Long Beach Armada
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| Long Beach Armada Founded in 2005 Long Beach, California |
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| Owner(s)/Operated By: Golden Baseball League | |||
| General Manager: Tony Soares | |||
| Manager: Garry Templeton | |||
| Media: Long Beach Press-Telegram | |||
| Website: www.longbeacharmada.com | |||
The Long Beach Armada is a professional baseball team based in Long Beach, California, in the United States. The Armada is a member of the North Division of the independent Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. From the 2005 season to the present, the Armada has played its home games at Blair Field.
The current roster includes three left-handed pitchers who reached the major leagues: Adam Pettyjohn, Alan Newman, and Bud Smith. In July 2006, former major league star José Canseco was traded to the team and played as a designated hitter and pitcher.
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[edit] Team history
The Armada are one of the original eight GBL charter teams that began play in 2005 along with the Chico Outlaws, Fullerton Flyers and San Diego Surf Dawgs in California; Mesa Miners, Surprise Fightin' Falcons and Yuma Scorpions in Arizona and the traveling Japan Samurai Bears. They, along with the Outlaws and Scorpions, remain the only league-owned teams still active as are the Flyers who had been sold in 2007. They began play in May 2005, three years after their predecessors, the Long Beach Breakers folded along with the Western Baseball League. Ironically, former Armada manager Steve Yeager managed the Breakers to the WBL Championship in 2001, that team's inaugural season, beating the Chico Heat 3 games to 2.
On May 28, 2007, Golden Baseball League CEO, Dave Kaval, announced that the Armada's official name had been changed to Long Beach Armada of Los Angeles of California of the United States of North America Including Barrow, Alaska. Kaval explained the change saying, "In order to better reach the larger Armada Nation, we felt compelled to lengthen the name to incorporate all our fans stretching from the warm beaches of Los Angeles to the frigid beaches of the Arctic Circle. Our inspiration was Arte Moreno's brilliant marketing gambit of positioning the Anaheim Angels as an LA team. Being a real Los Angeles county team, we too wanted to extend our reach as far north as possible."[1]
The chances of the Armada playing any actual games in Barrow is unlikely—there is in fact a baseball field there, but the playing surface is all-dirt (due to a lack of grass in Barrow) and the dimensions are only Little League-sized.[1]
Despite the team's name change, they are still referred to in the media and at their home games as the Long Beach Armada.
In 2007, the Armada made it all the way to the GBL Championship Series, only to lose 3 games to 1 to the eventual champions, the Chico Outlaws.
The Armada moved to the North Division in January 2009 to fill the void of the now-defunct Reno Silver Sox and make room for the expansion Tijuana Potros, but return to the South Division when the Potros postponed their campaign due to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico. Shortly afterward, they announced the hiring of new skipper Garry Templeton, who managed the Orange County Flyers for the first three seasons and the AWL's Palm Springs Chill during the 2008 season.
[edit] Notable players
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2009) |
Notable players include former MLB star José Canseco.[2]
MLB Player Brock Smith, who coincidentally engaged in a mid-season fight with Canseco, but have since cleared things up after hosting a charity gala, in which all proceeds went towards anti-doping.
Two former players on the San Francisco Giants were signed on by the Long Beach Armada for the 2008 Season.
In February 2008, The Armada signed Tony Torcato, who has since been traded to the Chico Outlaws.
One month later, in March 2008, the Long Beach Armada signed former Major League Baseball pitcher Jerome Williams.[3]
Former Dodger Jose Lima and ex-Yankee Japanese import Hideki Irabu are currently on the roster.
Outfielder Josh Womack became a web sensation in June 2009 with the video of his "spinning bat trick" and is currently on the roster.
[edit] Season-by-season records
| Season | W | L | Win % | Place | Playoff |
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| 2005 | 49 | 41 | .544 | 3rd, California Division | Wild Card |
| 2006 | 37 | 43 | .463 | 3rd/5th | Did not qualify |
| 2007 | 48 | 28 | .632 | 2nd/1st | Lost in GBL Championship Series, 3-1 |
| 2008 | 47 (19/28) | 40 (19/21) | .540 | 3rd/1st, South Division | Won South Division 2nd Half Title. Lost to Orange County in Division Series. |
- 1 2008 Season in Progress
[edit] References
- ^ Long Beach Armada Changes Official Name
- ^ "Knuckleballer Canseco walks five, hits four in debut". ESPN. August 17, 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2552112. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
- ^ Jerome Williams
[edit] External links
- Long Beach Armada official website
- Long Beach Armada team roster
- Golden Baseball League official website
| Golden Baseball League | |||||
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| North Division | South Division | ||||
| Calgary Vipers | Orange County Flyers | ||||
| Chico Outlaws | St. George RoadRunners | ||||
| Edmonton Capitals | Tijuana Potros | ||||
| Long Beach Armada | Tucson Toros | ||||
| Victoria Seals | Yuma Scorpions | ||||
| Annual events: All-Star Games | |||||
