Fishing around in Fargo

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This article was published 01/07/2020 (2241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FARGO, N.D. — Frank Duncan was settling in for the evening. The new Winnipeg Goldeyes pitcher had wrapped up an afternoon of team drills to prepare for the upcoming season and played a round of golf with four of his new teammates. Then, a pot of water on the stove grabbed his attention.

“It’s boiling. It’s boiling,” he blurted.

Baseball. Golf. Cooking. This season was going to be Duncan’s opportunity to put a domestic twist on a career that usually requires living out of a suitcase. This was to be his first season with the Kansas City T-Bones after playing in four major league organizations and spending 2019 in the Can-Am League. Kansas City has been his home for years. He starred at the University of Kansas. His fiancée, whom he proposed to in December, is in Kansas City. Baseball players are accustomed to life on the road, but this was a rare and unique opportunity to be home.

However, the person in charge of boiling water was neither Duncan nor his fiancée. It was his new Goldeyes teammate, catcher Roy Morales. And this wasn’t Duncan’s home in Kansas City. It was a hotel room in Fargo. 

In a matter of weeks, Duncan’s 2020 plans had changed dramatically. First, the American Association postponed the start to its 100-game season owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, on June 12, the league announced plans for a 60-game season, set to start Friday, with only six of the league’s 12 teams participating. The T-Bones aren’t one of them.

If the 28-year-old San Francisco product wanted to play, he would do so with another club. He didn’t hesitate. He wanted to play.

“If you have the opportunity to play and you believe in yourself to play right now, you have to take it,” Duncan said.

“So when the opportunity came up, there was no doubt. Right now, at my age, you never know who is going to watch, and you’re just looking for one break.”

Five days later, 42 players from the six teams not playing in 2020 were chosen in the league’s dispersal draft. The Goldeyes, who will play their home games at Fargo’s Newman Outdoor Field instead of Shaw Park in the Manitoba capital, selected nine of those players, including Duncan and Morales (both from the T-Bones).

“There’s nothing that’s happened in my 30-year career that compares to what’s happening right now and what’s going to happen in the next two months,” Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said. “Not even comparable.”

Changes everywhere

The usual curiosity that comes with opening day has been replaced by a general curiosity of how this AA season will work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the changes for this season:

• Six teams playing in four cities. The six teams are: the Goldeyes, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Sioux Falls Canaries, Milwaukee Milkmen, St. Paul Saints and Chicago Dogs. Four of the six teams will play in their home stadiums. The exceptions are Winnipeg, which will host games in Fargo, and St. Paul, which will host games in Sioux Falls.

• Fans will be allowed at games, but stadium capacity is reduced. Newman Outdoor Field will operate at about 50 per cent capacity, which means a little over 2,000 fans. Every other row of seats will be blocked off, and there will be two empty seats between groups of fans.

• The regular season ends Sept. 10, followed by a best-of-five championship series between the top two teams.

• Roster limits based on player status were eliminated for this season.

“Typically, with a 23-man roster, you’re required to have five rookies and a maximum of five veterans,” said Goldeyes general manager Andrew Collier. “That’s a normal season. This year, the roster rules are wide open.” Teams still have to operate within the league’s salary cap.

• Teams can carry two extra pitchers for the first 10 games. On opening day, teams will have 25 players, 15 of whom are pitchers. After 10 games, rosters are pared down to 23 players, 13 of whom are pitchers.

Safety the priority

On the first day of Goldeyes training camp last week, players were tested for COVID-19. Then, baseball drills followed. While the play between the foul lines may look like it always has, what happens off the diamond will be dramatically different.

Throughout the season, players will undergo daily temperature checks and clubhouse activity is limited. Visiting teams at Newman Outdoor Field will leave the stadium in uniform, since both clubhouses are occupied by the RedHawks and Goldeyes.

“We’re not showering in the clubhouse. We’re not spending much time in there,” said Forney of his team’s activities at their own clubhouse in Fargo. “People are wearing masks in the clubhouse. Basically, go in there and change into your gear and get out.”

Forney and RedHawks manager Chris Coste have met with their players and delivered an identical message: “Don’t let the virus take the jersey off your back.” That means being cognizant of the COVID-19 risk on and off the field

“There are a lot of moving parts we don’t even know about yet,” Coste said. “Fortunately, the areas where we’re playing baseball right now are in good shape. But in no way does that mean we’re taking it lightly.”

Forney said the league has advised the Goldeyes not to comment on the testing results. The league office could not be reached for comment.

Life on the road

Each team and stadium will enforce COVID-19 readiness plans approved by local health departments and government officials. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, so too do local restrictions. The Chicago Dogs were slated to call Milwaukee home, but later gained approval to play in their home stadium in Rosemont, Ill., when the state of Illinois began Phase 4 of its recovery, which included a resumption of outdoor sports with limited fans.

Winnipeg’s hopes of returning to Shaw Park are complicated by the U.S.-Canadian border. Currently, the two countries have mutually agreed to restrict any non-essential travel across the border.

“The Canada-U.S. border would have to open without a restriction for us to have a chance (to return to Winnipeg),” Collier said. “Even if the province allowed us to play in front of fans, even a limited number of fans, if the border is closed, then it’s kind of a nonstarter.”

For Duncan, who will be wearing the Winnipeg uniform for the first time but, at least right away, won’t experience the thrill of pitching in front of 4,000-plus fans at Shaw Park, it’s a missed opportunity.

“I’ve heard unbelievable things about the Goldeyes,” he said. “Playing in Winnipeg sounds like it would be amazing.” 

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