LONG BEACH (AP) - After a great series the 2011 Weaverball Champion has been crowned. The new champions reside in California, but they are not in Los Angeles. Instead they're in a town about 45 miles to the south. The Long Beach Lobsters have just completed by far the most successful season in the history of the franchise, winning the Weaver Series 4 games to 2 over defending champion Comuzel Mayans.

"This is a great day for the city, the fans, and the organization!" commented excited owner Ken Paplanus. "These guys laid it all out on the field, and we have brought a little piece of Weaver excellence to the Beach."

Coming off a very successful 111-51 season in 2010 in which the Lobsters fell one game short of winning the division title, several bold and sometimes questionable changes were made to the roster in order to attempt to take the next step.

In the offfseason, ownership hired Triple H and Sting as manager and hititng coach of their Triple AAA team the Transylvania Bats. This move signaled a desire for the team to teach discipline and the mental parts of baseball.

GM Byron Russell pulled off a off-season deal that netted the Lobsters 2010 Cy Young award winner Mike Castro and 2010 MVP Ed Santos from the Bora Bora Surfriders. That deal cost the Lobsters some youthful arms in their farm and prize SS Joey Monk, but as Byron said, "Our core of the team is intact, and we add a Cy Young award winner and MYP."

That deal allowed the team to turn around and deal starter Ismael Valdes and holdout third baseman Brad Stewart to the Havana Cigars for center fielder Kelvin Thomas and a first round pick. "That deal was key, because he got quality and a little younger in the deal. Trading away players that helped turn around our franchise like Stewart, Monk and Valdes was tough, but in the two deals we feel we got stronger both in the short term and in the long term."

Turning down several offers to trade away core players, manager Lucious Harris took his team to camp. New pitching coach Christy Matthewson molded the staff, easing Castro into the #1 spot while allowing Russ Ford to slide to #2 and Jason Schmidt to #3. With Stan Englund and Luis Andujar rounding out the 5 spots, Brett Wagner accepted a role in the pen for the good of the team, and free agent pickup Ed Koch eased into the closer role vacated by the loss Manny Barrios.

The positon players had another year of experience under their belt, and with shortstop Santos leading the charge, the team was ready to aim for heights never reached by the franchise. "Our goal was simple: Win the Weaver Series!" said skipper Lucious Harris.

The team got out of the gate quickly and never looked back, holding onto first place virtually the entire season in route to a 114-48 record and a Rohem Division crown.
But the changes to the roster were not done. The team pulled off a deal close to the time of the amateur draft with the Port Louis Dodos for a total of five draft picks, including the fifth overall pick, and veterans Delino Deshields and Scott Rickley. Deshields was brought in to offset a midseason injury to James Cardoza, and the farm system was restocked with the picks.

In another draft deal, the team sent several prospects and some picks aquired from Port Louis to the Tokyo Tsunamis for veterans Eric Karros, Nomar Garciapria and Jose Oliva. This deal allowed the team to specialze lineups to favor strengths of players versus both right and left handed pitchers, and eased the loss of injured first baseman Eric Gomez. "Their veteran pressence on this young team was invaluable" comments owner Ken Paplanus.

The only bump in the road was a rotation switch from Schmidt to Wagner, and both took the change well.

All continued well until the trade deadline. In a radical turn of events, centerfielder Willie Mays and second baseman Rausl Salahudidn as well as prized prospect Stub Libke were shipped off to New York for rightfielder Josh Homme, third baseman Alfredeo Hernandez, a first round pick, and prize prospect CF Sam Thomas.

The gamble proved successful as Homme and Co. went on to a sweep of the Bora Bora Surfriders in the BLCS, and a memorable six game Weaver Series victory over defending champion Comuzel Mayans to give the franchise it's first Weaver League title.

The team, with controverisal BL MVP Josh Homme, Cy Young Winner Mike Castro, and team owner Ken Paplanus all holding their new trophies, returned to Long Beach Airport and were greeted by an estimated crowd of 25,000 cheering fans. The following day a parade was held in downtown Long Beach, with a crowd one million fans lining the parade route to the Pyrmaid on the campus of LBSU, where another 30,000 loyal Lobsters fans cheered the city's first professional championship.

Commented team GM Russell, "Upon reflection we made a lot of roster changes to the team during the season, but we never strayed from our long range plan. We assembled a nice collection of youth and veteran experience without hurting our long term growth. Our next step is to establish a long standard of excellence. These our your Weaver World Champion Long Beach Lobsters!"

Said team owner Ken, "We are very proud of this group. We had a five year plan and we went from 41 wins in 2006 and being the laughing stock of the league to 114 wins and Weaver Champs in 2011!! I am very happy for the organization, the city, and the team."

Tough decisions and changes may await the 2012 Lobsters, but for the time being, the team is enjoying its success. It was a truly magical season for the Lobsters in 2011!