Marauder Mad Libs

Ladies and Gentlemen…Welcome to the first edition of MARAUDER MAD LIBS!  It’s the game where Bradenton’s baseball stars fill in the blanks with the bests of the Florida State League.  Here’s your host…Arthur Wedgewood!!! {Applause}

{Cue theme music…open curtain}

“Thank you….thank you…thank you…stop it…cut it out…you’re all too kind….Welcome again to Marauder Mad Libs.  Let’s meet the contestants…

First…He’s an outfielder from Oklahoma, please welcome Austin McClune!!! {Applause}

Second…He’s a pitcher from Kentucky…Nathan Adcock!!! {Applause}

Please welcome two catchers Eric Fryer and James Skelton!!! {Applause}

And finally a hand for a dynamic duo of outfielders…Robbie Grossman and the ‘Double-Duce’ Quincy Latimore!!! {Applause}

So here’s how the game works…I’ll throw out a topic…you fill in the blank…First on the board {sound effect}…Ah…The best thing about the FSL is _____.

Austin: “Travel, for sure.  The furthest trip is roughly three hours.  In the Sally league we had 10 hour bus rides from Hickory to Lake County.”

Nathan: “Heat.  No I hate the heat.  It’s the travel.  Three hours is the most we travel.  I played in the Midwest League were some trips were seven or 11 hours.”

Eric: “The ballparks.  Most ballparks are pretty good.  The fields are immaculate and most of the time they’re just spring training sites for teams.”

James: “I like the rain, so I would say rainouts.  I wouldn’t call it an extra day off, but sometimes you just need one night off.”

Quincy: “HOT.  No the travel.  I love the three hour max I think.”

Now Quincy, follow up question.  How is it traveling for the commuter games?

Quincy: “That’s fine.  An hour at the most, that’s not bad.  I would love to stay everywhere if we could, but definitely the travel is great coming from the South Atlantic League last year having a nine hour bus ride.  It would seem like you never get there.”

Okay…second topic…{sound effect}…The best name in the FSL is _____.

Austin: “Stonecrabs.  “It’s a little bit different.  A little more original.”

Nathan: “Marauders.  I like it because it’s something new.  It’s something different.”

Eric: “Threshers.  It’s the first name that came to mind.  It’s the most creative right there.”

{Sound effect} Oh wow…that sound means it’s time for the “FACT OF THE ROUND” {echoing voice}.  Often mistaken for the Thrashers, the name is indeed Threshers.  The team was renamed and rebranded from the Clearwater Phillies upon the opening of the new Bright House Field in 2004.  Mike Schmidt was the team’s first manager.  A Thresher is a type of shark with a long tail that is sometimes as long as the rest of its body.  The tail is used as a stunning weapon to attack prey.  Quincy, you’re up…

Quincy: “Flying Tigers.  I think that’s pretty funny…or the Brevard County Manatees.  Either one of those.

Robbie: “Lakeland Flying Tigers.  They’ve got pretty sweet hats.”

Alright team…Question number three.  Many of you talked about the travel in the league.  The topic is twofold…The Best Roadtrip in the FSL is _____ or The Best Ballpark in the FSL is_____.

Robbie: “Tampa — playing where the Yankees big league team plays.”

Quincy: “Clearwater.  Great crowd, great field, one of the newest stadiums in the league – that’s why.” 

{Production Note} Quincy also likes Daytona Beach…Altoona Curve player Josh Harrison (a former Cub) highly recommended the atmosphere.

Eric: “McKechnie Field.  The home crowd’s amazing.”

James: “Daytona Beach.  The hotel is on the beach.  I like to even out my sun tans.  I’ve told a few guys [about the trip – James played in the FSL in 2008].  They’ve got this putt-putt area down the street.  They draw good crowds.  It’s got to be top three in the league.

Nathan: “Palm Beach or Jupiter is the nicest park.  I like that park a lot.  It’s real nice.  It’s well kept, has a nice playing surface.  Not a lot of fans but it’s still a nice place to play.”

Austin: “Clearwater.  We swept them and it’s a sweet place to play.  There are a lot of fans.”

Alright guys…we’re almost home.  Question for the catchers and the base stealers…The hardest guy to run on is_____.  The second part is…The hardest guy to throw out is_____.”

James: “Melky Mesa (Tampa_.  He just seems like he gets good jumps.”

{Production note} Melky Mesa has one of only six stolen bases against James this year.

Eric: “Anthony Gose (Clearwater).  He steals a lot so he gets a lot of stolen bases.  He gets good jumps and he goes every time.”

Robbie: “A lot of relievers because they’re all quick to the plate.”

Qunicy: “Frank Gailey (Dunedin).  He was…man.  We were talking about at the plate you can’t even get ready to hit he was so quick to the plate.” 

Alright boys we’ve reached the FINAL ROUND {echoing voice}.  The winner gets 3,000 points.  Actually the points matter less than on “Who’s Line is it Anyway.”  So to the winner goes 4,432 points.  Mad Lib is…{drum roll}…The best pitcher or batter you’ve seen in the FSL is _____.

Austin: “Zach Quate (Charlotte).  He’s got a nasty slider.  It starts off at you.  He’s got a fastball at 90+ MPH it just keeps you honest.

Melky Mesa.  He hits the ball to all fields and he hits for power.”

Nathan: “The Corban Joseph (Tampa) kid was a pretty tough out.  He’s just real scrappy.  He fouls a lot of pitches and makes you throw a lot of pitches which I don’t like.

Chris Archer (Daytona).  I thought he was pretty impressive.  Him and the Moore kid from Port Charlotte, especially with how young he is (20) and how he’s doing in the league.”

James: “Jonathon Ortiz (Tampa).  He’s got a nasty changeup.”

Quincy: “Henderson Alvarez (Dunedin).  I faced him in the All-Star Game.  Out of the pitchers I faced he came at me with three pitches.  He threw me his changeup for a strike his slider for a strike and he threw about a 95 MPH fastball up that I chased and I was like ‘wow this dude’s pretty decent.'”

Robbie: “Matt Moore (Charlotte).  He’s a good lefty.  You don’t see too many of those guys that throw hard and throw more than one pitch for a strike.”

Stefan Welch (St. Lucie).  He always has a good approach.  He didn’t try to do too much.  He just did with what he was pitched with.”

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Alright everybody!  That concludes today’s game.  Thanks for playing…We’ll see you next time right here on Marauder Mad Libs! {Appluase} {Roll credits}