Prospect Spotlight: Super Sampson

Super Sampson, 22, CF/OF Sand Cats

To say James “Super” Sampson, son of Olympic silver medalist sprinter Jana Sampson and Olympic bronze speed skater Tim Sampson, was almost bred for professional sports is a bit of an understatement. In high school he shattered relay and pole vault records in his state of Florida, bringing the national spotlight to Niceville as a star in 4 sports: a wide receiver in football, striker in soccer, a center fielder in baseball, and (obviously) several events in track and field. While significantly more raw in baseball, his college recruitment was publicized far and wide as he ranked in the top 10 nationally for all of his other sports.After verbally committing to the Space Force Academy in Cape Canaveral with a promise of starting in football and soccer, he ultimately flipped to Blue Ridge University on Signing Day when they allowed him to pursue all four of his sports.

His impact was felt across each of them immediately. By the mid-point of football season, he led the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns as well as interceptions after he “picked up” the cornerback position in practice one day. He maintained the first two, but after having to miss two games due to “extreme exhaustion,” Coach Gomez limited him to just 3 defensive drives per game where he caught 3 more interceptions and returned 2 for touchdowns. Soccer was Sampson’s newest pickup, but he seemed a natural fit for the pitch. Wary teams immediately respected his speed, cutting him off before he could get into open space and face the goalkeeper one on one, however this left Junior Midfielder DeAndre Ender Jr, wide open for a quick pass and easy goals. Sampson finished 2nd in the league with 25 assists and 10th in goals scored (12). In Track and Field, Sampson broke 100m and 200m records in addition to 4x100 relay with senior Tay Bolter and baseball teammates Ryan Hernandez and Makani Rago.

Despite this success elsewhere, Sampson always claimed that baseball was his favorite sport as he claimed it challenged him the most, playing CF while also learning to be a closing pitcher. His large personality initially carried over well into this sport as Blue Ridge University set new school records for overall game attendance and average attendance over the course of his freshman year. Sampson’s power never really was too much of a problem for defenses, but that was not how he established himself. Sampson championed the “small-ball” approach, focusing on making contact with the ball via swing or bunt and then using his blazing speed to turn a single into a double or, as Arizona A&M witnessed twice in one game, a double into an inside-the-park home run.

One of his most notable highlights (and lowlights) is from a game against arch-rival Tennessee University Wolfpack. After ‘Pack LF Tigg Tantrum drew a walk, 2B Darnell Reeves smoked a line drive into the CF-RF gap just beyond the diving glove of Sampson. Waving off Stephanie Diaz the right fielder, he grabbed the ball at the warning track and hurled it to home plate where the catcher nonchalantly slid his glove two inches to the left to tag out a sliding Tantrum to end the 6th inning. The two could be seen bantering back and forth as they went to their respective dugouts. When Sampson strolled onto the bump to close out the game, he intentionally plunked Tantrum with a mid-90s fastball to the ribs. A frustrated Tantrum took exception, dropped his bat, and charged the mound. Both players got in a pair of decent punches before their managers pulled them apart. Tantrum walked away with two fractured ribs (likely from the beanball), and Sampson suffered a concussion from Tigg's massive right hook. Both players were subsequently suspended for the rest of the regular and postseason (15 games for each as neither team made the playoffs). After posting a video blasting BRU athletics and the NCBB Commission’s decision to suspend them (the now-infamous “lett boys be boys” video) to social media, Sampson was suspended from all National Collegiate Athletics-sanctioned organizations indefinitely. Sampson was later dismissed completely from Blue Ridge University for an alleged violation of academic integrity during a "take-home" final exam. Sampson later transferred to Tampa Bay University where he played club baseball and earned a degree in Microeconomics. Statistics from his time there were not made available.

When the Super Mega League announced they were expanding, Super Sampson immediately hired an agent to get a tryout with any team he could. At that point, concerns about his character on and off the field were raised once more, and initially no team brought him in for an interview. After discussions with CF Willy Bacon of the Platypi fell through, the Sand Cats contacted his agent and scheduled a tryout and signed him two days later with the explicit stipulation that any misconduct on or off-the-field will be in violation of his contract and that the Sand Cats would then be allowed to release him. As we’ve seen by now on his social media, Sampson signed the paper with a massive smile, stating that “Angels are gon’ be jealous.”

Based on the tryout, Sampson is still a very capable defender bordering on elite when you combine his still-blazing speed. While his power won’t scare pitchers, he’s got a quick bat and is not afraid to stretch plays into additional bases. Early batting practices show that he still has a ways to go when it comes to plate discipline. His time playing club baseball did not seem to diminish his talent, in fact magnifying his flair for the dramatic as he was seen “fancifying” his diving/sliding catches as well as catching a ball whilst doing a cartwheel based on his Instraframe and Fritter videos. He still has quite the following which for a new franchise can be a difference-maker and brought the Sand Cats social media presence to the forefront of the four new teams (and several of the established franchises).

One of the more interesting storylines to keep an eye on is his relationship with Tigg Tantrum. Considering their history from a few years ago and continued social media rivalry, they now join the same professional baseball team and may be competing for the same spot. As the Sand Cats drafted RF Marsha Brown in the expansion draft and signed CF Dolf Steak during the Free Agency period, Sand Cats Manger Monica “Mojave” Sanders has a decision to make in the outfield. As we've seen on several occasions, Steak is a viable option in left, however he "...much prefers [his] freedom," so depending on what she sees during these final pre-season practices, Sampson could be playing his native position or duking it out with his hated rival.

Prospect Spotlight: Ace von Acesson

Ace von Acesson, 22, P Platypi



1.05 ERA. 139 K’s. 2 No-Hitters. Undefeated starter. SML champion and Super Mega Series MVP. There’s a long list of titles appended to Austin “Ace” von Acesson, and Ace is only 22. That means all of those titles were earned when he was only 21 in his first year in the SML. Of those who have earned their nickname (aside from “Hammer” Longballo), Ace is on the list.

Ace has been in a league of his own since his little league days where his team out of Phoenix, Arizona won the Miniature League Worldwide Championship when he was 15. In attendance of those games was Roberto Valdez, Athletic Director at Carson State University in Arizona. Within a week of their victory, Ace had a full-ride scholarship to a Tier I university. After claiming a pair of high school national championships during his junior and senior seasons and more scholarships from schools all over the nation, Ace stayed close to home and attended the school that wanted him first. After redshirting his freshman year, his journey almost wrote itself. In two years as a starter, Ace had a 0.74 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 300+ K’s. 7 No-hitters on top of 2 perfect games. During that redshirted year, he took 8 credit hours during the summer and 20 hours during the fall and spring semesters, garnering a 4.0. In just three years, Ace graduated from one of the top universities in the nation in academics and sports with a degree in Computer Science (and a Psychology minor thrown in to keep him at the school a full three years) with a cumulative 4.0. It appeared as if this man could do no wrong.

That sentiment carried into his rookie season with the Platypi as an instant SP 1 in a middling rotation and helped elevate them to the Super Mega Series Pennant, and as I mentioned above, Ace rose to the occasion. Looking at his arsenal, one wouldn’t expect his types of numbers: a mid-90s 4-seam and low-90s 2-seam combined with a slider, curveball, and changeup. His accuracy at the corners is far better than average, but he doesn’t snipe them like former Moonstar, now Heater, Elmo Slayer. Instead, every one of his pitches appears to break in some fashion. Hammer Longballo has even claimed that his 4-seamer rises a few centimeters close to the plate, “...Which is why all we get is nothing but air...with or without contact…”

Now comes the real test: sustaining this success. Pressure to continue this high level of performance is increasing exponentially, especially with someone with as illustrious track record as Ace. Whether he wanted it or not (likely the former), the magnifying glass is now on the Platypi as they are, yet again, in a position to make another run at the Pennant and beyond. The other 19 teams have film on him, and are no doubt praying for as long as possible to gameplan for him, find the heel of this young Achilles.

Prospect Spotlight: Elmo Slayer

Elmo Slayer, 24, P Heaters


Who could have predicted the rise of Elmo Slayer? If you ask around the league, everyone would tell you the same thing: “I saw this two years ago.” Two years ago, Slayer was the 3rd and final starting pitcher who signed with the Moonstars during the inaugural Super Mega League season. The only people who can definitively say they foresaw his rise to stardom were his college coaches “Strike” Rodriguez and softball turned baseball star Alisha Woodrow. A blue chip high school pitcher from Boston, Slayer in college was a consistent pitcher, but his numbers never really astounded anybody. Posting an ERA between 3.3 and 3.5 and a 1.5 K/BB ratio each of his four seasons as the starting pitcher at the University of the Dakotas, he was not a highly sought after prospect for a fledgling league, but with the combined persuasion of Rodriguez and Woodrow, Slayer got his shot.

His first season was rather forgettable. After a very tough first three starts where his ERA stabilized around 11.34, he improved drastically over the season, dropping radically to 2.85 by the end of the season. With a K/9 of only 3.2 and a WHIP of 2.4, there was room for improvement, but Woodrow's mentorship of the young pitcher was working.

This upward trend continued into the 2019 campaign, remaining consistently in the conversation for an Ace pitching job at the end of the season as he posted a 1.56 ERA (2nd in league) and 117 K’s (4th) in 103.2 innings of work. In an interview with SMB Insider Darrel Clinton, Slayer attributed his success to the aforementioned training alongside Woodrow in addition to an unnamed private trainer he hired between his first and second years. When asked about the new life he put on the ball, Slayer also admitted part of his early struggles were due to re-aggravating an elbow injury from high school when he took a line drive to his throwing elbow. “I didn't think much of it back then...” Slayer pointed to himself on the TV during his windup during a game against the Blowfish. "But you can see me wince right there on the mound. I tried to play it off like I was fixing my belt, but my arm was on fire..." After minor surgery on that elbow, he was throwing flames like in his high school days.

As we all know by now, not all of the good lasted. The Moonstars entered the playoffs as a 4 seed against the 1 seed Blowfish. After an offensive explosion and subsequent defensive implosion by Woodrow and the Moonstars in Game 1, scrutiny was immediately placed on the ‘Stars’ decision to keep Woodrow as the ace despite Slayer’s dominance. Scrutiny that followed the Woodrow-Slayer romance home as the two were seen bickering in the bullpen during Game 2. With the series tied, Slayer took his position on the bump, holding the Blowfish to just 2 hits until the 6th inning when he took a hot grounder to the leg after walking a batter. Slayer stayed out, declining C Lars Stadkleef’s request for a reliever. His first pitch was a slider than hung over the middle and was jacked to deep center field, giving the Blowfish a 2-1 lead. Reliever Bert Bergerer was immediately subbed in, but the damage was done. The ‘Stars lost the game 7-1 and the series in 6 games.

Tempers between Slayer and Woodrow flared, and unconfirmed reports say that Slayer spent that night in the bullpen. With speculation that the Moonstars brass was looking to move either Woodrow or Slayer, speculation began to build over which one was be the ace for the 2020 season, and the breakup appeared to accelerate the process. As an established Ace, Woodrow made it clear that this was her team and that she didn’t desire to go anywhere. Media the next day found a clearly heartbroken Slayer packing his belongings the next day.

Cue Inside the Zone, the SML Network’s program focusing on the top Free Agents and incoming rookies similar to HBO’s Hard Knocks. Slayer’s journey from nearly quitting the sport he loved to reinventing himself as a pitcher to one of the top free agents in the SML stole the hearts and minds of the public. When the Commissioner announced the 4 new expansion teams, Heaters GM Ferris “Forge” Irons made it abundantly clear he wanted to establish a “‘Big Three’ pitching staff that would set the SML on fire” during their first year. In true Slayer fashion, he signed the dotted line the very next day for $17.9 Million annually. He joined Bishop Fuller who declared himself eligible from the Crocodons for the expansion draft where the Heaters selected him with their first pick. Derr Neverwocker signed 4 days later, completing Irons’ “Big Three” at the expense of a hefty amount of cap space.

As we are now well-within a month of SML’s 2020 Opening Day (May 13th), there’s been much talk of the “healthy competition” between presumed-ace Elmo Slayer and Bishop Fuller as the pair have posted a series of videos on Instaframe doing various pitching “trick shots” in the bullpen. Fuller is clearly ace material on any other team, and with two strong A-type personalities going head to head, how long will it be before this “friendly competition” becomes a little more heated?

Between the budding Moonstars-Heaters rivalry (other members of the Moonstars staff were poached by Forge Irons, including hitting coach Jermaine Leighner and assistant coach Mair Anders) and the Boom or Bust structure of this Heaters roster, Slayer and the Heaters will be a team to watch.