[JayW UK]

Interlude – Player Profiles

Larry de Meza
College – N/A
Drafted – N/A – 2014 International discovery by Atlanta Flames
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – ATL (2020-2026), TB (2027-2032), SEA (2033), TB (2034), DAL (2035)

Discovered as a sixteen-year-old playing in the Dutch Antilles, Larry de Meza was coveted by several teams but ended up choosing to join Atlanta’s international set up. After three years learning his trade, de Meza was assigned to the Tuscaloosa Trojans (the Flames Rookie league affiliate) where an impressive debut season (10-2, 1.61 ERA) caught the eye, steady progress through the Flames farm system resulted in de Meza earning a spot on Atlanta’s opening day roster for the 2020 season. He worked exclusively out of the bullpen turning in a respectable (1-5, 2.81 ERA, 14 SV) rookie campaign before earning a place in the Flames rotation the following season. Steady improvement from de Meza saw him form a strong partnership with staff ace Vince Little with the pair instrumental in Atlanta’s run to the World Series in 2023. A fantastic 2024 campaign in which de Meza earned the EL pitching triple-crown resulted in him winning the EL Outstanding Pitcher Award, a second award arrived after the 2025 season and the following year de Meza made history as the first pitcher to record 300+ strikeouts in consecutive seasons. With his contract up and Atlanta showing little sign of being able to mount a serious challenge for postseason honours de Meza hit the open market, eventually landing with Tampa Bay on a lucrative 6-year $146M deal. A solid debut campaign in Tampa (in which de Meza narrowly missed the 300K plateau for the third consecutive season) was followed by an even better one in which he claimed his third Outstanding Pitcher Award and reached 300K’s for the third time in four years (between 2025-28 de Meza struck out 1250 opponents while only walking 203 for an incredible 6.1 K/BB Ratio). For the next three years de Meza toiled away fruitlessly as the Hurricanes missed the postseason and even when in 2032 Tampa Bay finally made a run, the season ended in bittersweet fashion for de Meza. Although de Meza collected his second pitching triple-crown (becoming the first player in NABL history to do so) and earned his fourth Outstanding Pitcher Award, he missed the playoff run and ended the season on the DL with a torn UCL (the first major injury of his career). After being released by Tampa Bay and spending 11-months rehabbing after surgery, de Meza signed with Seattle, but his brief stint in the Pacific northwest (0-2, 5.84 ERA) was a disaster prompting de Meza to announce his retirement from playing. His self-imposed exile lasted only a couple of months, as Tampa Bay came calling and lured him out of retirement for 2034, but a frustrating (9-5, 4.76 ERA) injury riddled campaign in which de Meza transitioned from starter to reliever, once again led to his exit. After being released from Tampa Bay de Meza, now 37-years-old, was once again contemplating retirement until Dallas reached out and signed the veteran to a one-year deal. Pitching out of the bullpen de Meza proved to be an important cog as Dallas made a run all the way to the World Series, eventually falling in seven games to Charlotte. Once again out of contract after being released and facing an uncertain future, 38-year-old Larry de Meza chose to call time on his career rather than continue to chase his dream of a World Series ring. Larry de Meza retires as the all-time leader in strikeouts and has the distinction of being the only pitcher to have two pitching triple-crowns on his resume, the only thing de Meza did not manage to achieve was a World Series victory, featuring on the losing side twice during his career (2023 with Atlanta and 2035 with Dallas).

Career Stats
Regular Season
G - 565 GS - 437 W/L – 197-144 SV - 15 ERA – 3.31 IP – 3148.1 BB - 710 K - 3696 WHIP – 1.07 ERA+ 123 WAR – 86.7
Post Season
G - 20 GS - 11 W/L – 4-1 SV - 0 ERA – 2.31 IP – 85.2 BB - 10 K - 107 WHIP – 0.86 ERA+ 302

Career Achievements
Outstanding Pitcher Award x4 (2024, 2025, 2028, 2032)
Pitching Triple Crown x2 (2024, 2032)
4-time All-Star

Marc “Presto” Birstall
College – N/A High School
Drafted – 2018 – 1st Round - #14 Overall by Houston Stars
Current Team – None (Retired)
Previous Teams – HOU (2020-2029), LV (2030-2035)

As an eighteen-year-old pitching phenom, Marc Birstall declared for the 2018 draft as soon as he graduated from High-School. Claimed with the fourteenth pick by Houston, Birstall was slow to adapt to the professional game, through his first two years he pitched to an 8-10, 3.73 ERA record in 34 games at both Rookie League and Short Season A level. However, by his third season (2020) the light had come on, splitting time between AA and AAA Birstall started 29-games and recorded a stellar 16-3, 2.19 ERA record and worked his way to the top of BNN’s prospect list. On the back of his excellent 2020 campaign Birstall earned a spot on Houston’s opening day roster for the 2021 season and proceeded to take the league by storm with his play, producing a stunning rookie campaign (16-2, 1.81 ERA + 250K) earning an All-Star nod and winning WL Rookie-of-the-Year. A solid sophomore season was followed up by a superb near triple-crown season (he finished 8-strikeouts shy of Pedro Escobar for the WL lead), resulting in Birstall being named WL Pitcher-of-the-Year. The following four years saw Birstall firmly establish himself as one of the premier pitchers in the NABL (52-24, 2.35 ERA in 133 starts with a phenomenal 10/1 K/BB ratio). However, over the next two seasons Birstall took his play to another level, producing the most dominant spell of pitching in league history (65G, 36-11, 1.56 ERA, 60BB/576k) collecting the 2028 Outstanding Pitcher Award and finishing as runner-up the following season. At the conclusion of the 2029 season Birstall announced that he would be testing Free Agency after nine seasons in Houston where even with Birstall’s superior play, the Stars had only managed four playoff appearances during that span (being eliminated at the first hurdle in three of them). Courted by a host of teams Birstall eventually chose Las Vegas, signing a lucrative six-year deal, but before could throw a pitch in anger for his new team, disaster struck, during spring training Birstall tore his UCL, an injury that saw him miss the entire 2030 season. After surgery and a gruelling rehab, Birstall returned to the mound for the 2031 season, although he was not as dominating as he had been before his injury he still pitched well enough to earn his tenth All-Star nod and helped the Gamblers reach the World Series where they fell to Indianapolis in seven games. The next two seasons were frustrating for Birstall as his play remained above average (garnering him another All-Star appearance) but both campaigns ended with Las Vegas falling in the postseason. A shoulder injury limited Birstall to just 17 games in 2034 and although he returned to the mound in 2035 injuries had caught up with the once dominant hurler as he produced a disappointing (6-6, 4.10 ERA) campaign before the injury bug bit him again and he ended the season on the DL. With his contract expiring and facing another gruelling rehab on his shoulder, Marc Birstall announced his retirement from the game of baseball. The two-time Pitcher-of-the-year enjoyed a 15-year career in which for a large proportion of it, he was one of the best pitchers in the game, (earning All-Star nods in eleven of his first twelve seasons, only missing out in 2030 due to injury) never losing more than eight games in a season and, apart from his final two years, also winning at least twelve games every year.

Career Stats
Regular Season
G – 464 GS - 410 W/L – 183-78 SV – 4 ERA – 2.20 IP – 2566.1 BB - 489 K – 3142 WHIP – 0.91 ERA+ 182 WAR – 106.2
Post Season
G - 17 GS - 17 W/L 6-4 SV - 0 ERA – 2.51 IP – 100.1 BB - 28 K - 110 WHIP – 0.95 ERA+ 207

Career Achievements
Outstanding Pitcher Award x2 (2023, 2028)
Rookie of the Year Award (2021)
Pitching Triple Crown (2028)
11-time All-Star