Louisville All-Stars Win Bluegrass World Series
by Steve Thompson
They call it the Bluegrass World Series, an event that pits former MLB players against top-tier wooden-bat club teams. The Louisville Bats hosted the Bluegrass World series, which showcased a roster featuring retired major league players from multiple all-star appearances and World-Series Champions. Their opponents were players ranging from 17 to 35 years of age, from multiple club teams.
Major League players included Johnny Damon, Chris Dickerson, Garrett Jones, Justin Marks, Daniel McCutchen, Xavier Paul, Brad Penny, Ben Sheets, Brad Wilkerson(Owensboro Native), Brandon Wood, Chad Reineke, Chad Tracy, Chris Snyder, Chris Burke (St. Xavier), Collin Balester, Desi Relaford, Glendon Rusch, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Jason Motte, Jeff Keppinger, Joe Beimel, Lou Ott, Mike Hampton, Neil Holland (University of Louisville), Pat Misch, Richard Sullivan (Ballard High School), Scott Downs (PRP High School), Sean Green (Male High School), Todd Wellemeyer (Eastern High School), Trever Miller, Micah Owings, Paul Janish, Jimmy Osting ( Louisville Native), Chase Patton, Rick White and Hardin County’s, Drew Harrington.
With the emphasis on local ex-MLB players from Kentucky, the crowds really could identify with the rich history and tradition of baseball in Kentucky and reflect on the great success former local high school and college players have enjoyed in the Major Leagues. A great crowd was on hand for the championship game Saturday night.
They were treated to some great pitching and hitting from the major leaguers and their opponents. The Owensboro River-Dawgs, a club team comprised of Kentucky high school and college players were not intimidated by the big leaguers. Although the River- Dawgs were impressive, the Louisville All-Stars took the championship game. Other teams participating in the world series were the Hattiesburg Black Sox and Dubois County Bombers. Make sure to check out Chuck Feist’s interviews with local players from the game.
Steve Thompson is a syndicated writer for the Sporting Times and other web services. He was the one time voice of the radio show “The Sporting Times radio show (5th Region version)” for five years and the Bardstown version for just as long and created the “Sports Fanatics” while covering local sports in the Elizabethtown area and was the play by play voice of Grayson County Sports for several years.
