Hello, everyone. Welcome to the IFA Introductions for the class of 2021. This doc is intended to provide a background story for how each of the IFA came to play in the LoC.
DH BiBi Phan, Vietnam, Age 21:
DOB: 4/20/2000
Height: 5' 5"
Weight: 135lbs
Pluses: gets on base as well as anyone in the league; has decent eye for ball and speed
Minuses: has nonexistent power; cannot field to save his life
Background: Originally born as Cong Phuong Phan, the 21 year old from Hanoi, Vietnam is the first IFA to come play for the LoC. Phan first burst onto the stage as a Little League pitcher for the Hanoi U12 baseball team as a 9 year old. That team made their first and only LLWS appearance in 2010, where they gained international prominence through Phan's aggressive demeanor on and off the mound, especially with Phan's penchant to bean opposing batters that didn't give enough respect at the plate. Phan eventually got ejected by the 6th inning of the first game after having beaned the entire opposing lineup. This incident led Phan to make the change to a designated hitter where he could minimize the damage done onto the opposing teams.
He subsequently left his mother nation for Japan in search of better baseball infrastructure in 2012. There he ascended ranks through the regional HS district league and the national Koshien as an excellent contact hitter, and made NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines' Nigun (minor league) squad in 2018 on a 2 year international contract. He slashed a .340/.369/.420 line over 204 plate appearances in the Eastern League (Triple A) in 2019 and was called up to the first team roster in 2020, where he quickly took over as their starting DH by hitting for an incredible .391/.430/.474 slashline over 520 PAs (breaking the previous single season BA record of .389 set by Randy Bass back in 1986) and leading the Marines to a Japan Series appearance. He shockingly missed out on the Rookie of the Year award, where many experts say his raucous and sassy attitude on and off the field made the voters turn away. Phan rejected all negotiations for an extension and now looks to make his mark in the LoC.
Fun tidbit: Phan chose the english name "BiBi" over the original Vietnamese name for better off-field recognition. When asked why that particular name, Phan said he originally wanted a name that repped his talent to make excellent contact, but couldn't find one that suited him. A close friend of his suggested he open up his options a little bit to "getting on base," where Phan subsequently thought of "BiBi" which sounds like "BB" or walks.
RF Pedro Cerreno, Colombia, Age 23:
DOB: 10/27/1998
Height: 6' 9"
Weight: 362 lbs
Strengths: overwhelming power to muscle in runs and hit dingerz.
Weaknesses: strikes out at a very high rate, defense is below average, no speed.
Background: Born in Barranquilla, Colombia, Pedro Cerreno was one of the biggest babies to be born in South America, weighing at 12.3 lbs at birth. He didn't stop growing in both height and weight either, as he measured at nearly 6' and 200lbs as a 13yr old. He loved to play soccer and supported his hometown team of Atletico Junior as a kid, but he was rejected by their Youth Academy for being excessively overweight for the sport, which greatly saddened him. He simply could not give up his love for Arepas sold on local food carts.
He was subject to bullying in his highschool for that same reason. On one fateful day during his sophomore year, Cerreno confronted the bullies hideout with a wooden bat he had found out of the local junkyard, and had destroyed half the place with his powerful swing when someone walking by stopped him and mediated the confrontation himself. He was later revealed to be a legendary coach for the local baseball club, Caimanes de Barranquilla, one of six teams participating in the Colombian Winter League (LCBP). He offered a choice to Cerreno: to live a painful life as an obese ordinary man or to have a shot at becoming a professional baseball player. Cerreno chose the latter.
Cerreno spent the next 2 years learning everything about the beautiful game, from taking up a proper stance to performing eccentric exercises. He found a knack for hitting bombs over the fence, and that landed him a roster spot in the 2017-2018 season, where he slashed .210/.245/.389 and 3 HRs over 38 ABs as a pinch hitter. He showed enough potential to start playing more regularly in the 2018-2019 season, where he had a breakout season that saw him hit .255/.303/.652 witg 18 HRs over 52 games and led the team to their 10th LCBP title. He hit for a .283/.332/.745 with 25 HRs over 59 games in the 2019-2020 season, winning the league MVP. He opted out of the 2020-2021 season to prepare for the LoC IFA posting. He hopes to become a trademark power hitter in LoC and to eventually return back to Barranquilla to coach for Caimanes and look for the next Pedro Cerreno when it's all said and done.
SP Colin 'Short Game' McPherson, Northern Ireland, Age 37:
DOB: 1/9/1984
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 175lbs
Strengths: strikes out batters at a high rate with his changeup; stuff is pretty good overall; big rhythm guy.
Weaknesses: only has stamina to pitch 1 or 2 innings; below average control; injury concerns from his previous career.
Background: The 37 year old hails from Aberdeen, Scotland, and could be the first Scottish player to play in LoC since Tom Waddell in 1984-1987. He was born to a traditionally farming family, whose product was primarily sheep wool. While his parents urged him to continue take up the craft, McPherson was not interested and hoped to make it big as a professional footballer (soccer player) in the English Premier League. McPherson entered the Scottish Premiership's (SPFL) Aberdeen Football Club as a 12 yr old, and made his first appearance as Aberdeen's Under-19 Squad's wide forward in the SPFL Youth League as an 17 yr old, where his strong arms particularly made him useful in throw-ins to generate goal scoring opportunities. He scored 3 goals and assisted 1 in 14 appearances as a semi-regular on the starting 11 that season, and got the call as their starting wide forward for the 2002-2003 season, where he scored 5 goals and assisted 4 in 20 appearances. Aberdeen called up McPherson to their first team squad and subsequently loaned him out to St. Johnstone of the Scottish Second Tier for the 2003-2004 season, where he scored 4 and assisted 2 in 23 appearances as a semi-regular. He went on loan to Falkirk of the Second Tier for the 2004-2005 season and broke out in style, where he scored 13 and assisted 5 in 29 matches to lead their promotion into the SPFL. He was dubbed one of Scotland's bright young players by various media outlets and fans alike, and seemed destined for take off.
However, he tore his ACL in the 2005-2006 preseason with Aberdeen and missed nearly 2 years of football, which massively hampered his development. He made his first appearance in the 2007-2008 season for Aberdeen against Celtic in Matchweek 11, only to tear his left achilles heel and leave him 2 more years without football once more. He announced his retirement from professional football in 2013 after spells at teams in the English 5th and 6th tier didn't go the way he had hoped, and returned to his family's farm and out of the sports world forever, or so it seemed. After it was revealed that he lost his wife to an accident in 2016, which left him and their 4 yr old son to fend for themselves, McPherson let his farm and wallet go decrepit. When his bank account had bottomed out and put him in further despair, McPherson inadvertently saw his son watching a LoC baseball game on their cable in awe of the pitchers and thought "what if I tried out baseball?" He packed up his belongings with his son and sold off the farm to fund a 1 yr stay at Driveline Academy in 2019, where they were particularly interested in transforming him into an "opener," which was becoming increasingly popular at the time. He unlocked a fastball that consistently hit 91-92mph and max out at 94 even at his age, a deadly changeup that clocked in at 83-85mph, and a slider with plenty of movement at 78-80 mph in his time there, which landed him a roster spot with Florence Y'alls of the Frontier League in 2020. He started 25 games and threw for 55 innings as their opener, posting stats of 1.24 ERA, 0.88WHIP, 4.9 H/9, 3.0 BB/9, and 11.1 K/9, which gave him confidence to try out from the LoC and made multiple LoC teams already interested.
When interviewed on why he gave up everything he knew back in Scotland to come play an once-foreign sport to him, he said that he gets his motivation from trying to provide as best of a life as he can to his son, stating that "the life we were living after my wife's death was miserable." When asked about if he misses football, he said that baseball is everything to him now. "Failure isn't an option."