Sporting their custom-made camouflage uniforms, the U.S. Military All-Stars traveling baseball team made an appearance in Tallahassee to take on the Florida Legends, a summer team made up of players who either just finished or are about to start their first year in college. the Legends won 8-7.
The Military All-Stars are composed of members of all branches of the military, most of whom played collegiate baseball at some level. The team is traveling across the country on its Red, White and Blue Tour of America and most recently played in Chicago before making the trip south.
After spending Tuesday in Tallahassee the All-Stars will spend the Fourth of July weekend traveling through central Florida to play against teams from the Florida Summer League.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Terry Allvord founded the Military All-Star team in 1990, and now more than 30 military programs in all services around the world support teams. The Red, White and Blue Tour of America is the most popular summer baseball exhibition in the world, attracting over 25 million people annually.
"It's an honor for everybody to do it, and it's been an honor for me to lead it," Allvord said. "It's just a great opportunity for all these guys. I think the guys did well out there."
Allvord was struck by the reception his team received before and throughout the game.
"It was a great reception, the standing ovation before the game was awesome," he said. "We've come to expect that coming to Florida and that's why we chose to come here."
The All-Stars each dug into their own pockets to finance their trips across America, denying government funding to assure the funds go to the appropriate places for those serving overseas. The All-Stars make more than 300 appearances a year.
More than 200 fans saw a competitive game, one that ended in an 8-7 win for the Legends, but more importantly they had a chance to salute and pay tribute to not just the players on the field, but all American troops stationed around the world.
Legends manager Mike Troelstrup knows the experience was one he won't soon forget.
"At the beginning of the game, it was electric. I don't know any other way to describe it," he said. "The words that were spoken about our country, I mean, it was gut-wrenching and emotional. It was nice to see the crowd come out and show support like that."
Troelstrup said he was humbled when joking around with a member from the All-Stars. When he mentioned how hard it must be to have players come and go from the team, the camo-clad player said: "It's better than dodging bullets."
The Legends opened the scoring in the third with a little help from All-Stars pitcher Marine Sgt. Isaac Rodriguez who hit back-to-back batters before two All-Stars errors led to three runs. The Legends scored three more times to take a 6-0 lead after five.
After recording just one hit in the first five innings, the All-Stars scored seven runs over the next two innings to draw within 8-7 after seven innings of the nine-inning exhibition. The Legends held on from there to take the win.