With a team of ex-big leaguers, NBC World Series regulars prepare for new world

Seattle Studs coach Barry Aden heard about the team of former major-league players coming to the National Baseball Congress World Series and immediately changed his goals.

“The first thing that came into my mind was, ‘OK, let’s go for second place.’ That was the first thing in my mind,” Aden said. “We’re going to battle our butts off and try to take second and try to end up playing those guys in the end.”

The Kansas Stars, a team organized by Fort Scott native Adam LaRoche and Wichitan Nate Robertson, both former major-league players on the 25-man roster, will play in the tournament beginning in second-week pool play. The Stars’ first game at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium is 9:30 p.m. Aug. 6.

Twenty-four players, including All-Stars such as Roger Clemens, J.D. Drew, Tim Hudson and Roy Oswalt, played in the big leagues, with only Clemens’ son Koby failing to reach that level.

Most of the players played in the majors this decade — the roster’s average age is 38 – but are past their physical primes, and many of the pitchers’ careers were slowed or ended due to injury.

It remains to be seen how that will affect their performance, but it doesn’t harm the prospect of playing against them, at least for one of the tournament’s most successful teams.

“I think it would be a thrill for us to play against them,” said Santa Barbara coach Bill Pintard, whose Foresters have won five of the last 10 World Series. “If they were in their prime, I’d say forget it. …We’re looking forward to hopefully being able to play them. It would be a thrill for some of our guys to play them.”

That feeling isn’t universal. The thrill of playing against past superstars may always exist, but the process has left something to be desired. The Stars did not have to qualify and were placed into the second week of the tournament, when 16 teams remain and fewer wins are necessary to capture the championship.

The Stars’ entry nullifies the summer-long efforts of one team, 28 players, that would have otherwise qualified – the fundraising just to make it to Wichita, the games in the heat of July that make a difference in league standings. It also removes them from a scouted tournament that could enhance their career prospects.

Pintard also wishes the Stars, who aren’t being paid to play or appear, would donate prize money to other NBC teams, instead of to charity as Robertson promised when the team was announced Sunday.

“The World Series is your goal, to put together a good group of guys and a good team to play your tails off six nights a week in 100-degree weather,” El Dorado Broncos manager Chad Gerwick said. “A chance to win some money and start it towards next year. To see bids go to teams that don’t have to do that, that’s kind of hard to swallow, I think, from this perspective.”

Tournament director Kevin Jenks said the major leaguers’ level of competition and star power were part of the decision to give the team an entry.

“While I don’t live what those (summer teams) go through, I certainly understand as best I can what struggles and challenges they’re faced with on an annual basis,” Jenks said. “Putting a team together and winning is difficult. To be in a position where a team comes in like the Kansas Stars and you scratch your head and say, ‘Wait a minute, how come they don’t have to qualify?’

“I understand where they’re coming from. However, the NBC has always held the stance that we reserve the right to invite a team to the World Series that we feel provides competition and is attractive to fans. It’s a no-brainer as far as what the Kansas Stars are able to do.”

Then there is the opportunity for collegians to say, “I hit against Roger Clemens,” or “I struck out Dan Uggla” that might outweigh the negative feelings some may carry about the Stars’ appearance. There might even be some sneaky ways to beat the Stars, too.

“I’m less concerned with us being able to score runs,” Aden said. “I would guarantee you that in a nine-inning game, we’re bunting 15 times and we’re going to make those old (pitchers) get off the hill and field their spot. We’ll bunt, and the thing about speed is that it never takes a day off.”

Robertson said that, at least when it comes to pitching, the intimidation might lie just in the names – Clemens, Oswalt, Hudson, Brad Penny, Ben Sheets – and not necessarily their current forms.

“I gave up six hits to the Newton Rebels last year,” said Robertson, who pitched in the tournament for an NBC alumni team. “You’re not going to see 95 (mph) from any of these guys, I’m pretty sure.”

“You’re going to get a pretty competitive game. The kid that was throwing against us last year from Newton was out there like it was Game 7 of the World Series. It’s exciting for both teams.”

Aden’s Studs, tournament winners last year and in 2013, and runner-up four times since 2008, can nearly match some of the Stars in age. Aden typically uses veteran players – albeit not former big-leaguers – to supplement a roster of college athletes.

The younger players can theoretically beat the Stars with speed and exuberance, but neither they nor Aden’s veterans – or probably any other player in the tournament – can equal the instincts and mental sharpness that helped the Stars reach the game’s highest level.

“Not a chance,” Aden said. “They’ve been there and they’ve done that and nobody on my team has been there and done that. I don’t have a single player that’s played in the major leagues. If you’ve never done it, then you don’t know what it takes.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "With a team of ex-big leaguers, NBC World Series regulars prepare for new world."