Lloyd Turner and Mike Woods
The 11th annual Atlantic League All-Star Game is tonight. It lacks the local buzz of last year’s version because the game won’t be played at Clipper Magazine Stadium. It’ll take place at Commerce Bank Park in Bridgewater, N.J. — another of the league’s premier venues.
Let’s look at the Barnstormers’ five representatives:
Eric Ackerman, P
| 3-6 | 5.04 ERA | 84 IP | 95 H | 24 BB | 52 K |
Although he hit a bump in the road at the end of the first half, Ackerman’s transition from the bullpen to the rotation has been largely positive. He leads the team in starts and innings pitched and is tied with Ricardo Gomez for the lead in strikeouts.
Judd Songster, P
| 3-1 | 2.43 ERA | 37 IP | 35 H | 11 BB | 29 K |
The new closer took Ryan Cullen’s spot on the All-Star roster. Cullen is out with a minor injury. Songster hasn’t allowed an earned run since May 21. The righthander has only surrendered 11 walks in 37 innings and hasn’t give up a home run all season.
Danny Gonzalez, SS
| .287 | 9 HR | 44 RBI | 43 R | .383 OBP | .453 SLG |
The best shortstop in the league has combined stellar defense with his usual solid production at the plate. Gonzalez was shifted into the No. 3 spot in the lineup because of injuries. He leads the team with an .836 OPS and is clearly Lancaster’s top position player.
Mike Woods, LF
| .291 | 6 HR | 27 RBI | 57 R | .390 OBP | .446 SLG |
The speedster is the only Barnstormers player to be named as a starter. Woods, once a backup to Bo Hart, has established himself as an above-average player in this league. He leads the league with 21 stolen bases and is tops on the team with a .390 on-base percentage.
Lloyd Turner, 3B
| .287 | 6 HR | 25 RBI | 39 R | .379 OBP | .443 SLG |
The would-be utility man has essentially served as the Barnstormers’ everyday third baseman. Turner has provided solid defense at 2B, 3B and the OF and is third on the team with 39 runs scored in 66 games.
ALB.com will be your source for live updates.
The complete rosters are located here.
Box score:
MVP: Ramon Castro, Newark
Good Luck Tonight Boys!!!
Good Luck All Stars. Hope you play well tonight in front of the scouts.
ALB.com blog has Danny Gonzalez starting at second base in tonight’s game.
For those who want to listen to tonight’s game, it looks like you can click on “SOM Webcast” on the home page for the Atlantic League. (Not the ALB.com blog but the Atlantic League homepage).
No commemorative All Star Items to be given away tonight as cool as last year’s bat. I am sure it would not be safe to give out bats in a lot of stadiums around the country.
Congrats Guys…well deserved.
Nice job Freedom Division! And Eric got the win. Nicely done!
Obviously I wasn’t listening to any part of the game except the end where they said “Ackerman gets the win”.
Looks like he had a rough go out there. Way to pick him up, offense!
Still, a win is a win.
Great Job Ack for getting the win!!!!
Great game. Nice to be part of. Home Run Derby was fun to watch as always.
If you haven’t checked out the AL Baseball Blog (link above) it has some prettey good stuff today. I thought the most interesting is about next years All Star game ……
That A.S. game also features a new tie-breaker rule, where each side competes in a home run derby contest after nine innings to determine a winner. Managers pick the hitters, hitters choose the pitcher.
Just like a shootout in hockey. This would solve all the problems with the MLB All Star game. I wonder if they would onsider it?
phew!, don’t let anyone ever tell you that the Appalachian Trail is easy!!…
… so what did I miss?