In a battle with Mother Nature and baseball, I finally gave in and drove to South Bend Indiana for a Hi-A game featuring the Cubs-South Bend that is. Since calling South Bend their MLW home, the Cubbies have won two championships, add that to the two won when they were an affiliate of the White Sox and one they won with the Diamondbacks.

Obviously, the bigger resident of South Bend is Notre Dame, but Chairman and owner, Andrew Berlin is trying to do more than win baseball championships. He is quite the real estate mogul with an eye on developing the neighborhood. Berlin and company have done an excellent job of selling every square inch of available ad space. Four Winds Field is plastered with signage promoting the Four Winds brand. At one time, the ballpark was affectionately known as The Cove-for South Bend legend and Baseball Hall of Famer, Stan Coveleski. A beautiful statue of Coveleski remains in the center field concourse.

Since MLB eliminated the Kane County Cougars, Four Winds is the second shortest drive from Casa Bob. After a slight detour for breakfast, the four-mile ride off 90/80 through downtown South Bend, I parked (free) and picked up my ticket that I had ordered over the phone (cash and an actual ticket). Cash is accepted throughout the ballpark, and nobody suffers for it. When I approached the park from the outfield entrance, I was surprised by the extensive construction in the concourse. Since the Cubs came to town in 2015, the ballpark has undergone multiple renovations, many on the concourses to accommodate the larger crowds. Right now, the area is a mess, but fan flow hasn’t been curtailed and the Tiki Hut (bar), Cubs Den (store) and the Kids Zone were rocking.

While Sundays at minor league parks are always family-themed events, the Cubbies went overboard. The first 1,000 fans received an Ivy bobblehead (the female mascot), there was usual pregame catch on the field and a 25-minute autograph session with 20 players on the concourse. Representatives from the South Bend Historical Museum and reps for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League were on hand to honor the South Bend Blue Sox. The Cubs wore light blue jerseys in honor of the women and the team was auctioning them off during and after the game.

With two hours to kill before the 2:05 first pitch, I pocketed my bobble, stopped in at the first aid station, grabbed my pocket schedules, Cubs Connection, complimentary (36-page, full color) program with a nice scorecard, a separate scoresheet, full rosters and updated stats sheet. What the Quad Cities lacked in marketing, the Cubs made up for the lapse. The program was ideal for the casual fan or a knucklehead like me.

Four Winds offers fans with plenty of affordable seating options, however outfield berm seating is limited, but park benches and seats in the bleacher area are plentiful and the only area in the ballpark “not protected” by netting.

With the Cubs occupying the first base dugout, players access the field from the right field concourse/Performance Center where they take batting practice (open during the game for fans). The route to the field offers autograph collectors another opportunity to interact with the team. Beating the crowd, I was able to talk with catcher Miguel Pabon about what to expect from starting pitcher, Kenten Egbert.

I really appreciated the updated stats sheet as it’s much easier to consume than anything online. As one might expect from two underperforming, lousy teams, the numbers weren’t promising. The Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins) entered the game 9-10, and the Cubs 6-14. It came as no surprise that this was a battle of the hitless wonders. Both weak sisters entered the battle with matching .202 batting averages. Somehow, despite the one game deficiency, South Bend had hit 12 homers to Beloit’s 6. And as Shakira said, “The numbers they don’t lie,” the starting pitchers weren’t any more promising. Egbert entered the game with a 6.75 ERA in three miserable starts with Will Schomberg making his first start of the year after a 7.56 ERA in four relief appearances. I guess with team batting averages hovering above the Uecker Line ever so precariously, I shouldn’t have been surprised that 12 of the 18 starting position players were hitting below .200.

This figured to be a classic match between anemic hitting and truly awful pitching. Something would have to give or maybe not.