Don’t believe every forecast you read is the lesson of the day. Yesterday I intended to make the 3-hour drive to Peoria for an early afternoon title between the Chiefs and the Quad Cities River Bandits, but I believed the forecast for three hours of rain and pivoted.
Instead, I embarked on a 178-mile journey north of the border for an early afternoon game between the South Bend Cubs and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. It never rained, but I saw two teams whose ML organizations I root for and whose young players I have an interest.
Greater Appleton remains a black hole for pregame breakfasts as I’ve covered the waterfront (metaphorically) over the years. Neuroscience Field is conveniently located less than a mile from the highway, but it’s not really doesn’t feel like part of the town either.
Wednesday afternoons are Silver Foxes Wednesday, ergo specials for seniors, active military and vets, so the crowd was a little older than usual. It was also hotter than blazes, so the smarter fans spent more time in the shade.
I’ve already described the physical attributes of the park, but that doesn’t mean I won’t iterate how wonderful the food and staff are. Until I realized how miserably hot it was, I had my eye set on a breaded pork tenderloin (BPT)even though it’s more of an Indiana-Iowa thing. Wisconsin does a pretty good job though.
The hometown T-Rats had already won the first half of the season, guaranteeing them a spot in the playoffs whereas the Cubs are in the lower half of the division and out of the postseason. It’s also the time of year when the roster(s) have turned over and a fresh batch of players are proving themselves. During the game I asked Cubs manager, Nick Lovullo, if they were expecting any of the recent draftees. He hadn’t been informed of any, but I know that day will be coming. Before the game I had a minute to chat with former 1st round pick, Ed Howard, whose star has fallen a little due to ineffectiveness and injury, but it’s easy to forget he’s still only 22. Unfortunately, others have passed him in the system.
Drew Gray, the Cubs #10 prospect, took the bump for the visitors. He shut down the T-Rats on one hit over five innings and more importantly walked only two batters. One of his problems has been his control and he leads the MWL in walks with 58 in only 57 innings. The 21-year-old, 6’3 lefty was pretty solid, but clearly was on a pitch count.
His mound opponent, Patricio Aquino, matched him inning for inning, allowing only 3 hits in 5 shutout innings. The 21-year-old righty is the Brewers #28 prospect.
Both rosters have changed significantly since I last saw them, so I was interested in seeing some of the new faces and how the older ones were progressing.
Since both starters were on their games, the highlights of the earlier innings were a couple excellent plays by Wisconsin’s center fielder and #10 prospect, Luis Lara. The need to cover too much ground cost the T-Rats later when Lara collided with right fielder, Eduarqui Fernandez on a fly which would result in a double. It was a really poor play, that luckily only resulted in runs and not major injuries to either player.
The Cubs scored first after a walk, single and sac fly in the 6th inning. Wisconsin evened things up in the bottom of the inning on a long solo homer off the bat of 20-year-old Luke Adams. The 6’4 slugger is a 12th round pick (2022) and #15 prospect-kind of your typical corner infielder with power.
Alas, he was a college roommate, that was the only run Wisconsin scored so I think you know where this one is headed. With one out in the 7th inning, Howard took one to left, hit the top of the wall for his second homer of the season. That’s when I realized things hadn’t really gotten that much better for him. The Cubs salted away the victory with another run on back-to-back doubles. First baseman, Brian Kalmer, scored on Jordan Nwogu’s double. Kalmer previously tripled but would later be denied a cycle when he was beaned in the 9th.
Stevin Cruz took the ball from Aquino and was responsible for the two runs and the loss, but he wasn’t the story. Reliever, Yerlin Rodriguez started the ninth but couldn’t finish. For all of the emphasis on reaching triple digits, Rodriguez is what happens when you lack command or control. The video board championed his cause with
“Throwing Gas” followed by 98,99, 97 mph. The problem was he had no idea where the heck the ball was going. He walked three batters and hit Kalmer in the head before finally striking out his first batter resulting in two more runs. Cubs 5-Rattlers 1.
Baseball fans are notorious for letting every other fan know how something unusual happens at a game they attend. At some point in the top of the 9th I mentioned this to my section mate, Will. Back to the action. Rodriguez struck out the next batter, but because of his wildness, and the catcher only having normal-length arms, resulted in a missed third strike. That was all and Aaron Rund finished things off, striking out the next two batters. South Bend scored two runs without the benefit of a hit, struck out four times, walked three times and had a hit batter all in one inning.
After seeing a kid snarf down an order of cheese fries, I realize I made the correct decision by not ordering that BPT in the heat. I don’t think the EMT would have reached me in time with the paddles. Otherwise, the afternoon was a success, good baseball, sunny skies and good conversation.
