WINNIPEG GOLDEYES DAILY CLIPPINGS

FRIDAY, JULY 24th , 2020

- Goldeyes Add Former MLB Brandon Cumpton— Sun, 7/24/20 - RedHawks Pitcher Hagens Has Wife and Daughter Virtually in His Corner This Summer as He Racks Up —INFORUM (Eric Peterson), 7/24/20 - Goldeyes Win Double Header in Fargo—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Steve Schuster), 7/23/20 - Goldeyes Sweep Doubleheader—Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, 7/23/20 - July 23 rd Game 2 Highlights (Video Link)—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Jason Young, 7/23/20 - July 23 rd Game 1 Highlights (Video Link)—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Jason Young), 7/23/20 - RedHawks Drop Double Header to Winnipeg (Audio Link)—KFGO Fargo (Josh Lynnes), 7/23/20 - Goldeyes Relievers Making a Big Contribution—Winnipeg Sun, 7/23/20 - Goldeyes Sign Former Major Leaguer Cumpton—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Steve Schuster), 7/23/20 - Goldeyes Aim to Tighten Defence as Runs Pile Up League-Wide—Winnipeg Sun, 7/22/20 - Interview (Audio Link)—TSN 1290 Winnipeg (Darrin Bauming), 7/20/20 - in Middle America: Fans Are In, Autographs Are Out—New York Times (Tim Arango), 7/20/20

GOLDEYES ADD FORMER MLB PITCHER BRANDON CUMPTON WINNIPEG SUN – FRIDAY, JULY 24 th The Goldeyes bolstered their pitching staff in a big way on Thursday with the addition of former major-league right-hander Brandon Cumpton.

Cumpton pitched for the from 2013-14. After Tommy John surgery sidelined the 31-year-old during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Cumpton returned all the way back to the majors in 2018 with the .

“We started out slow with our starting pitching, and needed to make some decisions and try to find someone with experience,” Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said. “Brandon wants to work, and he’s anxious to pitch and compete. He stretched himself out at home and was looking for a place to play, so I’m glad we have him in here. Hopefully that veteran experience can help us stabilize the starting rotation a little bit.”

Cumpton totaled 102.1 innings at the major-league level, compiling a 4.05 ERA and a 3.06 FIP (fielding independent pitching), a metric scaled to ERA that strictly measures the factors within a pitcher’s control.

The 6-foot-2 righty is one of several players who recently signed in the American Association following the cancellation of the season. Cumpton had signed with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in January. Former American Association all-stars Nate Samson and Alonzo Harris signed with the St. Paul Saints last week due to similar circumstances.

Last year, Cumpton logged 83.0 innings for the Atlantic League’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, posting a 4.88 ERA and a 3.86 FIP.

During his major-league debut on June 15, 2013, Cumpton struck out five batters over five innings in a no-decision versus the . Just over a month later, Cumpton threw seven shutout innings on just three hits against the St. Louis Cardinals to record his first major-league win.

Cumpton helps round out a Goldeyes rotation that includes returnees Mitchell Lambson, Kevin McGovern, and Kevin Hilton, as well as newcomer Frank Duncan. The first three have all been American Association all-stars within the past three years, while Duncan was a Can-Am League all-star in 2019 and pitched seven scoreless innings in a win at Fargo-Moorhead on Tuesday.

The Goldeyes entered Thursday second in the six-team American Association with a 4.68 team ERA. Excluding the six innings this season in which the Goldeyes have surrendered five or more runs, Winnipeg is averaging just 3.1 runs per game across the remaining 140.0 innings.

REDHAWKS PITCHER HAGENS HAS WIFE AND DAUGHTER VIRTUALLY IN HIS CORNER THIS SUMMERAS HE RACKS UP STRIKEOUTS ERIC PETERSON – INFORUM – FRIDAY, JULY 24 th is more than 1,600 miles from Chandler, Ariz., the Phoenix suburb where Bradin Hagens makes his offseason home.

The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks pitcher has used technology to help close that distance gap between him and his wife, Tasha, and Mila, their 18- month-old daughter.

Hagens tries to FaceTime his family at least one hour per day since he arrived in Fargo for the American Association baseball season that started late in early July due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It definitely helps for sure, being able to see my daughter do some funny things and witness it somewhat live is awesome,” Hagens said. “I’m definitely not there, but it puts a closer feel to being there when she is doing stuff and playing around.”

Hagens leads the American Association in strikeouts through his first five appearances, including four starts. He has 39 strikeouts in 24 innings and has struck out at least nine batters in each of his four starts. He scheduled to make his next start Saturday, July 25, at Newman Outdoor Field.

“I would say it’s almost a lot out of the norm for me, but I would like it to become the new norm,” Hagens said of the high rate. Hagens is averaging 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings this season, while his professional career average at all levels over 12 seasons is 6.2 strikeouts per nine. He pitched for the , appearing in two games during the 2014 season, and was with Class Triple-A Reno for a season last summer.

“I think the reason why he strikes out guys is because when you watch him without a radar gun it looks like it’s about 88 maybe 89 (mph) and the ball is moving every different direction and then the radar gun will show 93, 94," RedHawks manager Chris Coste said. "I think that’s why he’s able to surprise guys.”

Hagens features a five-pitch blend with three different fastballs, a changeup and a curveball, and has the ability to locate all pitches to both sides of the plate.

“I like to be in the zone, I like to throw strikes, but I also try to move the ball around and change speeds on them. All those kinds of things benefit me as a pitcher,” said Hagens, who is 1-2 with a 4.13 ERA. “There’s definitely things that I can improve upon, but that’s never going to change in the game of baseball. If you feel like you’ve got it figure out, you’re in the wrong spot.”

Coste added: “He’s got so many weapons that he can throw at any given time and then the deceiving velocity, that’s a recipe for strikeouts.”

Hagens said it wasn’t too tough a decision to come play in Fargo this summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic with the safety precautions the American Association and RedHawks have in place. The 31-year-old added it helped having a strong support system behind him with his wife and family.

“They were pushing me to do what I love to do and keep trying to get back to the big leagues,” Hagens said. “My wife was in full support of me coming out here.”

Hagens cherishes the daily video calls he makes with Tasha and Mila, especially since his daughter can have “somewhat of conversation” with him, more than she could a year ago.

“When I ask her to give me a hug and (Mila) takes the phone and she hugs the phone, that gives me good feelings,” Hagens said. “It brings me closer to being there even though I am not.”

Hagens said this shortened American Association season has felt closer to normal than he expected, despite the COVID-19 guidelines in place to keep players and fans healthy. The 60-game regular season started July 3 and is slated to run through Sept. 10. The American Association usually starts in May with a 100-game regular season.

“The baseball side of it feels pretty normal,” Hagens said. “It’s more of the off-the-field requirements as far as taking precautions with a mask and the testing and social distancing while you’re out and all that kind of stuff. That’s the difference.”

Hagens said he hasn’t gone out to eat too much during the season in an effort to stay safe. At the gym, he tries to keep his physical distance while getting in his workouts.

“If the gym is crowded, sometimes I feel like I’ve got to be in a corner, taking care of myself, getting my stuff in,” Hagens said. “Wearing a mask while working out is kind of different for me, but it’s something I’ve gotten used to now. Not a huge deal once you get in a groove.”

Major League Baseball started its 60-game season Thursday, July 23, while there is no Minor League baseball this season. Hagens said that could provide an opportunity for American Association players who are having strong seasons.

“You just never know where a team is going to have to go to get someone who is game ready. That’s definitely a motivation there,” Hagens said. “It does bode well for us to be able to have that live game action and be used to the adrenaline and reading swings being out there on the mound.

“I think it’s a good option for teams to go to. I think there could be numerous guys who have chances to get picked up out of this league this year and I hope it happens. We are ready. That’s what we’re here for. We want to compete and we want to get to the highest level.”

Coste said he's well aware that a talent like Hagens is going to be on the radar for Major League teams as well as clubs in pro leagues in Korea and Japan.

"I think there is a relatively strong chance that he's not with us the whole year," Coste said. "He's just too valuable."

GOLDEYES WIN DOUBLE HEADER IN FARGO STEVE SCHUSTER – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – THURSDAY, JULY 23 rd FARGO, ND – The Winnipeg Goldeyes (11-8) won both ends of a double header from the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Newman Outdoor Field on Thursday night, winning 2-1 in the opener and 8-4 in the nightcap.

It was the Goldeyes’ first double header win since August 1 st , 2017 at Sioux City.

In the top of the second of the first game, Wes Darvill drew a four-pitch, one-out walk. On a third strike to Kevin Lachance , Darvill stole second, and then came around to score the game’s first run when catcher Blake Grant-Parks’ throw deflected into centre field.

John Nester singled to right-centre with one out in the fifth and advanced to second on a Roy Morales groundout to second. On a two-strike count, Darvill lined a single to centre that scored Nester to make it 2-0.

Dario Pizzano lined a solo to left with one out in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Goldeyes’ lead in half.

Fargo-Moorhead (7-12) threatened against Goldeyes’ starter Kevin Hilton in the bottom of the sixth, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Jose Jose came in from the bullpen, and retired the next three batters in a row to preserve the one-run lead. Lachance helped record the final out of the inning, ranging far up the middle to make a backhanded pickup on a Jordan Patterson groundball. Lachance completed the play on Patterson with a leaping throw to first.

The RedHawks put the tying run on first with two outs in the bottom of the seventh against Victor Capellan . With Christian Ibarra running on a full count, Grant-Parks hit a short flyball to right. Logan Hill charged forward and made a diving catch to secure the final out as Ibarra was rounding third base.

Capellan earned his third save of the season, and his 67 th all-time in the American Association. Capellan is now three saves back of Kris Regas for the league’s all-time record.

Hilton (3-0) picked up the win, allowing one on four hits in five-plus innings. Hilton walked one and struck out two.

John Anderson (0-1) started for the RedHawks and took the loss, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits in four and two-thirds innings. Anderson walked one and struck out five.

The Goldeyes scored twice in the top of the first of game two. reached on a one-out, bloop single down the right field line, and took third when Eric Wood’s groundball to shortstop went under Ibarra’s glove for an error. Kyle Martin ripped a single to right that scored Sweeney, while Hill followed with a double down the left field line that plated Wood.

Morales singled to centre leading off the second, and eventually scored the Goldeyes’ third run when Wood hit a two-out single to right.

Hill singled with one out in the top of the third, stole second, and came home on a pair of wild pitches to stretch Winnipeg’s lead to 4-0.

Darvill doubled down the left field line leading off the top of the fourth, and scored on a two-out, RBI single through the right side from Martin.

After the RedHawks scored twice in the bottom of the fourth on RBI doubles from Leobaldo Pina and Ibarra, the Goldeyes re-extended their lead to 8-2 with three runs in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and no outs, Darvill lifted a sacrifice fly to centre that scored Jonathan Moroney . Two batters later, Sweeney lined a single to centre that brought home Jordan George and Morales.

Fargo-Moorhead scored a run in the bottom of the fifth on a Pina bases loaded walk, and another in the sixth on a Brennan Metzger solo home run.

Nate Antone struck out four batters over the final two innings to finish off the game.

Justin Kamplain (1-0) picked up the win in relief.

Brandon Cumpton started for the Goldeyes and took a no-decision, allowing two earned runs on six hits in four innings. Cumpton walked none and struck out three.

Ryan Thurston (1-2) started for the RedHawks and took the loss, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in two and one-third innings. Thurston walked one and struck out three.

Martin has hit safely in seven straight games. Seven of the Goldeyes’ 10 runs in the double header were scored with two outs.

The Goldeyes and RedHawks open a new three-game series at Newman Outdoor Field on Friday night at 7:02 p.m. The Goldeyes will serve as the home team. All the action can be heard locally on 93.7 FM CJNU and worldwide at www.cjnu.ca

For information on Goldeyes’ merchandise and 2021 season tickets, visit the Goldeyes’ official website at www.goldeyes.com

GOLDEYES SWEEP DOUBLEHEADER FARGO-MOORHEAD REDHAWKS – THURSDAY, JULY 23 rd FARGO, N.D. – The Winnipeg Goldeyes (11-8) did not trail the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (7-12) over the two seven-inning games of Thursday night’s doubleheader at Newman Outdoor Field on their way to 2-1 and 8-4 victories, respectively.

The Goldeyes got a great outing from Kevin Hilton (3-0), who gave up one run on four hits over 5.0 , in Game 1 to help the visitors to victory against F-M starter John Anderson (0-1). Anderson gave up one earned run on four hits in 4.2 innings pitched to earn his first loss of the season.

Dario Pizzano hit his first home run of the season in the fifth inning of Game 1, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 2-0 deficit. The ‘Hawks registered just five hits in the loss.

In the nightcap, Winnipeg raced to a 5-0 lead before the RedHawks got on the board, and three more runs for the Goldeyes in the fifth inning were enough to keep the visitors ahead after seven innings in an 8-4 win.

The RedHawks got six hits off former MLB pitcher Brandon Cumpton (0-0), who made his first start for the Goldeyes and gave up two runs in 4.0 innings. It was Justin Kamplain who earned the win for Winnipeg after pitching one inning of relief and giving up one run in the fifth.

Ryan Thurston (1-2), normally a reliever, earned the loss for Fargo-Moorhead after giving up two earned runs in 2.1 innings in a spot start. Ryan Flores (0-0) came on to give up four runs on four hits in 4.0 innings pitched to finish the game for the RedHawks.

The RedHawks and Goldeyes will shift home and road designations on Friday as a three-game home series for the Goldeyes begins at Newman Outdoor Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:02 p.m.

VIDEO: JULY 23 rd GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS JASON YOUNG – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – THURSDAY, JULY 23rd LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE6mKEyeocE

VIDEO: JULY 23 rd GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS JASON YOUNG – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – THURSDAY, JULY 23rd LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwTpwiHFl_I

AUDIO: REDHAWKS DROP DOUBLE HEADER TO WINNIPEG JOSH LYNNES – KFGO FARGO – THURSDAY, JULY 23 rd LINK: https://kfgo.com/2020/07/23/redhawks-drop-doubleheader-to-winnipeg/ FARGO, ND - The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks drop both games of a doubleheader to the Winnipeg Goldeyes 2-1 and 8-4 Thursday night.

In the first game of the doubleheader the Goldeyes got out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Wes Darvill stole second base, a throwing error on the play allowed Darvill to score.

Darvill would drive in John Nester with an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning to give Winnipeg a 2-0 lead.

The RedHawks cut the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with a Dario Pizzano solo home run over the left field wall making it 2-1 Goldeyes.

Fargo-Moorhead threatened in both the sixth and seventh innings getting runners in scoring position but were unable to complete the comeback.

Winnipeg wasted little time getting on the board in the second game as a Kyle Martin RBI single drove in Darnell Sweeney in the top of the first inning. Logan Hill hit an RBI double plating Eric Wood to take a 2-0 lead for the Goldeyes.

Wood drove in Roy Morales in the top of the second inning to lift Winnipeg to a 3-0 lead.

Logan Hill scored on a wild pitch in the top of the third inning taking a 4-0 lead for the Goldeyes.

Martin added to the Goldeyes lead with an RBI single that plated Wes Darvill in the top of the fourth inning.

Fargo-Moorhead got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Leo Pina drove in Drew Ward with an RBI double. Pina would score on a Christian Ibarra RBI double to make it 5-2 Goldeyes.

Winnipeg got some separation in the top of the fifth inning beginning with a Darvill sacrifice fly that pushed Jonathan Moroney across the plate. Sweeney drove in 2 more runs to give the Goldeyes an 8-2 lead.

Pina drew a walk in the bottom of the fifth inning that plated Alex Boxwell cutting the Goldeyes lead to 8-3.

Brennan Metzger hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 8-4 Goldeyes.

The RedHawks and Goldeyes begin a new series Friday night, pregame at 6:40 p.m. first pitch 7:02 p.m. on 740 The Fan and 107.3FM.

GOLDEYES RELIEVERS MAKING A BIG CONTRIBUTION WINNIPEG SUN – THURSDAY, JULY 23 rd With seven games scheduled for his team over six calendar days this week, Goldeyes manager Rick Forney is pleased with how his bullpen is taking shape.

Entering the game against Fargo-Moorhead on Wednesday, Goldeyes relievers owned a 3.53 ERA in 63.2 combined innings.

The bullpen received a major boost over the weekend when left-hander Jose Jose was activated from the Reserve List. Jose, who turned 30 years old on Monday, has averaged 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings since converting into a pitcher in 2010.

Jose made his season debut Sunday in the rubber match of the Goldeyes’ series with the , and protected a one-run lead with a scoreless top of the eighth.

“Really good,” Forney said on Jose’s outing on Sunday. “He knows what he’s doing out there and keeps the ball down in the zone. He had nice downhill plane on his fastball, and has a good change-up he can throw in any count. He showed a lot of poise, and looked like the veteran that you’d expect him to look like.”

That poise was on display again Tuesday in the Goldeyes’ 5-0 win over the RedHawks. With two outs and a runner on base in the eighth, Jose appeared to have struck out dangerous slugger Correlle Prime with a fastball away. It was ruled outside, but Jose recovered on the very next pitch and got Prime to swing over the top of a change-up.

Forney is also impressed by first-year Goldeyes reliever Nate Antone, who spent the majority of the first three years of his career in the Frontier and Can-Am Leagues.

“Nate’s done a good job for us,” Forney said of the 29-year-old Antoni. “He’s pitching in an experienced league for the first time, and learning how to compete at this level and with this peer group. His fastball’s good when he’s pounding the zone and attacking with it, and when he gets his slider down and away, he’s a tough match up.”

Antone has not allowed a run in five of his first seven relief appearances, and has settled into a late-inning role. His fastball routinely has sat in the 94 to 95 m.p.h. range.

“I feel like our bullpen has a really good situation going on,” said Forney. “Our starters don’t have to go seven, eight or nine innings. If they’re on top of their game that day and give us seven or eight, then that’s a bonus. But we have the ability to shorten the game up.”

REDHAWKS USE OPENER Speaking of shortening the game, the RedHawks utilized what has unofficially been dubbed the “opener” in recent years.

Right-hander Cale Coshow, primarily a late-inning reliever throughout his career, started Wednesday’s game before giving way to scheduled starting pitcher Ryan Williams. Coshow (pronounced KOH-show) was used in a similar manner last Friday when the RedHawks played at Chicago.

Several MLB teams employ the strategy, most notably the Tampa Bay Rays.

Data revealed the first inning is the highest-scoring inning, largely due to the guarantee of a team’s best hitters coming to the plate.

The premise is to use a high-leverage reliever to get through the first inning, which helps minimize the chances of falling behind early. A more traditional starter then follows the opener, and in theory, should have an easier time working through a lineup more than once.

GOLDEYES SIGN FORMER MAJOR LEAGUER CUMPTON STEVE SCHUSTER – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – THURSDAY, JULY 23 rd WINNIPEG, MB – The Winnipeg Goldeyes signed former Major League right-handed pitcher Brandon Cumpton on Thursday.

Cumpton will start the second game of Thursday’s double header at Fargo-Moorhead.

Cumpton posted a 3.86 fielding independent pitching (FIP) in 83.0 innings (15 starts) last year for the Atlantic League’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. The Augusta, Georgia native struck out 73, walked 34, and allowed just six home runs. Cumpton’s 1.6 wins above replacement (WAR) ranked sixth in the Atlantic League among with less than 90.0 innings. The 31-year-old right-hander also made five starts and one relief appearance for the Mexican League’s Pericos de Puebla in 2019.

Cumpton has logged 102.1 total innings in the Major Leagues, first with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2013-14, and again with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018. Cumpton owns a 4.05 ERA and a 3.06 FIP at the Major League level, striking out 70 while allowing only 25 walks and three home runs. His resume includes Major League strikeouts of Joey Votto, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez.

Cumpton is in his ninth season of , and was drafted by the Pirates in the ninth round in 2010 out of Georgia Tech University (Atlanta, Georgia). The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Cumpton is 54-60 lifetime with two saves and a 4.22 ERA in 183 career games, 141 of them as a starting pitcher. Cumpton has averaged just 2.8 walks and 0.6 home runs per nine innings in 853.2 career frames. Cumpton struck out five batters during his Major League debut on June 15 th versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, and picked up his first Major League win on July 30 th of that same year after pitching seven shutout innings versus the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a double header. Cumpton managed his way back to the Majors with Toronto after Tommy John Surgery sidelined him during the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

The Goldeyes active roster now stands at 22 of a possible 23 players.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes play a double header against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Newman Outdoor Field tonight. Game one is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. All the action can be heard locally on 93.7 FM CJNU and worldwide at www.cjnu.ca

For information on Goldeyes’ merchandise and 2021 season tickets, visit the Goldeyes’ official website at www.goldeyes.com

GOLDEYES AIM TO TIGHTEN UP DEFENCE AS RUNS PILE UP LEAGUE-WIDE WINNIPEG SUN – WEDNESDAY, JULY 22 nd Just more than two weeks into the American Association’s abbreviated 2020 season, it has been — for the most part — business as usual for the six teams involved.

While daily temperature checks and social distancing within locker rooms have added new wrinkles to age-old processes, the general consensus among players and coaches is that baseball itself has provided a much-needed sense of normalcy amidst the chaos.

One on-field trend has caught a few uniformed personnel by surprise. Offence across the board has been plentiful.

Entering Tuesday, the American Association was averaging 5.9 runs per team per game. By comparison, the league averaged 4.9 runs per game from 2017-19 combined. The league ERA sits at 5.18, meaning a pitcher with a 5.00 ERA would be considered above average as of right now.

“Who really knows anything in 2020,” Goldeyes’ manager Rick Forney laughed when asked if higher-scoring games may be a new normal this summer. “For our team, we were struggling to execute pitches consistently (last week), and that can lead to some lopsided scores, so hopefully we can get our pitching staff stabilized.”

The Goldeyes entered Tuesday third out of six teams in ERA. Their biggest issue through the first 15 games hasn’t been pitching per se, as much as it has been limiting the big inning.

Of the 85 runs the Goldeyes have allowed this season, 41, or nearly half, have been scored by the opposition in just six innings. The Saints hung a 10 spot on the Goldeyes in Sioux Falls last Tuesday. In the nightcap of Saturday’s double header, the Canaries managed five in the first and seven more in the third.

“If we get some guys that can give us some quick, one-two-three innings, we feel like our offence can be as good as anybody in the league,” said Forney. “It’s just hard to produce offence when you’re playing defence for 15 to 20 minutes per half inning and giving up crooked numbers.”

If you eliminate the six innings in which the Goldeyes have surrendered five runs or more, Winnipeg’s runs per game average drops to an extremely competitive 3.22. Bookending the 13-7 loss in the second half of Saturday’s twin bill, the Goldeyes held a potent Sioux Falls lineup to six total runs in a pair of wins.

Even under normal circumstances, pitching usually tracks ahead of the hitting early in the season. Forney points out two factors that might be contributing to the increased league-wide offence.

With Sioux Falls Stadium hosting both the Canaries and Saints this season, one-third of the entire league’s games are effectively being played at the “Bird Cage.” Since 2011, Sioux Falls Stadium has allowed 46% more home runs than the average American Association venue.

“I mean, it can be tough,” said Forney. “When you’re in Sioux Falls, as everybody knows, anything can happen, and it’s not uncommon to see a high- scoring game.”

Forney also posited the reduced number of teams could lead to hitters familiarizing themselves with opposing pitchers much sooner than they otherwise would.

“It can be a little bit of a tougher task for the pitchers, because you’re going to face a lot of the same hitters throughout the season,” Forney added. “It’s not like you’ve got 11 other teams that you get to pitch against, and at the end of the day, it’s going to boil down to your starting pitcher that day and how well he can execute pitches.”

ROSTER MOVES The Goldeyes made several roster moves in advance of Tuesday’s series-opener. Catcher Ryan Lidge was traded to the in exchange for a player to be named later. Lidge appeared in three games at the beginning of the season before he was placed on the Reserve List.

Pitchers McKenzie Mills and Dylan Rheault were both released from the active roster. Mills took the loss in the second game of Saturday’s double header, allowing 11 earned runs in two and one-third innings. Rheault is recovering from a non-throwing related, upper-body injury and is hoping to rejoin the team later this month.

The Goldeyes’ active roster stands at 21 of a possible 23 players.

AUDIO: KASH BEAUCHAMP INTERVIEW DARRIN BAUMING – TSN 1290 – MONDAY, JULY 20 th LINK (interview begins at 1:12:06): https://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/the-don-vito-roundtable-july-20th-2020-1.1497591

BASEBALL IN MIDDLE AMERICA: FANS ARE IN, AUTOGRAPHS ARE OUT TIM ARANGO – NEW YORK TIMES – MONDAY, JULY 20 th FARGO, N.D. — Forget about everything else for a moment and take a look at this:

The retired No. 8, worn in this city by Roger Maris, Fargo’s revered son, on the facade over first base. The red-white-and-blue bunting draped over the railings. The ballplayers warming up down the foul lines.

The people are finding their seats, and somewhere the big red mascot is getting ready. Any minute now the umpires will arrive, fully dressed and carrying their and walking straight from the parking lot to the field.

It came late, but here it is: opening day.

The last time the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks played a game was in September.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen in the months to come,” Jack Michaels, the team’s radio man for a quarter-century, barks to his audience. “But all I know is this: 297 days later, fans are in the stands, teams are in the dugouts and baseball is back.”

Major League Baseball will start its pandemic-shortened season this week, but there will be no fans in the stands. The minor league season was canceled, depriving dozens of small towns of baseball this summer. Two prominent independent leagues, the Atlantic League and the , are also not playing.

That leaves us with four cities in Middle America — Fargo; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Franklin, Wis.; and Rosemont, Ill. — where professional baseball is being played in front of fans, cautiously, joyfully, but hardly normally.

After months of uncertainty, the American Association , an independent league where players make about two-grand a month and whose rosters are filled with former minor leaguers and sprinkled with former big leaguers, began its season over the Fourth of July weekend.

Six teams in four cities. Blocked from hosting games in Canada, the Winnipeg Goldeyes are playing their home games in Fargo, where the dimensions of Newman Outdoor Field are those of Yankee Stadium, a homage to Maris. The St. Paul Saints will play theirs in Sioux Falls, where for a recent series they dressed in a hockey arena that was hosting a Professional Bull Riders competition and walked across a parking lot, cleats crunching on the pavement, to get to the field.

“Right now there are a lot of things to think about,” said Chris Coste , the interim manager of the RedHawks, who has played at every level of professional baseball, from right here in Fargo to the Mexican League to the Philadelphia Phillies. “Fans. Public health. Players’ health. Winning games. It’s almost always just about the baseball on opening day.

“But today it’s about a little more than just baseball.”

A Fresh Start Just baseball is enough for Nancy and Terry Peterson. They have missed only one opening day in Fargo since 1996, and said getting back to the ballpark, and reclaiming a measure of normalcy and ritual, was worth the risk. But signs of the pandemic are all around: A local distillery, a maker of whiskey and gin, provides hand sanitizer stations; all employees, as well as the umpires, wear masks; every other row of seats is roped off to enforce social distancing.

The Petersons are in line early because the team is selling only a limited number of general admission tickets — about half the stadium’s capacity of 4,500, in accord with virus protocols — and they want to get their usual seats.

Once inside, Terry Peterson is overjoyed: “Baseball is back. Cold beer. The sun is shining.”

In the bottom of the third, Blake Grant-Parks , a former prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays system, crushes the first home run of the year, over the left-field wall. On the field, the RedHawks — heeding warnings to avoid touching one another — are all smiles and awkward, phantom high-fives. They are also not supposed to spit sunflower seeds or dip tobacco, but if you look closely, you will see that these baseball vices are difficult to break. Signing autographs and tossing foul balls into the stands are also forbidden.

In the bottom of the ninth, Dario Pizzano comes to the plate. A former Ivy League player of the year at Columbia who played at Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners, Pizzano, 29, spent the early months of the pandemic with his fiancée in their Hoboken apartment, hoping for a season. In Fargo, he keeps a rally going with a line-drive single to right.

Social distancing is forgotten in the excitement of the moment, now filled with bumping fists and slapping backs. The RedHawks’ rally falls short, but by the time the postgame fireworks begin, and with Bruce Springsteen blaring from the loudspeakers, it felt as if the American summer had been restored.

‘There’s No Script for This’ Each day when the players arrive at the ballpark in Fargo, they meet an intern at the entrance who takes their temperature and reads from a printed sheet. “To the best of your knowledge,” the question begins, “have you had direct close contact with anyone who has tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours?”

Every day in the league unfolds against an undercurrent of anxiety.

Already there has been a scare: Two players on the tested positive for the coronavirus and a game was canceled. The players were pulled from their apartments, or the homes of their host families, including the center fielder who is living with the team’s owner, and quarantined in a hotel until everyone was retested and cleared to play.

“There’s no script for this,” said Duell Higbe, the general manager of the Sioux Falls Canaries. “Nobody’s done this before. We’re rolling with the punches every single day.”

Unlike the major leagues, which can count on revenue from television, playing without fans was never an option for the American Association.

“Zero chance,” said Brad Thom, the president of the RedHawks. “Fans are our lifeblood.”

Even so, each team, no matter how successful the season, is likely to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It’s honestly a disaster,” Thom said. “We’re looking at high six figure losses.”

The stadium in Sioux Falls, known as the Birdcage, was built in the late 1960s and has all the asymmetric charms of an old ballpark: odd angles and nooks in the outfield, a grassy berm that juts out past third base above an old-timey scoreboard.

As fans walked in for a recent afternoon game — only a few hundred showed up amid the scorching heat, but they saw their Canaries beat the Saints, 3- 0 — the public-address announcer told fans they assumed the risks of contracting the virus at the ballpark. He urged them to obey social distancing “so we can have baseball here at the Birdcage all summer long.”

Even the mascots have had to adjust.

“The interactions are different,” said Donovan Knott, 23, who is Cagey, the furry, yellow Canaries mascot. “You can’t go take some guy’s hat or rub a bald guy’s head.”

Knott often has a sidekick at the Birdcage: Peep, a small bird otherwise known as Nicholas Ellerbroek . At age 11, he has made a name for himself, appearing at a Chicago Bulls game and in an exhibition at the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Ind.

It took only a few games for the first manager to be ejected for violating social distancing guidelines. That distinction fell on Anthony Barone of the Milkmen, who stepped over the third-base line and argued a bang-bang call at first base.

“You sort of get lost in the game,” he said.

Still Chasing the Dream K.C. Huth, the center fielder for the Canaries, was working out and selling awnings and shade structures in Dallas when the pandemic hit. His gym closed, and the fields where he took batting practice locked their gates.

“Man, I was hopping fences, I was doing everything I could to get on a patch of grass to get ready,” he said.

A handful of major league players, with guaranteed contracts and money in the bank, have decided not to play this season because of health concerns. In the American Association, sitting out was not a realistic option.

“Players play indie ball because they want to get back to affiliated ball,” Rick Forney, the Winnipeg manager, said. “They are still chasing the dream of getting to the big leagues.”

“These guys, their window is short,” he added.

Leobaldo Pina, a Venezuela native and Fargo’s third baseman, spent the off-season feeding cows and cutting grass on a farm in Pennsylvania. Matt Tomshaw, a RedHawks left-hander, was in major league camp with the White Sox in March, and also working as a mortgage analyst. Andrew Ely , who rose to Class AA in the Cubs organization and was Gleyber Torres’s double play partner in rookie ball, is now the shortstop for the Canaries. He also works for a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, researching distressed assets.

There are also other, more pedigreed, players.

Cito Culver, a shortstop for the RedHawks, was the Yankees’ first-round pick in 2010, which briefly made him a possible heir apparent to Derek Jeter. Pitcher Bradin Hagens spent four days with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014. Drew Ward was a third-round draft pick and in big-league camp this spring with the Washington Nationals, expecting to start off in the minors but believing “I would have had a chance going up this year.” Now he is living in the Fargo Inn & Suites and hoping to get back.

Almost all of the players have spent years in the minor leagues or independent ball. This season, though, is life at the lowest rungs of baseball as it has never been. There are fewer bus rides, and hardly any nightlife to speak of.

Manager Mike Meyer of the Canaries said he had trouble sleeping on Saturday nights, knowing he would receive the team’s weekly coronavirus test results the next day.

“This is the most anxious and stressed I’ve been ever in my 20-something seasons in baseball,” he said.

For many fans, though, the return of baseball has meant less anxiety in their lives.

Among them is Jerry Bowman, who since 1994 has owned Seat 17, Section R, Row 10 at the Birdcage. Bowman, 70, is one of the few fans who wears a mask to games, where he is in charge of sliding ‘K’ signs down a zip line behind home plate every time a Canaries pitcher strikes out a batter.

“I was surprised and elated” to hear baseball would return, said Bowman, who spent the first weeks of the pandemic watching old westerns. “It gave me something to do. Being outside, watching baseball. There’s nothing better.”

Just then a visiting batter struck out.

“Excuse me, I have to drop a K,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”