HAVANA
(AP) - The temperature was hot at the 2004 All-Star Game in
Havana, but tempers ran hotter as the animosity between the
Inferno League and Blizzard exploded into a spectacle of brawls
and beaneballs! The final score was BL 5, IL 1 as the BL evened
the all time series at four games each, but from the moment
Fidel Castro took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch
everyone knew this wasn't going to be a typical All-Star Game!
Castro took the mound and shouted "With this pitch I guarantee
Blizzard League
victory over the pitiful, worthless, so-called All-Stars from
the Inferno League! They do not deserve the honor of playing
on this field! Especially that bum George Canate from Amity!
But since we're all here I guess we'll play anyways!" Nobody
could figure out why Castro singled out Canate, but the Havana
crowd went crazy nevertheless. Needless to say, the Inferno
League players were pretty pissed! They were ready to go kick
some BL booty, but little did they know it would be a day
of frustration for the team.
|
|
Cuban
President and former Havana Cigars Second Baseman Fidel
Castro tosses out the first pitch, along with some choice
insults aimed at the IL! |
The
BL got on the board in their very first at bat, as hometown
favorite Russ Johnson lead off the BL first with a home run
off of Luxor great Smokey Joe Wood! But the real fun for the
BL came in the bottom of the third when Canate came in to
pitch! The crowd was taunting Canate pretty badly. Aparently
it had an effect on him as he lost his control and plunked
Motown's Robin Ventura on the first pitch! The next batter
was Russ Johnson, and the crowd was going bonkers! Canate
was PO'd at the whole situation! He flipped off Castro before
drilling Johnson in the butt with a fastball! Benches cleared
and all hell broke loose! After about 10 minutes order was
restored. Amazingly nobody was thrown out of the game as the
Cuban umpires stuck with thier "No blood, no foul" philosophy
for the game. The next batter was Belfast's Ryu Nobeoka, and
he made Canate pay for his headhunting by blasting a 393 foot
homer to right center field to give the BL a 4-0 lead! This
drove the Havana fans into a delirious frenzy! Canate finished
off the inning but the damage was done! The IL got on the
board in the 6th when Los Angeles' Ken Griffey Jr. drove in
Honolulu's Nap Lajoie with an RBI single, but that would be
all the scoring the IL could get on this day as they went
on to a humiliating defeat! Nobeoka was named MVP, and to
add insult to injury, George Canate was named the first LVP
(LEAST Valuable Player) in Weaver League All-Star history!
Following
the game the teams lined up for the customary post-game hand
shake. George Canate and Russ Johnson met up as the players
passed each other in line. Canate extended his hand to shake,
but Johnson was still just a little pissed and he just looked
past him and moved on. Canate then slugged the Havana shortstop
in the gut and once again all hell broke lose as the teams
brawled! This time it got pretty nasty, and the Cuba police
were forced to use tear gas to break up the melee! Canate
was quoted later that evening from a Havana jail cell as saying
that he would someday have his revenge on Castro and Johnson!
The Cuban police then gave him a serious beat down before
White Sharks owner Jim Schmaltz came to bail him out!
|