was apparently responsible for an emerging decline in league-wide offense.

A major trade went down on June 23. In a startling move, the Chugiak Jets got rid of their lone remaining superstar, corner outfielder Phil Botfield, dealing him to Sitka for starting pitching prospect Emilien Rondeau. This looked like a salary dump more than anything else, and even as such it made little sense. Rondeau had been touted at one time, but at age 22 he was still not exactly lighting up the ATL. Botfield, meanwhile, was still 28 years old and hitting .354/.395/.604. True, he would be eligible for free agency, and I suppose the Jets couldn't re-sign him. But what a cheap deal for the Sentinels, who signed a six-year contract extension with Botfield just six days later.

July events

There were several deadline trades, but most of them involved prospects who were not yet on most fans' radar screens. The biggest deadline deal sent 31-year-old second baseman Chris Webb (career .273/.333/.369) from the Bucs to the Sentinels for 26-year-old starting pitcher Russell Carriere (career 4.24 ERA, 25-27). The trade is a bit puzzling from Sitka's perspective; Webb does fill a hole and fields well, but makes more money than Carriere. Does Sitka really think they can start to contend with Fairbanks and Juneau? If so, their front office is more delusional than we all thought.

On July 19, the Juneau Senators got another bad break when superstar right fielder Kisei Suto (hitting .325 with 65 runs in 69 games so far this year) fractured a cheekbone. The injury will keep him out until the end of the season, but there is an outside chance he could be ready for postseason play if Juneau takes the pennant.

Coming up soon... All-Star rosters & game.

12-08-2007, 08:01 PM	#182
Elendil Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the dynasty forum Posts: 2,318	2017 Opens! Training Camp Injuries This year's training camp turned out to be unusually brutal on the players, perhaps because of the often bitterly cold temperatures on the practice fields of Alaska. The most serious injuries were suffered by Glacier Pilots right fielder Jerry Peterson, who fractured his ankle and would miss the entire year, Chugiak's promising young third baseman Leonard Marshall, who pinched a nerve in his neck and would also miss the entire season, Fairbanks backup catcher Ryan Harvey, who also put himself out of commission for the year, Nicks outfielder Dan Heap, who would miss about two months of the season, and Bucs backup first baseman Don Goodyear, who would miss the first month and a half of the season. May 5, Opening Day Shot of Oberg Field when it was a high school ballpark The 2017 season kicked off at Chugiak's Oberg Field, where the rival Glacier Pilots and Jets clashed. Chip Becker started for Anchorage and Monzaemon Mihashi started for Chugiak. Becker got a complete game victory, throwing 125 pitches over nine innings in an 8-4 victory. Wynn Dunsmore, who hit a three-run homer, was named player of the game. The Sonier-MacNeill incident On May 7, one of the most controversial events in the history of the Alaskan League occurred. In the fifth inning of a Senators-Yukoners matchup in Whitehorse, the Yukoners strung together three hits to take a 5-3 lead. Keith MacNeill had just slid home to score on a Yukio Mori double, when Juneau pitching ace Anthony Sonier took exception to the way MacNeill went in on catcher Greg Britton. Sonier threw down his glove and charged the plate, shouting at MacNeill, even as Britton alertly scooped up at the ball and threw it to second to hold Mori there. The home plate umpire quickly called time as he noticed Sonier charging. MacNeill, who is black, is shorter but sturdier than Sonier and wrestled him to the ground. The benches cleared, and a brawl broke out. By the time it was broken up, Sonier was on the ground writhing in pain. He was rushed to the hospital, where it was determined that he had torn a back muscle. The whole Senators organization clamored loudly for a suspension for MacNeill, but the situation quickly became more complicated when MacNeill told the Whitehorse Star that Sonier had used a racial epithet as he was charging the plate, a charge that Britton denied. A closed-session league hearing was held with the players involved in the initial scrum and the home plate umpire. The matter of the racial slur was not addressed in the league press conference that followed, but the league did announce a seven-game suspension - of Sonier, not MacNeill. MacNeill had merely been defending himself, the league argued, and his slide into home plate had been legal, if dirty by some players' standards. Of course, Sonier's injury meant that the suspension, which was the longest the league had ever handed down, was meaningless. The decision divided Alaskan media like never before, with some commentators accusing the league of perpetuating the "Wild West" reputation of the league. Others argued, conversely, that the seven-game suspension of MacNeill was too harsh, a public relations gambit that penalized a player unfairly for what many others had done in the past and received a mere slap on the wrist. Regardless, the whole episode charged up the Juneau fan base, even as it damaged their team's chances to pass Fairbanks for the pennant this year. May events On May 20, John Cormack of Fairbanks had one of the great single-game pitching performances of recent memory. He mowed down Whitehorse hitters in a 3-0 whitewash, striking out 14 batters, walking none, and scattering six hits. On May 22, Colin Garrett of Fairbanks got the first cycle of the year in an 8-5 victory over Sitka. He ended up a neat 4-for-4, getting the triple on his last at-bat. June events On June 4, rookie Serge Labrecque of North Pole became the first player of the season to hit three home runs in a game, going 3-for-4 as the Nicks downed the Grizzlies, 4-1. On June 7, disaster struck the Bethel Mushers when 23-year-old rookie center fielder Ken Yoshida, who was hitting .331 with 15 stolen bases in 118 at-bats, suffered a career-ending injury when he flubbed a line drive and the ball came up and hit him in the face. He was nearly blinded in his right eye and went in for surgery immediately. On June 16, Garry Garrett of Fairbanks became the second player this year to blast three homers in a game, doing it against Peninsula in a 15-2 win. He went 4-for-5, adding a double, but all his home runs were solo shots. On June 21, veteran Bryan Kendall broke out some nasty stuff as he completed his second shutout of the month. The Sentinels hurler chalked up 9 K's and walked none. Sitka beat the Bucs 6-0. Another veteran starter, Tom Pick of the Glacier Pilots, tossed shutouts in back-to-back starts in June, but in less impressive fashion - his defense was really the story. Finally, another oldster, Louis Mays of Peninsula, also dealt two shutouts in the month of June. The influx of good-fielding, speedy, wild-swinging youngsters into the league, exemplified by virtually the whole Yukoners lineup, was apparently responsible for an emerging decline in league-wide offense. A major trade went down on June 23. In a startling move, the Chugiak Jets got rid of their lone remaining superstar, corner outfielder Phil Botfield, dealing him to Sitka for starting pitching prospect Emilien Rondeau. This looked like a salary dump more than anything else, and even as such it made little sense. Rondeau had been touted at one time, but at age 22 he was still not exactly lighting up the ATL. Botfield, meanwhile, was still 28 years old and hitting .354/.395/.604. True, he would be eligible for free agency, and I suppose the Jets couldn't re-sign him. But what a cheap deal for the Sentinels, who signed a six-year contract extension with Botfield just six days later. July events There were several deadline trades, but most of them involved prospects who were not yet on most fans' radar screens. The biggest deadline deal sent 31-year-old second baseman Chris Webb (career .273/.333/.369) from the Bucs to the Sentinels for 26-year-old starting pitcher Russell Carriere (career 4.24 ERA, 25-27). The trade is a bit puzzling from Sitka's perspective; Webb does fill a hole and fields well, but makes more money than Carriere. Does Sitka really think they can start to contend with Fairbanks and Juneau? If so, their front office is more delusional than we all thought. On July 19, the Juneau Senators got another bad break when superstar right fielder Kisei Suto (hitting .325 with 65 runs in 69 games so far this year) fractured a cheekbone. The injury will keep him out until the end of the season, but there is an outside chance he could be ready for postseason play if Juneau takes the pennant. Coming up soon... All-Star rosters & game.