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The 1997 Midwest League All-Star Game was held on Tuesday, June 17, at Lansing's Oldsmobile Park. The teams were selected by a poll of the League's managers. The "East" team consisted of representatives from Beloit, Fort Wayne, Lansing, Michigan, South Bend, West Michigan, and Wisconsin (that's the Eastern Division plus the Wisconsin teams). The "West" team represented Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Kane County, Peoria, Rockford, and Quad City (the Western Division plus the Illinois teams).
Chelane Priller, who used to write a web site about Lansing's Lugnuts, volunteered the following writeup:
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The 1997 Midwest League All-Star game was played at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing, Michigan, the home of the Lansing Lugnuts. Attendance was a record for the All-Star games at 10,060.
Umpires were:
Home Plate Damien Beal
First Base Adam Dowdy
Second Base Darryl Massa
Third Base Darwin Schiltz
Left Field Tyler Hoffman
Right Field Brian Hale
Starting pitcher for the East was Greg Romo from the Whitecaps and for the West was Jay Peterson from the Burlington Bees.
The Starting Line-ups were:
West East
3B James Lofton BUR CF Jason Conti SB
2B Chad Myers ROC RF John Barnes MIC
SS Brent Butler PEO 1B Rob Fick WMI
LF Darron Ingram BUR 3B Kit Pellow LAN
1B Marlon Allen BUR DH Brian Dubose WMI
RF Joe Freitas PEO C Chad Moeller FTW
DH Mike Hampton BUR LF Dernell Stenson MIC
C Ryan Robertson KNC 2B Rene Capellan WMI
CF Rod Lindsey CLI SS Luis Rivas FTW
MGR Gary Varsho WIS MGR Bruce Fields WMI
Romo faced only 3 batters in the 1st, with the help of Rene Capellan taking Chad Moeller's throw to second from the SS side around to catch James Lofton stealing. Lofton had reached on a fielding error by shortstop Luis Rivas. Peterson had a rough go of it though, as the East batters tagged him for 3 runs. Jason Conti singled then John Barnes hit one over the fence in left field. Rob Fick came up next and sent one over the fence in right. Peterson got himself together and retired the next three. Score after 1: 3-0, East.
Romo retired the West batters 1-2-3 in the 2nd, and Philip Norton from the Rockford Cubbies followed suit with the East batters. Score after 2: 3-0, East.
Matt Kinney from the Michigan Battle Cats pitched in the top of the 3rd. He flirted with danger - Ryan Robertson hit a 1-out double. After a strike out, James Lofton hit one to the shortstop Rivas, but the throw pulled Conti off the bag and there were runners at the corners. Kinney then struck out Chad Myers to end the threat. David Townsend from the Kane County Cougars came in and gave up another run to East. John Barnes hit a 1-out single and Kit Pellow knocked Barnes in with a 2-out RBI double. Score after 3: 4-0, East.
Clay Bruner from the Whitecaps came in for the 4th and got tagged for all 4 tying runs. Darron Ingram drew a 1-out walk and went to second when Marlon Allen's grounder to short went right under Rivas' glove. After a strike out, Mike Hampton hit a RBI single to send Ingram across the plate. Ryan Robertson stepped up and hit a towering 3-run homer to right. Brent Billingsley from the Burlington Bees took mound and gave up a lead-off triple to Chad Moeller. After a strike out, he gave up a walk to Rene Capellan. Billingsley then struck out the next two to end the inning. Score after 4: 4-4.
Joe Mays from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers came up and took West down 1-2-3 with the help of a great diving catch in right field by John Barnes. Brent Billingsley pitched a second inning, and after giving up a lead-off single to John Barnes, retired the next 3 East batters to maintain the tie. Score after 5: 4-4.
At this point a bunch of changes were made:
East West
C Steve Lomasney MIC DH Jason Garrett KNC
2B Cleatus Davidson FTW C Tucker Barr QC
SS Steve Medrano LAN CF Wes Pratt QC
1B Jason Layne LAN 3B Rob Sasser KNC
3B Luis Figueroa WIS SS Dennis Abreu ROC
DH Jason Regan WIS LF Gerald Parent CLI
1B Kevin Burns QC
Chuck Beale from the Battle Cats came to pitch the 6th. Marlon Allen hit a 1-out homer out to left. Joe Freitas walked then was caught stealing after Jason Garrett struck out. Steve Hoff from the Clinton Lumber Kings came in for the bottom of the inning. Steve Lomasney hit a big homer over the center field deck to lead off. Hoff shook it off and got the next 3 West batters to end the inning. Score after 6: 5-5.
Kasey Richardson came in for the 7th. After giving up a walk, he got out of the inning with a strike out and a 3-6-3 double play. The East batters faced Gabe Garcia from the Quad City River Bandits. Jason Layne hit a 2-out single and went to second on a fielding error by center fielder Wes Pratt. A ground out stranded him there. Score after 7: 5-5
Pete Harvell from the South Bend Silver Hawks took the mound for the 8th and retired the West batters 1-2-3, and Domingo Guzman from the Lumber Kings struck out his three. Score after 8: 5-5
Chad Rodriguez from the Lansing Lugnuts started the 9th. Kevin Burns hit a lead-off single. After a strike-out, Jason Garrett drew a walk. Manager Bruce Fields came out and brought in Dennis Stark to finish the inning. After a strike out, Wes Pratt hit a bouncer between first and second and Cleatus Davidson made a great running snag of the ball and tossed it to first just in time to beat Pratt as he came down the line. Martin Sanchez from the Kane County Cougars came to the mound to pitch the bottom of the 9th. Steve Medrano hit a towering 1-out triple off the right field wall and scored the winning run on Jason Conti's RBI single. Final Score: 6-5, East.
It was an exciting game and the fireworks afterward provided an impressive display to match the impressive performances of the night.
The Howe SportsData Star of Stars was John Barnes of the Michigan Battle Cats, who went 3 for 4 with a 2-run homer, a single after which he scored, and another single, plus a great defensive diving catch out in right.
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Festivities began at 6:00 pm with a celebrity event called "Stars of Yesterday" featuring former Detroit Tigers against other former big leaguers. Hall of Fame pitchers Bob Feller and Fergie Jenkins appeared for the visiting team; Gates Brown, Willie Horton, and Mickey Lolich were among the Tiger representatives. The loosely-played game was won by the visiting squad, 2-1; a good time was had by all.
East Team
Pitchers
W-L ERA G SV IP BB SO
Chuck Beale MIC 1-1 3.46 25 12 26.0 7 30
Clay Bruner WMI 7-2 2.61 12 0 79.1 27 74
*Pete Harvell SB 3-2 1.80 24 7 35.0 12 30
Matt Kinney MIC 6-2 2.75 13 0 75.1 47 89
Allen Levrault** BEL 3-3 3.26 10 0 60.2 16 42
Joe Mays WIS 9-3 2.09 13 0 81.2 23 79
Craig Quintal WMI 4-5 2.33 11 0 69.2 13 39
*Kasey Richardson FTW 3-3 3.13 13 0 72.0 29 48
Chad Rodriguez LAN 2-0 2.48 23 3 29.0 5 22
Greg Romo WMI 9-0 3.11 12 0 72.1 29 65
Dennis Stark WIS 5-2 1.84 13 0 68.1 23 81
Catchers
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
Chad Moeller FTW .283 191 28 54 6 2 4 20 23 36 3
starter
Steve Lomasney MIC .263 133 28 35 11 2 5 20 19 49 2
Infielders
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
Rene Capellan WMI .299 214 37 64 14 4 4 33 15 26 4
starter, 2B
#Cleatus Davidson FTW .261 222 34 58 7 3 2 26 26 48 14
normally 2B
*Robert Fick WMI .374 219 49 82 29 1 11 44 38 25 1
starter, 1B
Luis Figueroa WIS .299 231 26 69 9 2 2 37 17 10 1
normally 3B
Ron Hartman** SB .258 186 23 48 16 2 2 35 24 33 1
normally 3B
*Jason Layne LAN .291 189 28 55 12 1 5 41 34 42 0
normally 1B
#Steve Medrano LAN .232 185 28 43 2 5 0 16 24 19 8
normally SS
Kit Pellow LAN .297 256 39 76 17 2 11 52 24 74 2
starter, 3B
*Jackie Rexrode SB .304 214 39 65 8 1 1 16 37 33 8
normally 2B
Luis Rivas FTW .259 216 32 56 12 5 0 18 24 46 14
starter, SS
Outfielders
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
John Barnes MIC .335 236 46 79 9 3 5 38 35 19 9
starter
*Jason Conti SB .356 250 51 89 17 5 2 20 25 38 17
#Tony Miranda LAN .318 192 41 61 21 3 2 32 34 41 4
starter
Jason Regan WIS .254 177 31 45 14 1 9 23 23 55 2
normally 2B!
Dernell Stenson MIC .306 248 37 76 19 0 6 41 28 60 2
starter
Designated Hitter
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
*Brian DuBose WMI .309 152 34 47 7 4 6 32 28 30 4
starter
West Team
Pitchers
W-L ERA G SV IP BB SO
*Brent Billingsley KNC 5-5 3.92 13 0 80.1 29 85
Bryan Braswell QC 5-4 3.16 12 0 77.0 24 77
Aaron Cames KNC 3-4 3.50 13 0 72.0 26 89
Gabe Garcia QC 3-6 3.61 12 0 72.1 30 59
Domingo Guzman CLI 4-5 3.19 12 0 79.0 25 91
*Steve Hoff CLI 7-1 2.71 12 0 76.1 18 78
Wade Miller** QC 5-3 3.36 10 0 59.0 10 50
*Phillip Norton ROC 6-1 3.12 13 0 80.2 31 93
Jay Peterson BUR 8-3 4.58 13 0 72.2 42 66
Steve Reed PEO 4-1 5.96 32 0 45.1 12 40
Martin Sanchez KNC 1-2 2.97 28 12 30.1 13 35
David Townsend KNC 5-1 2.40 13 0 64.0 16 51
Catchers
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
Tucker Barr QC .239 155 30 37 4 0 8 23 20 41 0
James Davis BUR .268 149 17 40 6 1 2 21 9 29 2
*Ryan Robertson KNC .251 179 36 45 12 0 5 34 42 32 0
starter
Infielders
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
Dennis Abreu ROC .339 227 31 77 11 1 1 19 20 52 20
normally SS
Marlon Allen BUR .310 242 42 75 20 1 12 52 36 61 5
starter, 1B
*Kevin Burns QC .256 242 39 62 14 1 9 45 15 54 1
normally 1B
Brent Butler PEO .326 233 39 76 22 0 8 39 27 26 5
starter, SS
Jason Garrett KNC .330 230 42 76 17 2 4 41 24 55 2
normally 1B
#James Lofton BUR .298 228 43 68 9 0 3 27 26 36 9
starter, 3B
*Brian McClure CLI .285 186 43 53 8 6 2 28 47 32 5
normally 2B
Chad Meyers ROC .289 218 45 63 14 3 2 27 38 42 31
starter, 2B
*Rob Sasser CR .264 242 50 64 14 1 8 36 29 46 22
normally 3B
Outfielders
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
Joe Frietas PEO .220 200 32 44 5 1 14 36 24 74 1
starter
Darron Ingram BUR .251 267 40 67 14 4 14 52 19 101 1
starter
Rod Lindsey CLI .223 269 45 60 8 3 2 26 31 86 42
starter
*Gerald Parent CLI .248 230 26 57 8 0 0 32 38 58 4
Wes Pratt QC .265 219 41 58 14 0 10 28 22 32 7
Designated Hitter
AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR BI BB SO SB
Mike Hampton BUR .257 175 45 45 8 1 10 35 33 41 15
starter
Statistics shown include Sunday, June 15. Three exceptions, marked with double asterisks [**], were not listed in the stats lists on June 15 (Levrault is injured; I suspect Hartman and Miller were promoted); stats are shown for those players through June 6.
Several players on these rosters were promoted shortly before or after the All-Star Game.
My thanks to Chelane for the narrative. She used to do this daily on her LugPage....
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