Reading’s Drabek and Clearwater’s Flande 
selected for Futures Game

Reading, PA -- Rosters for the 11th annual XM All-Star Futures Game were announced today by Major League Baseball. The Phillies will be represented by Reading righty Kyle Drabek and Clearwater lefty Yohan Flande, both starting pitchers. 

The XM All-Star Futures Game features many of the top Minor League prospects in baseball. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m. (EDT)/1:00 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, July 12 and can be viewed live on ESPN2, ESPN2 HD and MLB.TV. XM will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game on XM 175 in addition to its other comprehensive live coverage from St. Louis. Taco Bell All-Star Sunday is the first of three days of All-Star events at Busch Stadium, culminating with the 80th All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14th.

The R-Phils have been represented in four previous Futures Games by former players Pat Burrell (’99), Brett Myers (’01), Gavin Floyd (’04), Gio Gonzalez (’06) and Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald and Greg Golson. Carrasco, Marson, Donald and Golson were all in the game last year at Yankee Stadium.

Former Reading managers Gary Varsho and Greg Legg were each selected as coaches in the Futures Game in 2000 and 2002 respectively. 

Major League Baseball, in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, MLB.com, Baseball America and the 30 Major League Clubs, selected the 25-man rosters for each club, the U.S. Team and the World Team. Each Major League organization is represented and the World Team features players from 11 different countries and territories. Players from all full-season Minor Leagues were eligible to participate.

The XM All-Star Futures Game will last nine innings, and in the event of a tie, a 10th inning will be played. The game will not go longer than 10 innings, regardless of the score. Players and coaches will be outfitted in special XM All-Star Futures Game jerseys and will wear caps of their Major League organization with an XM All-Star Futures Game logo embroidered on the side.

Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith and St. Louis Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo will be the managers in the 2009 XM All-Star Futures Game. Smith, a 15-time All-Star, will lead the U.S. Team while Oquendo, who managed Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, will be at the helm of the World Team.

This story was posted on June 25, 2009