Trash Pandas to play in their first pre-season exhibition game at Toyota Field next week
MADISON – The Rocket City Trash Pandas 2026 team will arrive in North Alabama within the week and will play its first pre-season exhibition game in the team’s history. The seventh season for the Double-A farm club of the Los Angeles Angels will be among three other teams and compete in the Global Baseball Series March 30, 31 and April 1.
The host Trash Pandas will welcome both UAH and Alabama A&M baseball teams and the Toyota Red Cruisers, the official corporate amateur baseball team of the Toyota Motor Corporation based in Japan and who play in that country’s industrial league system. The appearance by the Red Cruisers will be a first for a foreign team taking to the playing field at Toyota Field.
“Many of the Red Cruisers are fulltime Toyota employees with many having gone on to play professional baseball in Japan and even had a couple players make the Japanese National Team, so this is pretty good baseball,” said Garrett Fahrmann, vice president and general manager of the Trash Pandas.
“We value connecting people, the community and the countries,” said Katsutashi Satake, a member of the Red Cruisers, through an interpreter at the official announcement of the Global Baseball Series in January held at the SportsMED Stadium Club at Toyota Field. Satake is known as “Mr. Baseball” among the industrial league, has played for the Red Cruisers for 19 years and is a pitcher among the 31-player roster. “We look forward to the opportunity to share the power of sports as we will do our best to deliver a memorable game for the fans here in Alabama.”
“This is not only a great opportunity for our players to be a part of this, but also for the Red Cruisers, Alabama A&M and UAH. I’m glad to be part of this opportunity to wit- ness this tremendous event of experiences for the kids and the Red Cruisers,” said Trash Pandas manager Joe Kruzel.
“Exposing our student-athletes to great opportunities is the ultimate goal and there’s no greater goal than this one to provide an international opportunity. This is an honor and pleasure and there are no other words to describe what we are doing for our student-athletes at Alabama A&M. I am looking to the great memories we are going to create together,” said Alabama A&M first-year head coach Louis Whitlow of his Div. I program.
For UAH, the Chargers play in the Gulf South Conference as part of the NCAA Div. II and are led by Hunter Royer who took over the head coach position for the Big Blue in 2011. “This is a very big deal for our players and all will be excited to say the least to play against future big leaguers. We hope to put on a good show for everybody,” he said.
The Global Baseball Series serves as a bridge for cultural and educational exchange, celebrating the long-standing community partnership between Japan and the area of North Alabama through Toyota Alabama with more than 2,400 team members working in its plant located in North Huntsville. Tickets for all three games are currently on sale at TPTix.com and trashpandasbaseball. com. The lineup of the contests include: Monday, March 30, 6:35 p.m.- Toyota Red Cruisers vs. Alabama A&M Tuesday, March 31, 6:35 p.m.Rocket City Trash Pandas vs. UAH Wednesday, April 1, 6:35 p.m.Rocket City Trash Pandas vs. Toyota Red Cruisers
