Bubba Watson Announces 2017 All-Star Game from Olympics

 

PENSACOLA, Fla., - While at the Olympic Games in Rio, team co-owner Bubba Watson announced that the Pensacola Blue Wahoos will host the Southern League All-Star Game in 2017.

"As co-owner of the Blue Wahoos, I am pleased to announce the Southern League has picked Pensacola to host the All-Star game next year," said co-owner Bubba Watson to the entire Blue Wahoos Stadium. "(We) cannot wait to have all the fans from around the league show up and see our great fan experience and enjoy Pensacola hospitality."

The announcement of this special event took place during Saturday's game. Believed to be the first time in history an Olympian from the Olympic Games took time to announce the site of an all-star game, Watson made the announcement between rounds from Rio.

Voted the best Double-A ballpark by Ballpark Digest, Blue Wahoos Stadium will host the Southern League's premier event of the year. Top prospects and players will descend upon Pensacola along with team executives, scouts and media from around the nation. Specific events surrounding the festivity will be announced at a later date.

"The Southern League is proud to announce its All-Star Game's first appearance in Pensacola in 2017," said Southern League President Lori Webb. "The Blue Wahoos ownership and staff will showcase our All-Stars in an exciting game, plus offer many other fun events that will delight all our great fans."

The Southern League All-Star game is the highlight to the league's three-day all-star break. All-Star game festivities will be on Monday, June 19 and Tuesday, June 20.

Notable former Southern League All-Stars include Carl Crawford (2001), Matt Holliday (2002), Jake Peavy (2002), Adam Wainwright (2003), Prince Fielder (2004), Joey Votto (2006), Todd Frazier (2009), Joc Pederson (2013), Kris Bryant (2014) and Dansby Swanson (2016).

Notable Blue Wahoos All-Stars include Didi Gregorius (2012), Ryan LaMarre (2012), Michael Lorenzen (2014), Robert Stephenson (2014-2015), Ray Chang (2015), Tim Adleman (2015), Phillip Ervin (2016 and Alejandro Chacin (2016).

This marks the first professional all-star game in the city of Pensacola in 55 years. The last professional all-star game in Pensacola was the summer of 1962 when the Pensacola Senators, an affiliation of the Washington Senators, hosted the Alabama-Florida League All-Star Game at Admiral Mason Ballpark.

Season tickets for the 2017 schedule are available now by contacting the box office at (850) 934-8444. Fans can guarantee their All-Star game ticket by purchasing or renewing a full season ticket plan.

Celebrate five seasons of baseball in 2016! Enjoy Pensacola's beautiful Blue Wahoos Stadium as a group by contacting the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at (850) 934-8444. Follow the team at BlueWahoos.com, facebook.com/PensacolaBlueWahoos and twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall.

--www.bluewahoos.com--