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Around the Town in the IPA
SAN ALEJO MONTANEROS
Owner: Petro Internationale
GM: Paolo Teixeira
Manager: Matt Bell
San Alejo rests on a large plateau in the highlands of Arvonian Island, which is south of Tycobbia and Ruthlandia and is bordered by the Southern Sea and Belair Bay. Its population is nearly 40,000, making it one of the smallest towns in the IPA.
The initial settlement was founded in the 1850's by remnants of Portuguese sailors that settled Arroyo Grande. They sought the safety of the isolated central highlands. Over the next hundred years the initial group of 42 settlers grew to a modest town of 10,000 inhabitants. They survived predominantly on subsistence farming and hunting. Life was hard in San Alejo.
In 1937, all that changed as a Mexican oil and gas baron, Antonio De Nova, brought commerce and industry to the town. His company, Petro Internationale, discovered natural gas in the area. Instant prosperity came to San Alejo. With their newly-found wealth, the city fathers greatly improved life with modern hospitals and schools. As Petro Internationale grew in size, De Nova had to import oil field workers from Mexico. In 1947, De Nova built the first stadium the town has ever had. He called it the Casa de Beisbol, which was primarily for his plant workers to play baseball and soccer. The Casa de Beisbol is not a fancy stadium. It is on the rustic side and just a functional ball park. Because of the ballpark, baseball became an important part of the town's culture. Only recently were the wooden bleachers rebuilt using steel. This was done when the town received a franchise in the Islandian Pro Alliance.
The team is called the Montaneros, Spanish for "Mountaineers". San Alejo's GM is Paolo Teixeira, star outfielder from 2039 to 2056, 9-time All-Star, with a career .297 BA, 559 homers and 1664 RBIs. Retired in 2056 at age 37. Made the IPA Hall of Fame in 2057 The Montaneros are a member of the Tycobbian Union South Division. The most successful skipper is former player Alberto Herrera, who toiled long and hard on the mound for 17 seasons from 2002 to 2018 with a 203-250 lifetime record. Herrera compiled a fine 3.30 ERA and was a much better pitcher than his won-lost record shows. San Alejo was pretty bad during those years, finishing deep in the second division most seasons. Herrera won 20 games twice in his career and made the All-Star team once. He became the team manager in 2021 and slowly, but surely, the Monties got better. Beginning in 2032 success finally came to town. Remarkably, right out of the blue, San Alejo won its only Pro Cup trophy in 2032. And they won 3 more division flags in the next 5 seasons. And the success continued for two decades. Herrera retired in 2049. The Montaneros were regular contenders for all of those years until 2054 when decline set in. That changed in 2062 when Hall of Fame hurler Matt Bell was named skipper. Bell is number two on the IPA all-time wins list with a 391-225 mark over 19 seasons with a remarkably low 2.42 ERA and is also second on the all-time list with 4819 strikeouts. He was a 3-time recipient of the Tycobbian Golden Arm Award ('45, '47, '49) and 6-time All-Star. Bell retired in 2057 at age 37 and was voted into the Hall of Fame that same season.
Stadium: Casa de Beisbol (1947)
Capacity: 8,000
Dimensions:
Left Field Line - 340
Left Field - 360
Left Center - 380
Center Field - 400
Right Center - 380
Right Field - 360
Right Field Line - 340
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