Archive for month: September, 2024

Magic City Program Changes for Fall Pelota 2024

By Straymar

First an important note is that both Jeden and Manu are not playing at the Friday 1:30-pm performance but are back for the Monday/Tuesday performances, so Ben is subbing for Jeden in games 1 & 2 along with Cabrera subbing for Manu in games 5 & 7.

There are (6) players added to the Pelota roster for fall 2024.  These players are #12 RonRon, #38 Urbieta, #46 Arta, #48 Cabrera, #59 Gallo and #66 Alex.  RonRon played previously at Magic City and is back for both Pelota and Battle Court.  He had an exceptional day at Battle Court last night and was named Player of the Day.

New to fall Pelota is the addition of two more doubles games.  Previous singles games 1 & 2 are now both early doubles games with the following teams:  Note:  I have no information at this time if there is any tournament prize money for the early doubles games.

• Anderluck-Bradley
• Bueno-Tennessee
• Cool Fitness-Kubala
• CRB-Gallo
• Flores-RonRon
• Ikeda-El Barba
• Jeden-Cabrera
• Juice-Arta

Games 5 & 7 are still doubles games and are the Championship Doubles Games.  Here are the teams for the Fall Pelota Championship Doubles Tournament:

• Alex-Urbieta
• Bueno-Nicolas
• Douglas-Manny
• Goixerri-Ben
• Ikeda-Aratz
• Inaki-Julen
• Jairo-Benny
• RonRon-Manu

I’ve assessed the singles games and here are a few noteworthy items:

• Robin is not in any entries for the next three Pelota performances, so I’m assuming he’s currently sidelined with an injury.
• Bueno is not competing in singles games, however, he plays in all four of the doubles games.  Arta is new to Pelota this fall, but it appears he is competing only in the early doubles games.
• Game 3 & 4 singles are still, for the most part, a mid-level singles game.  Players CRB, Jeden and Tennessee are now regulars in those games and look for them to improve against tougher competition.  The following players who competed in spring Pelota games 1 & 2 are no longer slated for singles play, however they do play in both game 1 & 2 doubles:  Cool Fitness, El Barba, Flores and Juice.  New players to the game 3 & 4 singles games are Cabrera and Gallo.
• Games 6 & 8 singles are still the top players at the Magic City Fronton, however, Alex has joined the mix and is listed as a sub for these games on Friday since Manu is out.  I don’t know if he will play any singles games on a regular basis or if the Championship Doubles Games 5 & 7 are his only planned Pelota appearances.

The Jai-ly popular Jai-5 is still listed in the program for game 3, however the Mighty Ocho, the Pick 8 wager, has been dropped from the wagering menu.

In conclusion, handicappers will need to sharpen their pencils with the new teams for four doubles games plus the addition of (6) new players to the Pelota roster.  Note that previously the plan was no changes to Fall Pelota other than Carballo’s retirement, however, there were some late changes made to the Pelota roster.  It’s been no secret that some of the Battle Court players have shown interest in competing at Pelota too and this new plan works out well for Battle Court with Pelota being considered a “warm-up” for Battle Court.