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Playing
Ball
Fans
rally around the Ems, no matter what.
By
Aria Seligmann
There's
a hole in Civic Stadium in the stands above third base that marks
the night I almost lost my head to a foul ball that would have nailed
me between the eyes if I hadn't paid attention to the game for the
first time all night at that very moment. Lucky for me, I saw
the ball coming and ducked, fast. Like half of all Ems spectators,
I'm not scrutinizing stats and mind-melding with the pitcher during
the game. I go because it's fun just to be there.
The Ems count on us non-fans to buy tickets, even
during a lousy season. The fact the hole is still there attests to
the expense the Ems face in the upkeep of a 65-year-old wooden structure.
In fact, if a newer stadium were to be built nearby,
Eugene could lose the Ems and the ambience of this historic ballpark.
The Ems —a Class A short season farm team affiliated
since 2001 with the San Diego Padres — are popular. But minor
league baseball's soaring popularity is a national trend. With major
league baseball's increasing emphasis on money and more frequent players'
strikes, many have soured to it. Plus, the price of tickets makes
going in person out of many fans' reach. But the minors are still
affordable. They're also accessible; kids can show up early, get in,
and get their favorite players' autographs without being stopped by
security.
According to Baseball America and www.minorleaguebaseball.com,
there are 20 minor leagues in North America (including International)
and nearly 200 teams. The minors employ upward of 4,000 players, most
of whom will only play for a year per team. The status of leagues
ascends from the rookie league to Single A, Double A and Triple A.
The career expectancy of one who gets to the majors is five or six
years.
Most players are recruited into the minors out of
college during their sophomore or junior year. Very few will move
up to the majors. But for those in the minors even for a year, the
experience is awesome.
As Ems infielder Jeff Brooks, 22, who's been around
the minors the past couple of years, puts it, "Most of my friends
are in school and working. I'm here playing ball. Not a day goes by
that I don't appreciate what I get to do."
PROSPECTS
It's a hot July afternoon. At 5 pm,
the sun is broiling the Ems parking lot, sending up ripples of heat.
Inside the stadium, the Ems have just finished their practice and
Salem, in red jerseys and black shorts, takes the field to warm up.
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JOSH
ERVIN
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JEFF
BROOKS
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DAVE
PAULEY
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| GM BOB
BEBAN |
Brooks doesn't mind the heat. "It's fun every day
to get out in the sun and jump around," he says. He was a 1997 third-round
pick for the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 1999, he played for Missoula
and ranked second in the Pioneer League in hits (100), third in total
bases (162) and sixth in batting (.331). He drove in the winning run
in the final playoff game to give Missoula the Pioneer League championship.
Brooks was cut by Arizona and played in Yakima last
year, but now he's in Eugene, and the Ems aren't having the best season.
"I just try to do my best wherever they put me," he says. "As long
as I'm playing my best, well...." He changes tenor a little bit. "With
all the work I've put in, it's time for it to start paying off."
Like many players, Brooks fell in love with the game
when he was little, "maybe five or six" with his parents' encouragement.
"They'd drive me hours to play in tournaments," he says.
Most of the players have the same routine. They arrive
for an early workout around 2 pm. Before that, they have individualized
and rehab training. They eat a full meal in the early afternoon. Around
3 pm, they begin routine repetitious skills for 30 to 45 minutes.
Each player earns about $1,000 to $1,500 per month.
Their housing is paid for. They get meal money on the road. Some get
big bonuses from San Diego to entice them to sign, like short stop
Khalil Green, a first-round draft pick out of Clemson, who just got
nearly $2 million.
As far as their future goes, Ems General Manager Bob
Beban says it "runs the gamut from the guy who'd be shocked if he
didn't make it to the big leagues to the guy just trying to make it
to the next level and enjoying the ride along the way." This year,
37 former Ems are in the majors.
Baseball's a cerebral sport. Before and after the
game, the players think about it.
"I like walking back from the field thinking about
stuff I did wrong or right," says Brooks. "I'm kind of a loner. I
like walking back by myself."
Nineteen-year-old pitcher Dave Pauley, eighth round
pick in the 2001 first-year player draft, played rookie league in
Idaho Falls last year and moved up to Eugene this year. He was drafted
straight out of high school. "Last year it was tough being away —
I still talk to my parents every day," he says. "And I miss home-cooked
meals."
Despite the tugging at my maternal heart-strings,
I'm impressed by his mature approach to the job. If he were in college,
he'd likely enjoy his freedom to party. Not that he doesn't get that,
too, but he has to work hard. His eyes are on full season Single A
club Lake Elsinore next year, part of the Padres next level, the California
League. "As a pitcher, what I have to do is get alone time on the
field on days we throw. You have to get your head in the right place
and not in the social stuff. You try to exclude yourself from it on
that day."
Josh Ervin, non-drafted free agent since September
2001, has a grin that greets me a solid 45 seconds before he settles
his 6'2" frame into a stadium seat. He's excited, having just been
called up that day. "I got up at 9 am, got dressed and headed for
the laundrymat because I was all the way out of clean underwear,"
he says. Then he went "from breakfast to the ballpark," he says, adding
"Every day's a great day for baseball."
Ervin calls his career "an interesting ride." He's
from the Northwest, and "just loves being here." Ervin's father is
a ballplayer and got him interested in the game. "We've been on this
journey together and he can sit back and enjoy what's happened," he
says. Besides Benito Santiago, Ervin says, "My dad is my hero."
These guys' openness and genuiness is, pardon, striking.
"There's no jerks in baseball," says Beban.
But as to their charm, Beban warns in his next oxymoronic
breath, "I wouldn't recommend to any woman or girl I've ever known
to date a ballplayer — a woman is disposable to a ballplayer."
Of course, where there are ballplayers, there are
groupies. The Ems hang out at the Wild Duck, Rockin' Rodeo, Taylor's
and the Pita Pit, which serves them a late dinner and stays open 'til
4 am. (Just remember Beban's warning.) Most of the time, the guys
hit the hay around 2 or 3 am. They stay either at the Eugene Hilton
or the Gateway Doubletree.
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KIDS
FIND IT EASY TO GET THEIR FAVORITE PLAYERS' AUTOGRAPHS
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FIELD
OF GREEN
The Ems pump a lot of money into
the community; Beban says it's about a million. On hotel rooms alone
they spend $135,000 per season and each player spends his money in
the community. In addition to the players, the Ems employ 140 people.
Money that goes to EWEB is significant. And, of course, the 4-J School
District owns the stadium. It gets $60,000 in rent for the 38 days
the Ems play there.
About five years ago, the lease agreement changed,
and now the Ems are responsible for the entire upkeep of the 65-year-old
stadium. That's all of the ground maintenance, repairs and improvements.
With city codes being what they are, that gets expensive. Assistant
General Manager Brian Rogers says during February's windstorm, the
outfield wall collapsed, and replacing it to city code cost the Ems
several thousand. All told, the Ems paid $99,600 for stadium improvements
between 1997 and 2001. So far this year, they've spent $20,000.
The Ems have had discussions with other cities about
moving to potential new stadiums, but nothing has ever materialized,
say Beban and Rogers. Still, they would consider having those conversations
in the future. About 15 years ago, Beban talked to then Springfield
mayor Bill Morrisette about moving there, but the conversation didn't
go any further. Now, with talk of a new sports complex going up near
Gateway, another conversation with Springfield seems likely.
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True
Fans
Dave Mendonca, owner of Flicks
and Pics ,is a member of SABR, Society of American Baseball
Research. Eugene has several members, who meet at Borders the
28th of every month and talk about baseball. They each read
different books and tell the others about them. Sometimes they
go to Ems games.
Mendonca is a true fan — he waxes philosophical
and poetic about the lore of baseball. He played it growing
up and now plays softball, three nights a week. "If I weren't
married I'd play seven, it's a compromise," he says.
Mendonca says baseball is a passion that has
grown stronger over the years, and he gets that faraway look
in his eyes all True Fans do when you ask them about the sport.
Mendonca says his deepest memories are tied in with the game.
"The day my son was born, I remember holding him watching the
Giants play the Braves. Jack Clark hit a home run that day.
In '78 I was holding my son while I watched the Yankees in the
World Series."
Mendonca likes the game because it is "timeless,
with no boundaries. It could go on forever; there's no time
limit. There's no end in that sense, theoretically. When you're
talking about mortality, things like that have an appeal.
"I hesitate to use the word love," he says.
"Because an old teacher of mine said you can't love something
that can't love you back. But then," his voice lowers, "We weren't
talking about baseball."
— Aria Seligmann
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CIVIC
MINDED
But both Rogers and Beban say the ambience of an older
stadium is what keeps people coming back; it's what the ballplayers
love and it's what garnered Civic Stadium a place in Baseball America's
Top 10 stadiums in America. "If you have an older ballpark," the magazine
said, "this is how you want to run it."
That means amenities and fan-friendliness, says Beban.
"If you're a fan, you'll come no matter what, but if you're a non-fan,
you're not going to come if the bathrooms aren't clean.
"We're not interested in leaving Eugene and this stadium
is a classic," Beban continues. "It's a treasure. Everyone who comes
out is very proud of that and recognizes that."
But he's also quick to add, "I would talk to Springfield
about their complex. I wouldn't consider it leaving Eugene. I consider
it all one thing. If the New York Giants and Jets can play in New
Jersey, I don't think it's a big deal. This is a community and I have
a lot of fans from Springfield."
Rogers is more direct. "This stadium is old. There's
a shortage of bathrooms, the field is uneven and parking is a concern.
We want more reserved seats. If something presented itself from Springfield,
we'd go for it."
Civic Stadium only has 1,100 box seats and 900 sell
each year to season ticket holders. Rogers says that's not enough.
But then he looks out over the field, where workers are hosing down
the diamond's dust. "But we don't want to lose the ambience we have
here," he says. "Nothing's currently in the works and we like what
we have, but there's limitations to everything." Then his eyes focus
on the hills beyond the outfield. "This stadium is so much better
than others," he says. "Sometimes the grass is not greener; we work
our tails off to keep everything afloat."
FAN
FARE
It's after 6 pm and fans begin lining
up outside the gate. Lots of families with kids; moms holding cushions
and dads handing over tickets. At $4.50 a pop, tickets are affordable
for most folks for a family night out. Cheaper than a movie, 'though
a lot of cash will get doled out for concessions. A Budweiser is $3.50
I soon learn. Hell, you'd spend that on a six-pack at the Chopper.
I drop $4.50 for a Hefe. But baseball's about more than beer, much
more, says Beban.
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| IN
REALITY, A SOBER GUY AT HIS FIRST MINOR LEAGUE GAME. |
In his 21 years of running the program, Beban has
learned that popularity has come from a family atmosphere. "Years
ago," he says, "the main promotion was beer nights. That didn't fit
with my philosophy of marketing to the family and we slowly took those
out of our promo calendar. We do lots of marketing to kids now."
Kids are on the field now, looking for their favorite
players to get their autographs.
"No question this is a good safe place to come for
kids. Rarely had any problems with anyone," says Beban.
That's true now, as the game has finally begun. I
look around at the number of kids and try to spot the "non-fans" who
keep the organization financially afloat. Sure, a lot are there for
the onfield promotional "crap." The Budweiser boxing match, the Pizza
Hut toss, the Kit Kat song-off. A lot are there because it's something
to do with the kids during a long, no-school summer.
There're others, too. A Ram Dass look-alike sits down
next to me and tries to wrap his lips all the way round a huge hot
dog loaded with everything he could find to load it with. I think
I know why Dass2 is there — to eat unhealthy food without the
wife nagging him — until he polishes off his Polish and whips
out his scorecard and pen. Dass2 is a serious fan. I look for something
he has in common with everyone else here, and I begin to get it.
And suddenly I'm feeling very patriotic. I come here
every July 4th for the game and fireworks. And I'm surrounded by people
I know. It's a tight community.
But there's more. I think of the history in this game;
the deep roots of American history embedded in the sport. How a player
can "Annie Oakley to first" or hope to be inducted into a Hall of
Fame with superheroes of the past. I think of stories I've heard of
the baseball game extravaganzas that followed World War II.
Somehow, baseball, and minor league baseball in particular,
has held onto that history, that innocence, embedded in our culture.
I decide it represents what's good about our country.
"Being a baseball player is in your heart, Ervin had
said before the game. "The little kid still in you wants to play every
day."
The game is in full swing. Eugene is making errors
and Salem looks sharp.
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KIDS
ARE SAFE IN CIVIC STADIUM.
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"Asher, stay. Stay there, Asher." A mom-holding-a-baby
is pointing to her really little boy who's sitting right in front
of me. "Can you stay right there?" Asher says yes. "On second thought,
you better come with me," says mom-with-baby. But Asher is excited
about staying by himself now.
"I'll watch him," I offer. Mom's not convinced. After
all, I could be some crazy child-stealer. "I won't let him out of
my sight," declares the woman-next-to-Asher. "He's surrounded," says
the woman behind her. Asher's mom is convinced. She walks away to
get pizza, leaving her toddler with total strangers, completely safe.
I don't miss the opportunity to interview Asher. He
reveals that he is 3, "old enough for preschool now," and, in addition
to pizza, he has a fondness for peanuts and Crackerjacks. "Jeff Brooks
coming up to bat," says the announcer. "Go Jeff!" shouts Asher.
I ask Asher if he likes baseball. "Oh yes, I have
a ball, a bat, a glove and a mask," he informs me. I push. I want
to know why he likes baseball. Asher furrows his brow and really
thinks about it. Finally, he shrugs and cuts me off, because his mom
has come back with the pizza. "I don't know," he tells me, "I just
do." l
The Ems ended
up losing the game 13-3 to Salem-Keizer that night, committing five
errors that led to nine unearned runs. Most of the fans cheered for
them anyway.
As we went
to press, the Padres cut Jeff Brooks.
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The
Past
Civic Stadium at 20th and Willamette
has been home to the Emeralds since 1969. It was built in 1938
as a WPA project. Spectators have seen high school football,
soccer, even rodeo there. The land was purchased with a $6,000
city bond and $12,000 raised by the Eugene School District 4J
and area communities. It has been owned by the school district
ever since.
Semi-professional baseball came to Civic Stadium
in the 1940s. During the '40s and '50s, the Cascade League's
Giustina Reds and Eugene Caseys played ball there. Eventually,
the school district became disenchanted with teams like the
Reds and the team moved to a new facility — Bethel Park
on Roosevelt Boulevard. That site also housed the Eugene Larks
and the Emeralds.
In the 1950s, the Eugene Caseys, also civic
leaguers, set up shop at Civic. But they, too, soon left, leaving
Bethel Park the place to see ball.
Ems historian Chris Metz writes, "But baseball
would eventually return to Civic in 1969 as the Ems secured
a berth in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, and thusly outgrew
the smaller confines of Bethel Park. Civic wasn't the club's
first choice to house the new Class AAA version of the Emeralds,
but efforts to build a new facility were shot down as potential
sites couldn't be obtained. With the Class AAA berth and a new
working agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies in the balance,
the Eugene School Board gave its okay to a lease negotiated
with the Ems."
—Aria Seligmann
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