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On August 6, 2013 the Northwest League, Short Season Single A league, held its second All-Star game. The first one, in Spokane, WA, had been held in 2004 to celebrate the league's 50th year. The owners of the Everett Aquasox decided that wasn't nearly often enough and 18 months ago approached the league about reintroducing and annual All-Star event. The game was played at Everett Memorial Stadium, built in 1998, seating 3,682, which is the home of the Everett Aquasox. Players came from the eight teams in the league, divided up North--Everett Aquasox, Tri-City Dust Devils, Spokane Indians, and Vancouver Canadians; and South--Boise Hawks, Eugene Emeralds, Hillsboro Hops, and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, with six players from each team. The South Division rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth to take an 8-7 victory. The box score was North R-8, H-7, E-3 and South R-7, H-7, E-2. The field lines are RF-325', CF-395', & LF-335'. There was a Fan Fest in the afternoon and a Home Run Derby starting at 5:30pm. Six players from each division were selected and they had 7 outs. The first round saw a maximum of 4 HRs. The final round winner, Sean Dwyer of the Dust Devils, only had 2 HRs. The main scoreboard is manually operated from behind. The floor of the stands is aluminum, which get noisy when the fans start stomping. The attendance was 3,818 on a cool evening which saw some no-shows. In 2014 the NWL All-Star Game will be in Eugene. The Zooperstars were between innings entertainment. We saw Ichiroach Suzuki and Manatee Ramirez. Bear Bonds and Harry Canary were on the field and later Harry sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". Squidney Crosby ate a pretend umpire, spit out his clothes, and then the umpire, who ran off in his polka-dot shorts. Ida Rush, under her umbrella, sits in the back row, far end of the third base bleachers. She has attended most home Aquasox games and all Openers since 1984. She is knows as Grandma Aquasox. The plaque outside of left field shows where a home-run, landed when Ken Griffey, Jr. playing for Bellingham, had his first professional hit. |
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