[Eugene Church]

Around the Town in the IPA

Claxton Diamonds
Owner: DeBeers Mining Company
GM: Dixie Baker
Manager: Abe Schiffman

Claxton is a company town, a mining town of 107,000 in the southwestern foothills of the Silver Mountains, famous for its very high quality diamond industry. DeBeers, the world's largest diamond company, has a branch in Ruthlandia, where the ultimate diamonds are mined, cut, polished and processed, then distributed to the four corners of the world.

Claxton Diamonds are very much in demand worldwide because of their very fine quality. Gold and silver mining is also a vital part of the town's and Ruthlandia's economy. Claxton is a hardworking, blue collar town, who really love their baseball team, the Claxton Diamonds.

The club is owned by DeBeers and plays their games at gorgeous Avalon Stadium, built by DeBeers as a showcase stadium in 1990, complete with a scenic view of the Silver Mountains. The Avalon Casino is located in center field and is one of the most popular in the Islands. World famous entertainers appear regularly there.

DeBeers sponsors a "Lucky Diamond" sign on the right side of the left field scoreboard. DeBeers starts off each season with diamonds worth $1000 in the pot and increases it by $1000 each game, until someone wins it. Whenever a Claxton batter hits that sign, the player wins whatever is in the Diamond Jackpot and a lucky fan is also a jackpot winner, too. The lucky fan is chosen by the lucky scorecard number. During the fourth-inning stretch it is a Diamonds' tradition for the ladies at the game to sing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend". A diamond is given away at each game to some lucky lady. In the seventh inning everybody joins in for the traditional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". At the concession stands you can feast on hot dogs, hamburgers, cokes, beer, peanuts and crackerjacks.

The Claxton Diamonds are in the Ruthlandian Union and play in the South Division. The first GM and manager was the iconic Stacy Engel, known as "The Old Perfesser". He was the most successful manager in the Islandian amateur and company leagues. Engel was the only one considered for the Claxton job in 2001, the first year of the Islandian Pro Alliance. His amateur success continued in the IPA with 8 division flags. Engel retired in 2029.

Currently the Diamonds are run by general manager Dixie Baker, a star Golden Glove outfielder for the Diamonds from 2001 to 2014. He batted .266 in his 13-year career with 363 homers and over 1100 RBIs. Claxton made the postseason playoffs 5 times in his playing days. Baker also skippered the club for 22 seasons, 2029 to 2051, garnering 6 pennants. He became the GM in 2052 with superstar player Jojo DeLucca taking charge as player-manager.

One of the greatest player in the history of the Islands, DeLucca had a fabulous 24 years in the IPA, batting .303 with 635 homers, 2425 RBIs and scored 2099 runs. The great infielder made the RU All-Stars 15 times, was a 6-time Golden Glover and was named the RU Most Valuable Player in 2045. Delucca retired as a player at age 42 and was inducted into the IPA Hall of Fame in 2061. But, after five straight subpar seasons, DeLucca resigned in 2057... durable and workhorse hurler Abe Schiffman took the helm and he has turned the team around.

Schiffman was 238-177 with a 3.70 ERA for 15 seasons from 2037 to 2051 and helped the Diamonds win 5 pennants. Three times Schiffman paced the Ruthlandian Union in strikeouts.

Avalon Stadium (1990)
Capacity: 10,500

Dimensions:
LF LINE 325
LF 350
LC 390
CF 399
RC 365
RF 355
RF LINE 320