Manager Rick Sweet to Manage IL All-Stars
Lehr has been selected to the IL Team after being acquired from Philadelphia in a cash trade May 23. In eight games and seven starts with Louisville, Lehr is 6-0 with a 1.88 ERA. Between Lehigh Valley and Louisville, Lehr is a combined 11-2 with a 3.30 ERA. His 11 wins are tied for the most victories in Minor League Baseball and Lehr's win total leads all of Triple-A. In 2007, Lehr started for the PCL Team in the Triple-A All-Star Game while a member of the Tacoma Rainiers.
After posting a .271 average through his first 67 games, Stubbs has been elected to the IL Team in his first full season in Triple-A. He is second in the IL with 28 stolen bases and is tied for fourth with 19 doubles. Stubbs leads the Bats in hits (68), doubles (19), at-bats (251) and stolen bases (28). He is tied for first in games played (67) and is second in runs (30).
Manager Rick Sweet was named the IL All-Star Team's manager after leading the Bats to an 88-56 record and an IL West Division Title in 2008. Sweet, the IL's Manager of the Year last year, spent three seasons (2000-03) as manager of the Portland Beavers and guided them to 212-219 record. Former RiverBat Manager (and current Norfolk skipper) Gary Allenson (1998-99) will serve as Sweet's bench coach and will be joined by Buffalo Pitching Coach Ken Oberkfell.
The 2009 International League All-Star squad is made up of 13 elected players who have received the most votes from ballots submitted by clubs' field managers and general managers (1/3), members of the media (1/3) and online fan voting (1/3). The elected players are joined by 15 additional All-Stars selected by the International League office. Each of the IL's 14 clubs will be represented in Portland.
The Triple-A All-Star Game will be broadcast nationally both on television by ESPN2, and radio by Westwood One Radio Network. ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst and former MLB All-Star Eric Young will join play-by-play commentator Rich Burk in the booth and John Manuel will report from the field. Burk has been Portland's radio and television play-by-play announcer since they returned to the PCL in 2001. On the radio, Portland's Tim Haggerty and Josh Whetzel of the Rochester Red Wings will broadcast live on Westwood One Radio Network.
Hosted by the Louisville Bats in 2008, the IL looks to rebound from a disappointing 6-5 loss in last year's All-Star Game. The PCL now owns a 6-5 advantage in the 11 years since the ASG changed to the current IL vs. PCL format. The winning League this season will once again earn the right to have its champion play as the "home team" at the Bricktown Showdown Triple-A Championship Game in Oklahoma City this September.