Secretary's Report - Andrew T

Monday, May 26th

Cooper was in Milwaukee over the holiday weekend, at the latest bachelor party in a long string of celebrations Anna and he were organizing and/or participating in this year.  So, on Saturday evening, while he was at a Milkmen’s game, he texted recommendations for a couple of players to consider adding to our Baseball Odyssey (BO) fantasy teams.  On Sunday, when we crafted our teams and sent them to Kommish Jeff, I added both.  Lisa forgot about one of them, and I didn’t remind her.  So, BO started with a little subterfuge. (editor's note: Cooper was unable to participate in this year's BO, I was told, because of the repercussions of the aforementioned bachelor party.)

Last year, our first BO game was scheduled for Milwaukee, but it was washed out (BO 24 is captured all the way at the bottom of this blog page.)  So, Kommish made sure we could start BO 25 on the same weekend, seeing the same match up.  This time, the weather was fully cooperative, with sunny skies, temperatures in the sixties, and a gentle breeze blowing in from left.  

Lisa got us to the free parking lot a couple hundred yards from the singular entrance gate of Franklin Field just minutes after it opened at noon.  There was no line to get our e-tickets scanned, and almost everyone we could see inside the gates were staff, interns, or people selling stuff.  To that end, we were immediately greeted by two young girls in matching blue t-shirts who handed us handbills for the Muskego Water Bugs’ first show of the season in two days!  More blue shirts lurked on the horizon.

Cooper had texted me that he was going to throw tennis balls on the field in the seventh inning Saturday night.  So, it wasn’t surprising to find the next group of blue shirts hawking bags of tennis balls - 6 for $5 to throw at big coolers on the field in an effort to support the Water Bugs and vie for a chance to win a bag of goodies. This is one of the Milkmen’s home game traditions:  they pick a non-profit partner each game and let them do fundraising of various kinds, including the tennis ball toss.  After a requested info session about the Water Bugs from a gentleman who joined the water skiers in 1989, we bought a bag of balls.  And proceeded to skirt the blue shirts the rest of the day.

Next, we passed a folding table where two individuals were selling cans of Sprecher’s Root Beer, my favorite Milwaukee beverage (sold only in bottles in Chicago).  Lisa took note of that, as she did the hot dog stand we passed before spying our seats down behind the Milkmen dugout.  Since it was still an hour before game time, we opted to stroll the concourse before descending to our seats.  

We walked behind the plate and out down the first base line to a kids play area in right field where a couple of people were playing basketball.  Later I realized it must’ve been staff, waiting for customers.  We took advantage of the empty restrooms in this corner of the ballpark before heading back towards home plate.  Along the way, we didn’t have trouble spotting the visitor Sioux Fall Canaries’ starter and catcher warming up on the shiny, plastic outfield ‘grass’; the Canaries were wearing bright yellow uniform tops.  On the big video screen in left field and through the park’s public address system, we watched and heard an earlier-in-the-day speech by Franklin’s mayor about Memorial Day.  I winced as he extolled the virtues and values of “one of our greatest presidents”, Ronald Reagan, and, after a couple of minutes of that, we stopped listening and continued our walk back towards our seats.  

Lisa surveyed the concessions while I searched for a customer relations booth where I could grab a copy of today’s lineup.  Eventually, I was directed to a table back at the entrance which meant I had to scurry past the Blue Shirts again.  I asked the fresh-faced interns staffing the groups welcome table if they knew where I could find a lineup card.  After looking at one another, one of them said she had been asked that at yesterday’s game and was told they might be in the team store (which was a shipping container right behind them, painted--like most of the rest of the place--in black and white cow colors), but she was pretty sure they didn’t have any.  She was right; they didn’t.  

So, heading back towards our seats, we met up with Jeff and Bev and Kate and Kate’s BF, Anthony.  I told them about the Blue Shirts and the tennis balls, and Jeff was ready to support the cause.  But first, we headed to our seats and found the rest of the day’s BO squad waiting patiently:  BO veteran Will and three of his nieces-and-nephews-through-marriage.  The Kommish had hooked us up with prime seats, three rows up from the Milkmen dugout.  

Suddenly standing on the roof of the Milkmen’s dugout between us and home plate was our day’s emcee, “Van the Milkman,” dressed in white baseball pants, the Milkmen’s special Memorial Day camouflage home jersey, a black Milkmen cap, and black dress shoes.  Van, accompanied by Milkmen mascot Bo Vine (wearing #2%), was there to highlight a family in the first row.  The father figure was in a full cow onesie, including a cow hat.  Alongside him, his partner wore a matching hat and Milkmen uniform shirt, and their child had on a Wisconsin Cheesehead hat.  Van and Bo Vine were just warming up.

Soon after the super fans were flashed on the scoreboard, Kate distributed complimentary BO-branded pencils and our first BO Bingo cards of the year.  Then it was time for the National Anthem.  A very patriotically-dressed woman emerged on the field, and she belted out the tune before leaving to cheers from the three hundred or so fans in the stands and on the outfield “Pastures”.  It was time to play ball.  But, before we get to the game, a little history about the American Association.

The current iteration of the independent American Association, which formed in 2006, includes twelve teams in nine states and one Canadian province.  It stretches from Winnipeg down to Cleburne, Texas and as far east as Gary, Indiana with only Wisconsin and Illinois fielding multiple teams.  I wrote “current iteration” because there were two American Associations that proceeded this one.  The first was a major league rival of the National League, offering cheaper seats and beer at games.  The leagues played a World Series for several years.  But, over the Association’s ten-year existence, teams kept defecting to the older league to the point it was abandoned in 1891.  In 1902, the league was resurrected as an independent minor league with eight midwestern teams.  Over the next six decades, the league helped build baseball popularity in several cities, serving as a precursor to today’s major league franchises in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Denver.  After a hiatus from 1963-1968, the league reconstituted and continued for another 29 seasons before disintegrating after the 1997 season.  The Canaries are original to this latest iteration, while the Milkmen joined the league (with brand-new Franklin Field) in 2019.  

Back to the present, lanky Michigander Chase Gearing took the hill, making his first start of his career for the Milkmen.  Gearing graduated from Nichols State two years ago and is an American Association rookie.  In the top of the first, he worked around Canaries’ centerfielder Calvin Estrada, single, retiring the side in four batters.  Things would not go as smoothly for the Canaries’ starter.

Kentuckian Ryan Richardson may be a cautionary tale for young Gearing.  Ten years older than Gearing, Richardson is now playing for his tenth baseball team, including teams on both coasts and in Mexico.  His lifetime record of 25-15 with a 3.44 ERA are quite good, but he’s never pitched above AA and probably never will.  Regardless, I imagine he plays a valuable mentoring role for his Canaries teammates.  Richardson is also a reliever, so he must’ve been doing someone a favor to start the game this afternoon.  Perhaps his greatest favor was for the Milkmen, because the home team had a lead after just two batters.  First baseman Chase Estep led off with a single, stole his second base of the season, and got to third on catcher Drey Dirksen’s throw that skipped into the outfield.  About this time, we were introduced to the Milkmen rallying cry:  a loud “Mooooo” over the loud speakers.  Shortstop Glenn Santiago hit a sacrifice fly into center, and it was 1-0 Milkmen.  Then, after Richardson retired Milkmen catcher Eric Ostberg, he walked outfielders Micker Adolfo and Scott Ota.  Veteran left fielder Jaylin Davis, who’d been struggling early in the season with his new team, smacked a double scoring Adolfo and Ota, and the Milkmen led 3-0 after one inning.

By the second inning, we had already been entertained twice by goofy between-inning competitions, such as fans riding toy horses in gorilla costumes and sorting recycling in the parking lot.  This would continue throughout the game, and I’m going to spare you most of these diversions, but they were all emceed by Van and usually had Bo cheering on the participants.  This is part of the formula for minor league family fun.  During Saturday night’s game, Cooper had texted me “A group is playing pickleball on the field and another group is doing a relay race. The game is basically for us at this point.”

Between the lines, Gearing struck out the side in the second.  Cole LaLonde took over pitching duties for the visitors in the bottom of the inning and didn’t allow any runs.  Gearing struck out two more batters to start the third and stranded shortstop Jordan Barth at second after his double.  Before the Milkmen batted, there was a kids marshmallow home run derby aimed at our section, but we didn’t catch any of the mashed mallows.  Additionally, up on the scoreboard, the Milkmen displayed all the celebrations happening at the ballpark.  “Jeff Haynie’s Group” was in lights!  

Ostberg legged out an infield single to start the bottom of the inning and advanced to third on Adolfo’s double.  Lalonde then walked second baseman Andy Blake to load the bases, but he struck out catcher Carlos Amaya to keep the score 3-0 after three.

Between innings, the Van and Bo Vine were back on the dugout roof, this time with Milkmen interns displaying a huge, old-school (i.e., it had hands and roman numerals on it) clock that was going to be awarded at the end of the game if you sat in the lucky seat.  Kate was hopeful.

The Canaries’ Estrada got the Canaries dugout chirping in the fourth.  He reached on an infield single and scored off of 6’6” first baseman Josh Rehwaldt’s mighty double-that-could’ve-been-a-triple.  Well, we thought it could of been a triple, but when he got thrown out trying to steal third moments later, we kind of got why he hadn’t tried for third earlier.  Canaries’ other big bopper, Pete Zimmermann (the player Cooper told us about that Lisa left off her fantasy team but I didn’t), battled Gearing for a full count and three fouls after that before succumbing to the strike out.  After an infield fly, the Canaries were out and down 3-1.

The Milkmen went down in order in the fourth, and the Canaries threatened but stranded two in the top of the fifth.  When Gearing caught Canaries catcher Dirksen looking for his seventh strikeout of the day, Will punctuated the embarrassment succinctly with “he delivered the milk there!” In the bottom of the fifth, Canaries new reliever Cade Torgerson retired the side in order, although last batter Scott Ota got a cheer when his long foul ball broke a sign in The Hop Yard party area down the left field line, leading the PA announcer to go through a whole script about making a call to the sign company and explaining that they needed a new one.

Gearing’s day was done after five innings, and he gave way to 23-year-old reliever Nyan Hernandez from the Dominican Republic.  After striking out Estrada, Hernandez surrendered a double to Rehwaldt.  Zimmermann knocked in Rehwaldt with a single, took second on the throw home, and stole third.  But he was stranded there, the fifth Canary left on base for the day.  Nevertheless, the Canaries were chirping again.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Canaries fourth pitcher of the day, Will Levine retired Davis and Blake before giving up a first-pitch single to Amaya.  Then he hit the number nine batter, third baseman Willie Escala.  (Lisa claimed ‘Bingo’, five innings after we had had a winner.)  Leadoff hitter Chase Estep delivered a two-run double, and Santiago singled in Estep to put the Milkmen up 6-2.  The Canaries’ bullpen stayed busy but their dugout was quiet.

After the sixth inning, we got to throw our tennis balls down onto the field.  The target cooler was right in front of us, maybe thirty feet away.  But all of our balls and everyone else’s missed the mark, with Milkmen mascot emcee Van The Milkman tossing a few of the errant balls in the cooler as he counted down to the end of the competition.  Then the staff threw all of the balls in the cooler and Van pulled out #275 as the winner.  We had no idea what numbers were on the balls we just threw, but none of us got a call that we had won.

Illinois native Aaron Mishoulam took the mound for the Milkmen in the seventh and proceeded to surrender a lead off triple to Dirksen.  Third basemen Ernny Ordonez (who Lisa added to her team in honor of Cooper’s old White Sox star, the unrelated Magglio Ordonez) grounded out up the middle, scoring Dirksen.  But Mishoulam got us to the seventh inning stretch without further scoring.

Of course, the Canaries sent out yet another new pitcher for the seventh.  This one, Californian Christian Cosby, held the home team scoreless as did just-turned 23-year-old Milkmen reliever Blake Purnell in the top of the 8th.  In the bottom of the inning, the Canaries sixth pitcher, Christian Johnson (boy, there were a lot of Christians at Franklin Field) walked first batter Amaya, which is never a winning strategy.  Escala reached on an infield single next.  After Estep grounded into a double play, Santiago singled, snagging his third RBI of the day.  He then got caught stealing to end the eighth.

In the ninth, with my fantasy pick Denny Bentley on the mound in a non-save situation (darn it!), the Canaries went down 1-2-3, and the Milkmen had delivered a 7-3 victory.  As a final fun activity of the afternoon, the kids were welcomed onto the field to run the bases.  Remarkably, no one got hurt.

After the obligatory and celebratory group photo near the field, we headed out of the stadium and said our goodbyes in the parking lot.  Will and his crew were heading home, so we’ll wait til next year to see him again, but the rest of us were all headed back to Chicago.  Jeff and Bev beat us to the house and were waiting patiently when we arrived.  Once inside, the Kommish immediately opened his laptop to determine the day’s fantasy results.  After Day 1, Lisa and Bev (thanks to taking Santiago) held the top two spots.  We ordered La Villa pizza and enjoyed Bev’s clinic on how to play and win Michigan Rummy.  That is, how she wins.  Convincingly.  But we were all winners (well, except for the Canaries) on Day 1 of BO 25.

Tuesday, May 27th

Jeff and Bev held down the fort while Lisa and I held down our jobs on Tuesday.  After work, I took the Blue Line out to Rosemont and the People’s Limousine over to the seven year-old Impact Field for BO 25 Game 2:  the Milkmen visiting the Chicago Dogs.

I arrived soon after the gates opened and well before the rest of the BO entourage (which was pregaming at a nearby bar).  I strolled the perimeter of the mostly-empty park, chatting with a couple young ushers, one of whom was in his first month with the Dogs who was pleased to be employed.  At the customer service desk, I gathered the roster sheets for both teams and the night’s lineup page.  I commented on the lack of such resources at Franklin Field, and the guy behind the desk said, “yeah, we had to print Milwaukee’s roster off the internet.” 

As I walked along the concrete concourse that circles the field, I also passed uniformed custodial staff (mostly people of color) dumping buckets of hot water on the walkway.  It occurred to me that this is how you keep concrete clean.  As long as you’ve got frequently-spaced drains, it’s easy maintenance, and this park seemed to be designed accordingly, because, like most--all?--modern stadiums, there’s concrete everywhere.  Well set in place, just like the village’s ruling family.  

Incorporated in 1956, Rosemont has had two mayors: Donald Stephens until he passed away in 2007, and his son, Bradley.  The former oversaw the town’s development into a massively successful commercial and entertainment destination while being indicted twice--but never convicted--for unscrupulousness.  It’s an open secret that he was well connected with the local Outfit, leading The Economist to dub Rosemont the ‘last true political machine in America.’  Bradley just got re-elected to one of the highest paid mayoral jobs in the county.   Thirty percent of registered voters did their duty, handing the mayor--who doubles as the area’s State Rep--another four years.  He was unopposed.

From behind home plate, visitors look out on a nondescript office building beyond the left field wall, Interstate 294 behind the league’s largest electronic--and two-sided--scoreboard in center as well as right field, and the concrete parking garage along the right field foul line.  Oh, and jets arriving or departing  O’Hare (depending on the wind direction) fly overhead every 90 seconds or so.  I wandered all the way around the park and was happy to come upon the Northbrook Junior High School band practicing the national anthem behind the scoreboard.  Soon after I finished my wanderings, the Entourage arrived.

Kate and Anthony invited a few friends to join tonight’s game.  And, by a few, I mean fifteen.  Lisa, Jeff, and Bev met up with them for a little pregaming in the Rosemont Entertainment District across the highway from the park.  Then they brought the party over to Impact Field.  

Kommish, Lisa, and I were enjoying some refreshments from the high top tables on the concourse when Dogs’ mascots, Ketchup the bandit and Squeeze the mustard bottle were delivered to home plate on a golf cart.  Then, the crowd of hundreds stood at attention while the band delivered a somewhat squeaky but spirited Star Spangled Banner in center.  After the first pitch, we joined the rest of our party a few rows behind the Dogs’ third-base dugout.  We sat right behind Anthony’s mom who was great company for the evening.  She helped orient us to Anthony’s friends, many of whom grew up playing ball in Leyden Township which was a team Taylor played against a couple of summers.  (I need to check the scorebooks and see if some of them shared a field at some point.)  We learned that Anthony has been coaching baseball at his school for years, so we were sitting with a passionate, knowledgeable bunch.

While we were still learning who everybody was--the whole group outfitted in new Dogs hats courtesy of the Kommish--the visiting Milkmen were threatening to score.  With yesterday’s BO standout, shortstop Glenn Santiago (on Bev’s fantasy team), on first with a single, the team’s best hitter, Eric Ostberg (on everyone’s fantasy team) came to the plate.  But he swung at Dog’s starter Connor Curlis’ first pitch and popped out to third. Slugger Micker Adolfo followed and watched the first pitch miss the strike zone.  The second one didn’t, and neither did Adolfo, smashing a double to score Santiago.  

The Dogs went down on four pitches in the first but tied it in the bottom of the second when, with two outs, 24-year-old left fielder Kyle Schmack (one of Lisa’s fantasy picks) singled, reached second on an error, and was singled home by big right fielder Alex McGarry.

The score stayed the same into the fifth, and it looked like the two starting pitchers were going to keep it moving.  Both were drafted by major league teams in the late rounds of the 2018 Amateur Draft following college and had bounced around the minors since.  The Dogs’ Curlis, an Ohio State grad with his fifth professional team, was coming off his first win of the season six days ago, pitching six innings of shutout ball against Fargo-Moorhead.  And through the first four innings tonight, he had struck out five and allowed only an infield single after the first.    Milkmen starter Frankie Bartow (one of my fantasy picks), a University of Miami grad with his sixth team (and second tour with Milwaukee), was matching Curlis on the scoreboard.  He, too, had given up only 1 run on three hits through four innings, and in about ten less pitches than Curlis.  But their fates diverged in the fifth.

Curlis worked around a leadoff single by second baseman Andy Blake, getting designated hitter Carlos Amaya to ground into a good ol’ 6-4-3 double play, and retiring third baseman Willie Escala on another grounder.  In the bottom of the inning, number seven hitter McGarry led off with a double.  After Bartow retired the number eight batter, veteran Reggie Pruitt, Jr. doubled in McGarry for the Dogs’ second run and first lead of the night.  Bartow retired lead off hitter Brantley Bell for the second out, and then the flood gates opened on him.  Shortstop Henry Kusiak doubled in Pruitt, 2024 League MVP Jacob Teter walked, and clean up hitter Dusty Stroup came to the plate with two on, two out, and the score 3-1.

I need to pause here to set the scene a bit.  When I was doing my pregame wandering, I was reminded of the lifeguard chair that sits on the concourse behind home plate.  Last summer, during Benjamin’s birthday party (chronicled on this page), his Dad got to sit in the chair between innings and be the featured air drummer on the big screen.  I considered climbing up on the chair tonight to take in the view but was unclear whether it was off limits or not.  So, I asked a security guard nearby, and he said “Da public don’t have access to dat” before wishing me a good night.  Well, I don’t know how this transpired, but Dan, one of Anthony’s friends, happened to worm his way up to the chair during the fifth inning.  Additionally, from the start of the game, Anthony’s friends had been playing a hat-passing game in which each player holds it for one batter.  If the batter makes an out, a dollar goes into the hat, and it gets passed down the line.  If the batter gets a hit, though, the holder takes money out--$1 for a single, $2 for a double, $3 for a triple, and, if the batter homers, the holder gets all the money in the hat.  So, it’s getting passed around, and has about $25 in it when it gets to Kommish as Dusty Stroup comes to the plate.  Perhaps you can guess what happens next:  Stroup deposits Bartow’s first pitch over the left field fence.  Pandemonium ensues.

If a Dogs player hits a homerun while you’re sitting in the otherwise-off limits lifeguard chair, you get to sound a loud horn, which Anthony’s friend does.  And he doesn’t stop sounding it, even when they tell him to stop.  Kommish collects all the money in the hat.  Stroup rounds the bases and doubles the Dogs lead to 6-1.  And, after retiring the side two batters later, Bartow’s night is done.

In the top of the sixth, Curlis gets in a little trouble.  After retiring the leadoff hitter, he gives up an infield single to Santiago and then walks catcher Eric Ostberg to bring clean up hitter Adolfo to the plate.  Adolfo runs the count full before taking Curlis’ sixth pitch for a strike.  With two outs, center fielder Scott Ota (another of my fantasy picks and author of a fine diving catch in the fourth that prompted Anthony to exclaim “milk ‘em boys, milk ‘em!”) had a chance to get the Milkmen back in the game.  He battles Curlis, fouling off two 2-2 pitches but then flies out to Teter at first to end the threat and send Curlis to the showers with a strong lead.

The Milkmen’s new pitcher in the bottom of the sixth is 232 pound Yovanny Cabrera making his season’s debut.  And here’s how he did: he walked the first two batters, gave up a sacrifice bunt to Pruitt, Jr., a two-run single to Bell, a single to Kusiak, a wild pitch and then two-run single to Teter, a run-scoring triple to Stroup, another wild pitch, and a run-scoring double to catcher Chance Sisco.  Then he struck out Schmack and was relieved of his duties with the Dogs leading 12 - 1.  (As far as I can tell, the 24-year-old Dominican hurler is still waiting for another chance to pitch.)  New Milkmen reliever Nyan Hernandez gave up another walk to McGarry before striking out DH Pettigrew for the final out of the sixth.

Illinois native Austin Marozas took over for Curlis in the seventh and retired the side on 9 pitches.  We all rose for the stretch while the grounds crew raked the field.  As they came off, Anthony nodded to one of the crew members who promptly came into the stands to chat with ‘coach’.  He talked about the long home run horn and how when he looked up and saw the horn blower it all made sense.    

In the bottom of the inning, the Milkmen’s Hernandez continued his striking ways, setting down all three Dogs batters swinging.  New Dogs hurler, 22 year-old Brandon Scott, retired all three batters he faced in the top of the eighth, too.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Milkmen sent first baseman Chase Estep to the mound for mop up duty.  This was actually Estep’s fourth one-inning assignment of the year, and he continued his scoreless streak despite hitting two batters.  He seemed to be throwing knuckleballs, and he didn’t fool anybody.  All three outs were loud fly balls to the outfield.  But no one scored.

To the top of the ninth and the eighth and final pitcher of the night: Nate Gilman.  Looking up Gilman’s pitching record, there’s definitely a story to be told, but I don’t have the details.  There’s a profile of him on a scouting website coming out of high school, when he was already listed at 6’3”, 205 lbs.  After graduating from Division III Willamette University in 2019, the undrafted hurler disappears from the baseball statistics world for five years.  Then, in 2024, he started four games for the Grand Junction (CO) Jackalopes.  It wasn’t a particularly successful comeback, but he managed to get a contract with the Charleston (SC) Dirty Birds of the independent Atlantic League this spring and pitched much better in four games, finishing three of them.  A week after his last game with the Dirty Birds, here he is mopping up for the Dogs.

Kommish was holding the passed hat stuffed with Georges and Abes when Eric Ostberg stepped up to the plate to open the ninth against Gilman.  The count went to 1-2, on two called strikes.  Ostberg deposited the next pitch in the right field bleachers, winning Kommish another hatful of cash and giving the Milkmen their first run in eight innings.  Adolfo then walked on five pitches, and, after getting Ota on an outfield fly, Jaylin Davis doubled, sending the high-socks-wearing Ostberg to third.  Andy Blake singled in Ostberg to make it 12-3.  Gilman then settled down, striking out both Amaya and Escala to end the game (and possibly his career with the Dogs; he hasn’t pitched with them--or anybody else--since then).

As the Dogs celebrated on the field and game MVP Dusty Stroup was interviewed on the field, Kommish recruited a volunteer to take a group photo (although some of Kate and Anthony’s entourage had departed during the late innings).  Then Kommish, Bev, Lisa, and I proceeded to the concourse and said our BO goodbyes to Kate, Anthony, and Anthony’s mom before peeling off to visit the now-empty bathrooms one final time.  Once the four of us were together again, we headed to the exit gate where we got to go through a double line of two dozen Dog staff members offering celebratory high-fives.  That was a first for me.

Before the game, the Entourage had taken a free shuttle from the Entertainment District to the park.  So, we headed to the street looking for a complimentary ride back.  And the shuttle showed up as we did!  A friendly driver welcomed us aboard with a couple of other passengers and got us across the highway and into the parking garage in no time.  Kommish left some of his night’s winnings in the driver’s tip cup on the way out, and their validated parking ticket got us out of there for free.

Back at home, Kommish once again crunched the numbers to determine that Lisa, with her fantasy team full of Dogs, had taken a commanding lead in the standings.  It was a winning day all around (unless you deliver milk).

Wednesday, May 28th

We all went our separate ways in the morning:  Lisa to her penultimate Wednesday in the classroom, me downtown, and Bev and Jeff out to the Michigan dunes.  Before I left, I told Jeff there was a 40% chance I would hop on a train after work and meet them for the last BO game of the year in Gary.  I had another attractive and previously-scheduled option, so I needed to choose.  It was going to be a last-minute decision based on how the day went.

Well, the day went pretty smoothly.  The weather was sunny and mild.  With Lisa’s blessing to abandon her, I left work a little before 5 p.m. and walked three blocks to the Millennium Park train station.  After attempting to buy a ticket from the wrong kiosk, a uniformed individual gently directed me to the right place, and I got a one-way ticket to Gary Center.  I hopped on the train and found a seat next to a commuter who greeted me warmly, and I thought “oh, I have someone to converse with!”  But then I looked around and noticed I had sat in a Quiet Car.  So, after I texted Jeff that I had jumped to an 80% chance of joining them at the game, we both put our noses in books. 

My inaugural ride on the South Shore Line, which services commuters from as far away as South Bend, was pleasant and uneventful.  I detrained in downtown Gary (after fellow passengers had to explain that we needed to wait for the conductor to come and open the doors) and took a long, ugly walkway into the station proper.

Adam Benjamin Metro Center is a transportation hub in downtown Gary.  The station is named for a Gary resident who was the first Assyrian-American to to be elected to Congress.  Unfortunately, he died in office in 1982, just before completing his third term and a couple of years before the station opened.  The station is a combination of glass and reinforced concrete, and it’s nothing special to look at.  Perhaps that’s why Gary’s mayor announced last fall that replacing the station is one of the key components of a new downtown revitalization plan.  It also may explain why all of us couldn’t get out of the station fast enough.  


Once outside, I was in no particular rush to walk the four blocks to the ballpark.  I called Dad and asked him if he could guess where I was.  My clue, which wasn’t effective, was this:  I left work less than an hour ago and am now walking in another state’s city which I’ve driven through many times before but never walked in.  Technically, this was untrue, since the lakeside community of Miller Beach is part of Gary proper, and I’d been to Greenpeace reunions there many times when Jack and Valerie had a place there.  But this was my first time walking downtown, and what I saw was depressing.  In 1970, Gary had 175,000 residents and was still over 100,000 in 2000.  Now, the population is 67,000 and falling.

After circling and failing to find any identification for a modest steel sculpture outside the station that reminded me of (and turned out to be) Richard Hunt’s work, I crossed the not-very-busy intersection of 4th Avenue and Broadway in front of City Hall and a statue of Elbert Gary, co-founder and long-time President of U.S.Steel.  Behind City Hall, I bumped into a statue of Richard Gordon Hatcher, who, in 1967, became Gary’s and the nation’s first elected black mayor of a ‘major’ U.S. city.  From the City Hall parking lot, I looked south, past a vacant lot, at a boarded up five story building sitting in the heart of downtown.  Rather than investigating, I crossed Massachusetts Street into the parking lot of the Hudson-Campbell Sports & Fitness Center, added in 1986.  I actually had to navigate a couple of motorists there before crossing empty Connecticut St. and walking through the wide alley behind a firehouse.  The alley terminated at Stadium Plaza and the small courtyard containing the ticket windows and gate into U.S. Steel Yard. 

I approached the ticket window and had to wait a moment before a young adult appeared.  I asked for a ticket to tonight’s game, and the ticket agent asked if I had a preference for where I sat.  I said no, and he looked on the computer in front of us for a moment before requesting my credit card.  Moments later, he handed me back my card and a ticket and said to enjoy the game before serving the customers who had shown up behind me.  At this writing, I still haven’t asked Lisa what that ticket cost.

Another young person scanned my ticket at the gate which led right to the concourse overlooking the field.  Before locating the BO party (as opposed to my designated seat), I found a collapsible table to my right where a somewhat older gentleman, wearing an official forest green RailCats polo, greeted me as I approached.  He had complimentary rosters (with pronounciation guides!) and tonight’s lineup card on the table which I availed myself of before commenting on the chilly evening (I could see my breath).  He explained that the wind off Lake Michigan generally blew south over the left field wall and through the ballpark, making it ten degrees chillier than other areas and very much a pitcher’s park.  He further explained that, between the Lake and the ballpark, that breeze went through what was once the largest steel mill complex in the world (thanks, largely, to Elbert Gary), which explained the smell in the air.  “Sometimes you can taste it,” my informant explained.  


With the basics out of the way, I dug for a little more information.  I quickly learned that I was talking to a real baseball man.  David Kay, like me, learned at age 16 that he was never going to be much of a baseball player.  When he quit the game, his mother told him to go see if he could get a job at the local ballpark, home of Little Rock’s Arkansas Travelers, and he did.  After college and some other work, he returned to baseball and now has 19 years in professional baseball and a lot of stories.  I told him about BO, and he remembered seeing Jeff in his green La Crosse Loggers sweatshirt earlier.  We traded memories of different parks (he picked the Carolina Mudcats’ home as his favorite to date), and he told me about some of the MLB players he saw coming up.  Eventually, as game time was approaching, I tore myself away and headed for that green sweatshirt which I could see sitting right behind the RailCats’ dugout on--you guessed it--the third base line.

By the time I made it around the concourse, Kommish was coming my direction.  He perhaps manufactured a look of joyful surprise in seeing me there, and we high-fived there on the sparsely-populated concourse.  I proceeded to tell him about meeting David and hearing that it was $1 pierogi night, and we headed for them.  Jeff treated me to two pierogis while also grabbing a beverage, and David was on our way to our seats.  So, we stopped and chatted some more.  He told a few more stories, including seeing a 17-year-old Mike Trout wowing the fans of the Cedar Rapids Kernels.  

Eventually, we made it back to ‘our’ seats as game time was approaching.  Tonight’s BO lineup included Simon, an ’81 NRHS Hornet classmate of Jeff and Bev’s as well as former BO host when we visited Texas in 2008, and his friend Indy.  I decided to stand in the row behind the crew, so that I could carry on a conversation with them.  Also, because there was no one seated behind us.  Literally, no one.

Dominican Deyni Olivero took the hill for the hometown RailCats (4 wins, 12 losses) and retired the first three Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (10-6) he faced.  Olivero is a veteran, starting his career in the Dominican Summer League in 2016 at the age of 18.  After reaching AAA in the Diamondbacks organization in 2022, his major league prospects have dimmed. Gary is his eleventh team.  

Kyle Crigger took the ball for the visiting RedHawks, and he retired the RailCats on three straight ground balls in the first.  Crigger is a year-and-a-half younger than Olivero and, after a strong collegiate career with LSU was drafted by the Marlins in the 2022 draft.  But, despite a winning record at every minor league level he’s pitched in, he was dropped by the Marlins’ organization at the end of last year.  So, he’s also fighting to hold onto his baseball dream.

The RailCats, like the Milkmen and Dogs, have plenty of between-innings contests and shenanigans.  I’m going to spare you the details of those for this game.  But many of them include mascot Rusty the RailCat.  Rusty came by and took pictures with us at one point and later sat on the edge of the dugout roof and signed autographs for the big, lively family seated--and running about--in the first row beyond the dugout, closer to the field.  Suffice it to say, Rusty was both the warmest and coolest cat in the park.

RedHawks right fielder Dillon Thomas (I’m not making this up) became the first base runner of the game after doubling off Olivero to start the second inning.  He got to third after a wild pitch, and, with one out, a walk gave the RedHawks runners at first and third.  But Olivero retired the next two on an infield fly and grounder to third, keeping the game scoreless.  Crigger got two more groundouts and a strikeout to keep the RailCats off the bases in the bottom of the inning.

With one out in the top of the third, RedHawk’s leadoff hitter, Alec Olund, singled and stole second.  Third baseman Brendon Dadson then singled Olund to third.  With runners on first and third, RedHawks’ center fielder Robert Perez, Jr. hit a sharp grounder up the middle that shortstop Elvis Peralta made a great stop on, but his momentum was carrying him away from the plate, so he threw to first for the out while Olund scored.  Dadson made it to third on a wild pitch, but Olivero struck out Thomas to end the threat.  RedHawks 1, RailCats 0.

RailCats’ catcher, Andres Noriega, hit the ball out of the infield in the bottom of the third, but it found the left fielder’s glove.  The RailCats went three up, three down, and it was on to the fourth.  In the top of the inning, Olivero walked the number six batter, but he was retired on a grounder to Peralta.  Actually, all three outs of the inning were started by Peralta, and his fielding captivated his five newest fans.  In the bottom of the fourth, the RailCats failed to lift a ball out of the infield again, with the top of the order going down 1-2-3.

It was sometime around the fifth inning that the industrial atmosphere of the Steel Yard added another element: rail repair work beyond the left field wall.  Two small cranes were picking up railroad ties and dumping them nearby for the remainder of the game.  So, in addition to the smell of the mill and the constant drone of I-90 north of the ballpark, we were serenaded by clunks and squeaks of the rail equipment for the rest of the evening.

On the field, Olivera surrendered a leadoff single to the RedHawks number nine hitter, Michael Hallquist.  After Olivera struck out Olund, he fell behind in the count to Dadson.  Hallquist stole second before Dadson walked, and the RedHawks were threatening again.  After Perez, Jr. flied out, Hallquist stole third base.  But Dillon Thomas went gently into the night with an outfield fly, and the game remained a 1-0 nail biter.

If you guessed that the RailCats went down in order again in the fifth, you’d be right.  Quietly and efficiently, Crigger had set down 15 batters in a row.  In a pitcher’s park on a cold night.  Interesting.

Twenty three year-old rookie Jonathan Martinez took over for Olivero in the sixth.  After graduating from Texas State last spring, he went on to play in a summer developmental league.  So 2025 is his first full season of professional baseball.  He set down the RedHawks in order, with the third out featuring more fine glove work by Elvis at short.

Veteran minor leaguer and RailCats DH Eric Meza led off in the bottom of the sixth.  At 6-1, 245 lbs, Meza is an imposing presence at the plate.   Additionally, he’s a veteran in his eleventh season, with most of his baseball played in his native Mexico.  Last night, he made his debut for the RailCats, having been waived by these same RedHawks over the weekend.  Tonight, he struck out in his first at bat against Crigger.  Now he stood in against him again and attacked the first pitch for a solid single to right.  Perfect game and no-hitter were off the table.  Could Crigger keep the Cats off the scoreboard?  The number eight hitter, catcher Noriega, ran the count full before reaching on an error, erasing Meza.  Left fielder Nick Ultsch reached first on a fielder’s choice, erasing, Noriega, and, with leadoff hitter Jarius Richards batting, he stole second.  The RailCats had their first runner in scoring position!  But Crigger reached and threw his eighty-fourth pitch past Richards to end the threat and keep the score 1-0, RedHawks.

New RailCats pitcher Jaykob Acosta allowed a nine-pitch walk to RedHawks rookie catcher Miguel Ojeda, Jr.  But, despite Ojeda reaching third after a single by leadoff hitter Olund, he got Dadson to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.  After the stretch, which included an opportunity for kids to run from the outfield to the stands behind first base (?!), Crigger was still on the mound for the RedHawks.  He struck out second basemen Donivan Williams but then walked 6-4, 238 lbs right fielder Baron Radcliff on five pitches.  That spurred a visit from the RedHawks coaching staff, but Crigger stayed in to strike out RailCats clean up hitter, Jose Contreras.  Another visit followed, and Crigger left having thrown 100 pitches, allowing just two hits in 6.2 innings.  Several of the dozens of fans clapped him off the field.  Lefty reliever Naswell Paulino came in from the bullpen to face shortstop Peralta and quickly struck him out to end the inning.

The parade of relievers continued in the eighth.  The RailCats’ 6-5, 212 lbs Dawson Lane took the mound and retired the first batter, Perez, Jr., on another grounder to Elvis at short, his eighth assist of the game.  Then he walked Dillon Thomas who advanced to second on 23-year-old left fielder Alexfri Planez’ single. Another walk loaded the bases, bringing up first baseman Marcus Chiu (the roster sheet said “like ‘CHEW’”).  At 28, Chiu’s best years on the field were probably behind him.  Drafted by the Dodgers in the 15th round in 2017, he made it as high as AA before joining the American Association in 2023.  This year has been his roughest, with Chiu batting .148 with two RBIs when he stepped up against Lane.  But he managed to drive Lane’s second pitch deep enough into right field to score Thomas.  Now down 2-0, RailCats fans had to be wondering if light would break where no sun shines.  Lane struck out Ojeda, Jr. to retire the side.

The RailCats went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, with reliever Paulino striking out a pinch hitter for Meza and Noriega to end the inning.  RailCats reliever Nate Alexander gave up a walk to number nine hitter Hallquist to start the ninth.  But Noriega threw out Hallquist trying to steal his third base of the night.  That was an important out when, with two outs, Dadson tripled.  And Alexander induced a Perez, Jr. ground out to strand him.

On to the bottom of the ninth.  It started hopefully against the RedHawks 6-5, 225 closer, Alex DuBord (my fantasy pick in a save situation!).  Left fielder Nick Ultsch reached on an infield single and got to second on leadoff hitter Jairus Richards’ walk.  The rhythmic clap was being employed regularly at this point, and we had gotten the few fans around us to join in.  But next batter Donivan Williams’ bunt was too close to the plate, and Ojeda, Jr. forced out Ultsch at third.  With the tying run at first, DuBord proceeded to strike out Radcliff and Contreras to snuff out the rally and secure the RedHawks shutout win.

After getting a group photo and saying goodbye to Indy and Simon, Bev, Jeff, and I walked out to their car, parked for free on the street a block from the ballpark.  Bev took the wheel and steered us safely up the I-90 ramp, past the six or seven cranes and other heavy equipment still clanging away on the rails, and on to Chicago.  Traffic was light, and the mood was as well.  Three days of minor league baseball in three different states left us bonded by many new positive memories.  

We got off the highway at Irving Park where Bev and Jeff pulled into a gas station to fuel up for their ride home the next day.  Since they were staying with Kate and Anthony in their new apartment to the east, and despite their generous and insistent offers to drive me the last twelve blocks of the trip, I hopped out to take the approaching #80 bus home.  That short trip gave me more time to reflect on the great BO 25 and look forward to future trips.  I hope you get to join the BO 26 adventure, too.

* Postscript:  a week after BO 25 ended, the Kommish sent a wrap-up email, listing the winners of all contests during the Odyssey.  Despite my strong charge at the end, Lisa went wire-to-wire to claim the Fantasy Crown for the year.  Wait ‘til next year!