It's in the stars for ex-major leaguers to return to NBC

Nobody with 40-year-old bones wants to play 17 innings of baseball, but the Kansas Stars prevailed.

Not on the scoreboard. They lost to the Hays Larks 9-6 early Saturday morning in a game that lasted five hours and ended just after midnight.

Just getting through 17 innings, though, is a victory for a bunch of guys who once played at the pinnacle of baseball and who, on short notice, came together to try and stoke their smoldering competitive fire by playing five games in seven days.

“I tell you what, nobody here likes losing,” said first baseman Adam LaRoche, one of the Stars’ main organizers who played 12 seasons in the major leagues and hit 255 home runs during a career that ended in spring training this year with the Chicago White Sox. “Our guys didn’t get to the big leagues without being competitive and wanting to win, whether it’s in Wichita, Kansas, or in a big-league stadium. But right now, everybody in that clubhouse is just glad we did this.”

And so are Wichita’s baseball fans and those who have followed the NBC World Series.

There were sellout crowds for the Stars’ first three games in pool play. And although attendance was not as good for their next two games, the team undoubtedly sparked an interest in the tournament that hasn’t been as noticeable for a while.

When it was announced the Stars were putting together a team for the World Series the excitement was immediate. When Roger Clemens, one of the game’s all-time great pitchers, was added to the roster, tickets started to fly.

Then it was announced that former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, 44, was going to play. That didn’t happen because, Jones said, of a contractual obligation.

But LaRoche and former Maize and Wichita State pitcher Nate Robertson, who pitched nine seasons in the big leagues, were determined to make this happen. They reached out to their friends and those friends reached out to others.

And the Stars were able to put together a roster that included enough pitching to get through the tournament but not quite enough in the way of position players. That lack of depth resulted in pitchers Jason Marquis and Brad Penny being used in left field during Friday night’s loss to Hays. Marquis also pitched in the game.

“It’s pretty cool when you have guys who have been retired for a while and they still have that fire to go out there and throw three or four more innings than they’re probably ready for,” LaRoche said. “Guys who had no intention of pitching or playing who go out there and give us a chance to win. These are guys who don’t need this and don’t have to do this but they’re doing it for their teammates.”

Every Stars player I’ve had a chance to talk over the past week has said how much fun they’ve had playing baseball again and how much they’d like to return.

“This is kind of what I envisioned when we decided to try and put this together,” Robertson said. “I saw the stands being full and the city embracing us. I was pretty happy with the way things turned out.”

LaRoche said he expects to get with tournament director Kevin Jenks soon to talk about 2017. If the Stars are back next year – and here’s hoping they are and for years to come – they’ll make sure to take more time to put together a roster and to prepare for playing.

“I already told our whole team that if we lost this tournament they’re not invited back,” LaRoche said. “We’ll have to find a new roster.”

He was joking. But adding and subtracting from a roster of older guys will be inevitable for the Stars and their NBC World Series future.

Evaluating the Stars from a baseball standpoint provides mixed reviews. They didn’t hit as well as I expected but their defense, with a few exceptions, was exemplary. The left side of the infield – Brandon Inge at third base and Jack Wilson at shortstop – was outstanding and Pete Orr did a nice job in the outfield.

“We have to run everything by our guys first,” Robertson said of a possible Stars return. “We have to make sure there are enough guys who want to do it and make sure how they felt about this week. This all came together so fast – we had not even had a full-squad practice two days before our first game. If there’s excitement for doing this, and I think there is, then.…”

The possibilities about future Stars rosters are endless and we should know something about their NBC future soon. Jenks said he plans to reach out to Robertson and LaRoche as quickly as he can.

“You’re talking about us needing just a couple of months to be able to rock and roll,” LaRoche said. “There’s not a doubt in my mind that a bunch of guys will be calling in the next couple of weeks to see what’s happening. Everybody here had so much fun that I can imagine twice as many guys wanting to come on board.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 8:10 PM with the headline "It's in the stars for ex-major leaguers to return to NBC."