Back at it again...

Kevin Luckow

(Not a member of IBWAA) 

I'm beginning this blog at 12:15 am Thursday morning. Just two hours after the Minnesota Wild decided to make my transition from Hockey Nut to Baseball writing a seamless transition after a choke job for the ages. I was listening to Aaron Gleeman on KFAN on Monday. Gleeman who covered the Minnesota Twins for The Athletic turned down a reassignment with The Athletic and has decided to still cover the Twins on a freelancing basis on his own website. He's a big Minnesota Timberwolves fan. He was asked if he'd want to cover the Wolves for his website. He said he'd rather not so he'd have a team he can just be a fan for and not have to follow as a journalist. This is where I'm at with the Wild. Rob Pannier and I had a podcast that covered the Wild organization, but there are so many Wild podcasts, there was nothing Rob and I could do that could not be found on any other pod. So the fan part of me was crushed tonight.

But I stumbled upon the Explorers Espresso podcast later on and listened to Commissioner Joshua Schaub talk all things American Association with Dan Vaughan. I'm trying to find a spark to my baseball coverage this season. Frankly I was considering making this my final season. The nightly recaps are time consuming and as a 56 year old, I worship sleep much more than I did as a youngster. I felt like I was losing touch with the league as road trips are grueling and expensive. Heck, I didn't even get to Milwaukee last season. And I feel that in order to really be in touch with the league, I need to get out and see some live games, talk to some people, gauge the vibe at parks throughout the league. Anyone can go online and start doing stories regurgitating what they see on a team's roster or whatever they can find on the league website. This year's goal is to get out East as I only went to Kane County last season and make my first ever trip to Winnipeg. We'll see how that plays out with vacation time at the paying job. 

On the podcast Schaub revealed that ground will break on a new ballpark in Blaine, Minnesota on June 3rd. When St. Paul was in the league, it was easier to keep track of the American Association. All the teams were going to roll through St. Paul at some point in the season. And I had an unspoken "seat at the table" on Press Row where I was able to see all the teams and talk to the broadcasters before games. This gives me hope that I can either cover the new Blaine team with a blog and go back to primarily covering one team or be what Derek Sharrer (Saints VP) calls "a league guy", still covering the league but not traveling as much. 

WIth this news also comes the question of who else is coming on board. Schaub said there is a group interested in owning a team. At last year's All Star Game, I was trying to find a way to ask pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett if he was interested in owning a team in the league. He is an owner of a Summer League Collegiate League team and has now dabbled in ownership in Arena Football. So maybe there's a chance?

The Northwoods League continues to snatch up Midwest spots. The latest being Dyersville, Iowa where there will be a team playing at a park to be constructed near the Field of Dreams. I was told there was no interest from the American Association. Probably wise as the Dyersville market could not sustain a professional baseball team. Likely, a Northern League original market will be folding up shop after this season in the Northwoods League. The Rochester Honkers are not renewing their lease at antiquated Mayo Field demanding a new place to play in Rochester. That place does not exist nor will it with the government currently in Rochester. Although the population base is there, Rochester is not a minor league sports town so I'm sure they will never see Collegiate Summer/Pro baseball again. Ironically their owners are also owners of the new Dyersville team, so they may be already planning their escape.

I know it can be frustrating for fans as there is always excitement for new things. But like the saying goes, measure twice, cut once. I saw first hand how over aggressive expansion can be damaging for a league. The ECHL, Double A hockey, put a team in Coralville, Iowa in a brand new downtown arena. What they didn't do was plan for how minor league hockey may be a tough sell in an area where there is a major university miles away with well supported men's and women's sports programs. The Iowa Heartlanders did not market to the college crowd and now find their franchise on "hiatus" for next season, likely to either be sold or relocated. The American Association has done a good job of making sure their current franchises are on solid ground before having expansion. 

Schaub and I found a common ground when it comes to players leaving to play in Mexico or going to "Bananaball". His statement not quoting it directly was that you can't blame guys for going to Mexico as the pay days are better there. And if you're going to play Bananaball, you've likely given up on trying to be a MLB player and have chosen to work in the entertainment business. OK, maybe he said it more tactfully than I typed it. 

So in summary, you guys are still stuck with me, and hopefully when Blaine comes on board, there's room for me at the table to cover a new American Association team with the passion I once held while covering the St. Paul Saints.

I was going to do a season preview. There was a lot of news throughout the American Association this off season. So this weekend in the Sunday Insider we'll examine what to look for with each team this season.

 The recaps will take on a different format this season. Instead of doing recaps which some nights consist of breaking down a box score, I'll be doing a takeaway from each game played. IScore has taken over for Pointstreak, hopes being that it will not have the kinks that made doing recaps tough at times last year, especially extra inning games.

So buckle up, here we go with the 100 game sprint or is it a marathon to Labor Day.