In Tempe, I met up with the guys Eve 6 as the came out of hibernation for Innings Festival, 2026. This one gig stood alone in a blank calendar from October to April, and although rehearsal time came at a premium, the band sounded as good as ever. Entering year 31 of the bands storied careers, Eve 6 continue to impress anyone with ears. Max Collins (bass), Jon Siebels (guitar), and Ben Hilzinger (drums) took some time after their slot to discuss their early days playing gigs at small cafes all the way to a racetrack.

Logan Melia: This is my first time seeing you guys it was an absolute blast you’ve been on my list for a while This set, this environment, a little baseball combination, is this a unique environment? Have you played anything similar to like this guy before? 

Max Collins: I’m trying to think if we’ve ever played anything baseball. 

Jon Siebels: I don’t know. We did something. We did some NASCAR thing years ago. 

Max: We played in Rochester in that baseball field. 

Jon: Oh, yeah. But I think that was just in the field though. I don’t know if that was like a theme. 

Ben Hilzinger: That’s true. Oh, so this is a theme? 

Max: Yeah, this is a theme. This is the kickoff of spring training. 

Logan: Well, for Friday, Sox Cubs. Sox be from like 11 to 1, I think. So we’re off to a good start here. Did some research, on you guys and you played some really cool gigs way back in the day. Cobalt Cafe and Coo’s Cafe. Does that sound familiar? Back in LA, do you remember anything from those days? 

Jon: I remember Coo’s Cafe. 

Max: Yeah, I remember when that Jason guy pepper sprayed our friends. 

Logan: What happened there? 

Max: We were like in high school and people started moshing and he got like afraid, I think. 

Jon: For us, like for the band?

Max: I don’t know. And yeah, he pepper sprayed. 

Logan: Do you have any venues that you’ve loved playing since any any standouts in your mind?

Ben: I actually like the Middle East, the downstairs. It’s the downstairs, the bigger club of two venues in Boston. And it’s almost like there’s a ramp next to the stage and some people are kind of… It smells like poo. Yeah, it smells very bad. They have good, what is it? 

Jon: Indian food. 

Max: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really good food. But it smells like this, but it’s always like a very punk venue. It’s cool. 

Logan: Nice. Are you guys big foodies on tour? Are you checking out local spots in the city as you go? 

Jon: It sort of depends I guess uh we don’t do a lot of like long tours now we’re doing really like stuff like like this like one-off stuff yeah so we just stay by the hotel yeah you know and just eat like the airport yeah. 

Logan: That’s what life’s all about right there is eating junk food and sitting in a hotel. When you’re sitting in a hotel what’s on the TV are we are we talking Pawn Stars, Cash Cab, Family Guy? 

Ben: No TV ever in a hotel yeah I never really watch TV in a hotel TV always is turned off 

Jon: Yeah if anything I’ll watch it like a show on on my iPad or something. yeah I never actually turn on a hotel room TV really well

Ben: I definitely doom scroll and focus on my phone I love the Forensic Files is is definitely on HLN Network absolutely it’s just like an old school like half an hour who done it stuff. 

Logan: If you’re in and out, you get the answer within a half hour, which I don’t like those long docuseries that are four two hour things. I want to know who did it now. When you guys are on the road, are you writing at all or are you just like there to do the show? Or does inspiration strike? 

Max: I mean, the way that we do things now, when we’re doing shows, we’re there to do the show and writing is a different thing that we do when we’re back in our respective homes. ‘Sweet Pea’ starts with… Jon, ‘Sweet Pea’, makes like tracks and beginnings of songs, basically, and then we get together and lyrics and stuff, and then plays all of them. But yeah, so that’s all happening when we’re not traveling. 

Ben: I guess we’ve always sort of been that way. 

Logan: Really? It’s two very separate things. 

Jon: Sometimes like if you have like a new song or whatever, like sometimes we’ll play something at soundcheck or whatever, but we’re not really working on it. 

Logan: What is the first thing you guys play when you pick up your instruments? Either alone, as a group, what’s the first thing? 

Max: I mean, for me, if I’m picking up a guitar before a show, I’m playing, what’s it called? 

Jon: Little Red Light. 

Max: Little Red Light by Fountains of Wayne. That’s been my warmup song for probably, I don’t even know how many years now. 

Logan: Really? What about some good warmup for you? Is it just getting the wheels turned? 

Max: It’s a really nice place. It’s in E. It’s, yeah, it’s just, it’s a great song. I don’t know, it gets my, it moves, and it moves my voice from kind of a low range to kind of a higher range. It’s a good warm-ups. 

Jon: Oh yeah, what about the rest of you guys? I think Tom Petty riffs just always naturally come out when I pick up a guitar. 

Ben: Yeah, I guess for me it depends on if I’m doing a… show like this, I’m just trying to figure out that kit because usually we fly with no kit, so I have to learn the kit. So I’m doing just like six stroke rolls to kind of see where I’m at with everything. But if it’s like an actual, like my kit, probably Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin, that kind of shuffle. Because you can dictate, I know where I’m at. If my shuffle feels good, then it’s going to be a good day.

Logan: What do you do if it’s a bad day? What do you feel off and you got to show that night? Do you do anything to correct yourself? 

Max: Red Bull. Two to three Red Bulls. And large ones, not like the baby ones. 

Logan: Tallboy Red Bulls. 

Max: Well, I want to keep it a buck here. If it’s a large Red Bull, I’m going to do, if it’s like the really big one, I’m going to do like maybe one and a half. But if it’s a small Red Bull, I’m doing three. But today I only did one Red Bull before the show. 

Jon: Because the freeze dried espresso. 

Max: But we also had freeze dried espresso right before that. So I was going to say, I had a good show on one Red Bull, and so maybe I don’t need three anymore, but I didn’t weigh. You don’t freeze dried. I didn’t weigh the conclusions. 

Jon: Let’s not be rash. Yeah, it could be a one off. 

Ben: This is actually like some baseball player stuff. Like, yeah, like if they like, you know, pitcher like wins a game, he won’t like change his hat or like won’t shave or whatever. 

Jon: “He thinks flies are lucky”

Logan: We’re talking numbers real here, real quick here. I saw in an old interview, you said, ‘we were too young to be calculated’, in referring to your very early years. Do you guys feel as though you have a calculation for these shows now, or do you still fly by the seat of your pants a little bit? Do you think there’s a bit of an equation now?

Max: No, I think when we’re like making music, together, it’s just very much about that moment, moving ourselves in that moment and not, I don’t know, I guess when I think of the word calculated as it relates to like making music, I think of, oh, we want to try to make this to have this outcome or something like that. Like we know what the outcome is going to be. 

Jon: And I think for shows, it’s like we’ve been playing some of these songs for so long that there’s just little things that naturally evolve, but we don’t ever sit down and be like ‘hey, you should say this at the point of the set, or anything like that’. It’s just sort of evolved over the years. 

Logan: How does the rehearsal process look like going up for one-off here?

Max: A what?

Logan: A rehearsal process? You got me, you got me. Do you guys get together beforehand, or do you guys just say, Hey, we’ve been playing these songs for a good long time? 

Jon: No, not much. 

Max: We don’t rehearse. We don’t need to rehearse. I mean, there’s on occasion, Ben is a working drummer, he plays with other artists sometimes, so if we need to bring in, if he’s on a tour, we need to bring in someone we’ll do a rehearsal but I mean we’ve all been playing these songs for a long time now they’re it’s just

Jon: Yeah we did yeah we did like a anniversary tour uh in 2018 so like we were playing the full record so a lot of songs that we’ve like basically never played yeah so we rehearsed like for two days for that. 

Logan: Two long days.

Jon: A skinny 2 days. Yeah, it was forty-eight whole hours. 

Max: Yeah, that’s the thing. I’m using the word conspiracy incorrectly. But it’s um okay I don’t think I don’t think bands need to rehearse really I mean especially if you have a soundcheck yeah you want to run a new song or something like that run it a soundcheck why would you need to go and the thing is too is if you show up knowing your own personal material it just takes one little run through and we’re like cool a lot of people show up and just assuming rehearsals just like where you learn the song yeah and then it’s apparently that’s the British way you heard that no I forget who was telling me that like yeah that in in the UK when you go in no one’s expecting you to have learned the songs you like learn all the shit in rehearsal. 

Ben: Interesting I mean I do like that way better because right now in America I have there’s so many days of learning songs that are not paid for yeah sometimes people tell you like a like a few days worth of day that’s a good point that’s probably why yeah yeah it’s like I’m not on the clock learning these songs but now I do it just because it’s so a good gig so scarce so I’ll say yes to whatever you all yeah I’ll work for a week for free just learning songs yeah absolutely yeah it’s the industry 

Eve 6 were alive at Innings Festival, hitting five tracks from their self titled record. The crowd was loving this 3-piece outfit as they threw everything they had at the wall for this one-off gig. The California rockers will be hitting the south with Fastball this April for a handful of gigs, you can find tickets here. Their latest record “Dream Fist” is out now and you can follow Eve 6 for future updates.

The post Interview: Eve 6 at Innings Festival appeared first on KRUI Radio.

FRIDAY 

HOME PLATE 

Tyler Ballgame 12:50-1:35

Newcomer Tyler Ballgame is right at home at Innings Festival, marking the start of a very busy spring ahead. Opening for St. Paul and the Broken Bones, The Head and the Heart, and a run of headlining gigs in Europe, there is no slowing down after the release of his debut record “For the First Time, Again”. He recently performed the title track live on CBS News Live Sessions. His influences are worn on his sleeve, hearing drops of Elvis and John Lennon throughout the record. 

Marcy Playground 2:30-3:15

In 1994, the figurehead for the grunge movement died and alt radio doesn’t skip a bit diving into the Green Day and The Offspring infused punk scene. But in the few days where people didn’t know what to play, Marcy Playground developed an infusion of post-grunge, and a touch of psychedelic at times that became a staple in the rotating cd readers as people drove.  

Goo Goo Dolls 6:35-7:50

Everyone loves “Iris”. Who doesn’t? But there is so much more to not only the record “Dizzy Up The Girl”, but the rest of the bands discography. Prioritizing analog recording styles and what began their careers, the band released “Chaos In Bloom” in 2023 and the EP “Summer Anthem” in 2025. Continuing their partnership with last summers touring buddies, Dashboard Confessionals, they will both hit this festival. The Goo Goo Dolls will tour Canada briefly in March. 

Mumford and Sons 9:00-10:30

Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwayne, and Ben Lovett have been a powerhouse the past year. In 2025, the trio that is known as Mumford and Sons has released their first record since 2018, “RUSHMERE” on March 28th, played 102 shows across the world, and recorded a new album “Prizefighter”, to release on the night they headline Innings Festival, February 20^th. The return of their classic vibrant folk rock on “RUSHMERE” has led way to a more grounded and calm track listing on the first three of “Prizefighter”. This new record has attracted the likes of Hozier, Chris Stapleton, Gracie Abrams, and more. Mumford and Sons will continue their domination in 2026, including a return to Iowa at Hinterland. With a mixture of never before heard songs and the hits that led them into stardom, it is a can’t miss set. 

RIGHT FIELD 

Congress The Band 1:40-2:25

Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, this group of five is the youngest band at Innings Fest. A jumble of fun, the indie rock belted by lead singer William Bennet is a joy to hear. While not many songs are available to listen right now, their brief collection holds hooks that latch on, including a great cover of Amy Whinehouse’s “Valerie“. Congress The Band is an exciting group that will be a great start to the festival.

Peach Pit 5:30-6:30

As good as it gets, Peach Pit is going to be a highlight of the weekend. Flying south to the warmer weather, this group of Canadian indie-rockers have been a staple in my ear for a while now. They’re four for four on records after 2024’s “Magpie” continued their hot streak. With melodic riffs today that becomes tomorrows hums at work, Peach Pit is a can’t miss. 

SATURDAY 

HOME PLATE 

Catie Turner 12:30-1:35

First rising to prominence in 2018 during season sixteen of American Idol, the Pennsylvania born singer has had the knack for performance her whole life. Making it to the top 7 that year, it was just the beginning as Catie Turner has gone on to release a barrage of tracks throughout the years since. Heading this together was the split EP, “Comedy and Tragedy” in 2023 reflecting on the passing of her father. These emotionally charged tracks are heartfelt and confident in what they are saying about loss and love. Turner released “Hurt You Now”, a three song selection, this past week.

Cage the Elephant 6:35-7:50

You are in for an unbeatable live show when Cage the Elephant takes the stage. Hailing from the home of bluegrass, these fine Kentucky gentlemen emphasize the “blues” aspect in their slick riffs and beautiful guitar tone. Lead singer Matt Schultz has grown into one of the greatest frontmen alive by turning the stage into a playground, swinging around with no regard to the woodchips in his shoes and scraps on his knees. A must see in every sense of the word.

Twenty-One Pilots 9:00-10:30

Nearing the end of extensively touring their 2024 record “Clancy” “”, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun put out “Breach” just sixteen months later as they prepare to step away from their hectic schedule. Before they play their singular North American show on Saturday night, the duo are set to release a new single “Drag Path” on February 17th. Twenty-One Pilots will hit the road in Europe to tour “Clancy” this summer playing a variety of festivals across the continent.

RIGHT FIELD 

The Backfires 12:10-12:45

New York indie rockers The Backfires have been on my list for quite a while. Energetic and lively, I was first introduced to them in 2022 from their single “Blindsided”. Word spread to me about their great live shows and the anticipation has only grown. Releasing their first record “This Is Not An Exit” in January 2025, The Backfires have been a force touring this record including a headlining gig at The Bowery Ballroom and opening up for The Happy Fits.  

Deer Tick 1:40-2:25

The Rhode Island native John McCauley created a very unique sound in 2004. Since then, he has been joined by Christopher Dale Ryan, Dennis Michael Ryan, and Ian Patrick O’Neil to create what is known as Deer Tick. Dancing the fine line of folk, blues, rock, country, Americana, and any other genre you enjoy listening to, this versatile quartet has embarked on a journey that has given them an impressive resume. Their most recent venture, the 2024 EP “Contractual Obligations” leans into a rocking maturity that is a must listen.

Silversun Pickups 3:20-4:20

Entering year 26 of their careers, Silversun Pickups are still putting out phenomenal tracks. This can be most recently seen in their 2026 record “Tentahooks“. Lead single, “The Wreckage” creates an atmosphere reminiscent of their hits that gave the bug to all of their fans years ago. The 10 track record is their first in four years. Based out of LA, this band begins a busy year touring this brand new record.

SUNDAY

HOME PLATE 

Common People 12:50-1:35

From all over the country, these gentleman gathered to make music. Some from the west, east, and everywhere in the middle, Common People is a band of destiny. Starting out as all good bands do, just jamming with some friends. Nicky Winegardner, Cormac Cadden, Knorad Ulich, Asher Thompson, and Sam Belzer hit the record button one day, and the rest is history (with most still unwritten). Supporting fellow Innings Fest players on their upcoming tour, Congress The Band, Common People will hit the stage with their latest single “Rain” and a collection of their back catalogue.

Bowling For Soup 2:30-3:15

“If you went to a Bowling for Soup show and the PA caught on fire and all of the microphones failed and somebody stole all the guitars, Jared Reddick could stand there without a microphone and entertain 2,000 people by himself for three hours. He could do it”. This is a quote from Brendan Brown of Wheatus about Bowling for Soup frontman Jaret Reddick. This is spot on too might I add,. A lively and happy show is a staple product of Bowling For Soup, leaving you with a smile on your face after some great pop punk tunes.  

blink-182 9:00-10:30

Innings Festival is lucky, they will play host to the singular show on the books for blink-182 as of now. The California pop punk trio has been out on the road quite a bit since reuniting in 2022, but look to be taking a step back this coming year. An opportunity to see this band and its original members is one that is too good to pass up. This retreat is in hopes of new music, as their 2023 record “One More Time…“, and its deluxe edition have entered the ancient age of three years old now. Hoping for a continuation of their “Missionary Impossible Tour” setlist, this is a great way to send the fest home.

RIGHT FIELD 

Artikal Sound System 1:40-2:25

A reggae vibe at the park is an ideal way to start the day as Artikal Sound System brings their southern Florida charm to Right Field. Entering year 14 of making music, Chris Montague and Fabian Acuña have dazzled across the country. This sound will be a nice compliment to Sublime playing later in the day, both sharing that reggae heart. A.S.S. most recent LP was 2025’s “Are You Smiling” in January quickly followed by their single “Orange Crush” in May. 

Big Boi 5:30-6:30

Sunday holds the hip hop artists as Big Boi will take the stage for the first time in what will be a busy 2026. One half to Outkast, Big Boi has been a staple in the world of rap, anchoring down as an influence to many of todays contemporaries. His music always seems to find a way to young peoples ears, including opening for Kid Cudi on his Rebel Rangers Tour this summer.  

Public Enemy 7:55-8:55

Chuck D and Flavor Flav’s hip hop duo burst onto the scene in 1985, blossoming out of New York with their strong political themes. Public Enemy is a force to be reckoned with.They rose to prominence in the 90’s, receiving four consecutive Bes Rap Performance by a Duo or Group from 90-93 for “Fight The Power” and records like “Fear of a Black Planet”. The pair have continued to make music throughout their 41 years, including 2025’s release “Black Sky Over The Projects: Apartment 2025”.  

LEFT FIELD STAGE

On top of the incredible musicians playing this festival, there is a baseball side to it. Leading the charge is former pitcher Ryan Dempster, who brings his “Off the Mound” talk show to the Left Field Stage each day of the festival. Pairing that with Jake Peavy’s All Star Jam on Friday, this is an absolute joy to have and something you can only find at Innings Festival. Celebrating the start of Spring Training is a glorious thing, and theres no better way to do it than listening to baseball players jam. There will also be meet and greet opportunities at Speed Pitch and Batting Cage with the likes of Brandon Crawford, Mark Grace, and more!

This combination of baseball and music is a match made in heaven. Enjoying the Arizona sun during the coldest months of the year, surrounded by the worlds finest bands and gold glove winners is a singular experience. Tickets for Innings Festival are almost all gone, with limited Friday and Sunday passes left that you can find here. Stay tuned for interviews and a recap and listen to Downey’s Hour Monday nights 9:00-11:00 PM!

The post Innings Festival Preview appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“I’m calling both games” is also the rationale I gave to my professors on why I skipped both of my classes on Tuesday, February 17th.

I blame the baseball team.

See, it was only supposed to be basketball. Iowa vs Nebraska, 8 pm. Well after both classes would have ended for the day.

The baseball home opener was supposed to be a week later on February 24th, but they saw an opportunity to fit a game in between their season opening tournament in Arizona and their first weekend series against Florida Atlantic. That’s how Division III UW-Platteville found themselves in Iowa City for what would turn out to be a historic beatdown.

Of course, we didn’t know that going in. The Hawkeyes lost three midweek games last season and had just allowed 13 runs to Northeastern on Sunday, so we figured the final score might end up something like 13-5 Iowa.

With first pitch at 3:00 pm, five hours before tip-off for basketball, we jumped at the opportunity to be there and were rewarded with 50 degree weather.

That’s important because all KRUI baseball games are called outdoors. Color commentator Logan Melia and I were planning to call the February 24th game regardless of the weather, so we really lucked out.

“God, the pop of the mitt, Ryan. I’m tickled to be back,” Logan said after the first pitch.

Four innings later, with the score 17-0 in favor of Iowa, his enthusiasm had dampened, as had his nose, which was running relentlessly. 

“Once your team scores the 22nd run, you start thinking: ‘let’s wrap it up’. It gets to a point where you pretty much know what team’s going to win and that point was reached probably about three hours before the end of the game,” Logan said later that day.

Morale dropped to mutinous levels after the seventh inning concluded and Iowa was up 27-3, when the usual 10 run mercy rule was not applied.

At that point, the sky had undergone a transition from light gray to baby blue to orange and pink and purple before the sun finally disappeared for good. Without it, the wind that had been chilly all game became a polar vortex.

When I turned to Logan and said “sounds like we’re playing two more”, his agonized response was a sign that we had seen enough and should head across the street to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Overall impressions from the baseball team: don’t go to a game if you have something else to do later in the day. There will be a lot of runs scored at the Banks this year.

Next, we met up with Cole Krueger, who I would be calling basketball with. 

At the start of the season, nobody thought never-won-a-march-madness-game Nebraska would be ranked top 10 in the country in late February. But as the Huskers kept winning and Iowa hung around in the standings, it quickly shaped up to become the biggest game of the year so far for the Hawkeyes.

And man did they need this one. We’d been saying they were going to get one of the two home games against Purdue and Nebraska, though last Saturday’s demoralizing 78-57 loss to the Boilermakers cast some doubt on that theory.

Where Nebraska had wins over highly ranked Illinois and Michigan State teams, Iowa was a team without a signature result on the season. They’d had chances, like having halftime leads against Iowa State and Purdue on the road, but had never capitalized. Worse, they had been struggling recently, with a bad road loss to Maryland and the aforementioned blowout at home to Purdue. 

Their most impressive game this season might have been outlasting a fiery USC team at the end of January, which was a game they were always supposed to win anyway.

But something flipped in this one, as the Hawks defensive intensity, coupled with a vicious crowd, frustrated the Huskers all night.

Head coach Ben McCollum has made a point to thank the fans after every game and let them know how important they are to the team. Although attendance has been up this year compared to last, I had yet to see a student section as packed as it was for this one. Filled in from top to bottom, clad in black. A healthy amount of Nebraska fans in red and white were scattered throughout the stands as well.

Pretty quickly, it became apparent that this was going to be the opposite of the baseball game earlier. Blowout vs nailbiter. Scoring at will vs a defensive slog. Can you believe that Iowa baseball scored more runs than either basketball team had at halftime?

Cole kept saying how it felt like Iowa could have been up 10, but both teams struggled from three all night. And in the second half, things began to get chippy. Multiple players went down away from the play, always without a whistle.

Down the stretch, as had been the case all year, Bennett Stirtz made the difference. With six minutes to go, he went down hard after contacting Brayden Frager on a layup. Then after a break that gave him a chance to walk it off, Stirtz hit a sidestep three in Frayger’s face to give the Hawks a 50-45 lead.

With Iowa up two scores and under a minute to go, the fans began to make their way to the staircases.

Not to go up and beat traffic. Down to rush the court.

Iowa fans have been starving for a storming opportunity. Twice during the football season they lined up against Indiana and Oregon, and twice they were sent home empty handed, watching their team lose the lead in the final two minutes.

Some icy free throws from Cooper Koch and Tavion Banks made it official. An outpouring of black engulfed the court to celebrate the Hawks’ first signature win in the Ben McCollum era.

Then, we quickly signed off the air and went down to join in on the celebrations.

“I just feel so lucky to have been there to see that game,” Logan said.

“It was just like a monkey off the back feeling,” Cole added.

Even though the team’s March fate still hangs in the balance, this one will go a long way to help them realize it.

The post I’m Calling Both Games appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Grayson Chapeau steps towards the turf mat, 60 feet away.

His stride is quick and uneven as he picks up a white and gold Louisville Slugger, its grip frayed and curling near the knob. He tightens his hold and looks up. His mouth opens, revealing rubber bands and retainers between a crooked smile. A scar peeks out from underneath a red Rawlings helmet.

“Gray, are you zoned in?” calls his mother, Chelsey, lifting a ball from the bucket.

Grayson doesn’t answer. He just nods.

She raises the ball above her head, then lets it drop into the blue chute. The machine spits it forward with a hiss. 

Grayson swings, and connects.

Still Grayson

The MRI tube was no wider than a cafeteria tray, its ceiling is less than six inches from his nose. Somewhere from the next room, a technician watched Grayson’s brain light up on a black-and-white monitor as a disembodied voice crackled through the speaker above his head. 

“Hold still.” 

There’s no need to repeat it. He’s been here more than sixty times. His family turned it into a game when he was just four years old. 

“Freeze!” 

And he did. Without any sedation, Grayson would lay perfectly still for 45, sometimes 90 minutes at a time through MRIs, CT scans, and 40 rounds of radiation for brain cancer. Diffuse Astrocytoma. But unlike Grayson in the tube, the tumor wouldn’t stay in place. 

Woven deep into parts of the brain that handle vision, movement, and memory, the tumor is slow growing, but inoperable. The word “diffuse” means it spreads out instead of forming one clean clump. Removing it was never an option. Not then, and not now. Grayson turned 15 this year, nearly 11 years into a fight that has never paused. 

“He has never been in remission,” Chelsey said. “He is fighting for his life alongside his dreams.” 

He has every right to be bitter. But that was never in his character. 

Keeping Tabs

The sun dips behind the Black Hills of Spearfish, South Dakota, painting the outfield in a golden glow. Down below, a ballpark buzzes with summer life as college kids chase innings and memories. Roughly 600 loyal fans are rolling through the gates every game, persevering through the mountain storms and dry July heat. They are wearing the colors: blue, white, black, and gray. 

The colors, and heart, of the Spearfish Sasquatch. 

In the bleachers, fingers pop aluminum tabs from drink cans. They drop the tabs into clear containers throughout the stadium, each with a black and gold sticker picturing Grayson’s face and message. One is taped to a recycling bin, the other rests on the counter of the concession stand. 

It’s not a game. It’s something quieter. Each tab is for a boy who can’t take the field but never left the team. Grayson walks around, hyping up the crowd. 

“When I say Spearfish you say Sasquatch!”

Sometimes fans and friends yell back. Other times his voice rings loud amongst the silence. He always ends with one big scream. 

Often, he carries a glove. Other times a miniature wooden bat. When batters step to the plate, Grayson swings too. He dons a white Sasquatch jersey, signed by generations of players who have come through this town. The number on the back isn’t printed, instead it’s scribbled on with black Sharpie.

24. 

That was Ryan Bachman’s number, the one he wore through four Sasquatch seasons. It’s retired now. Preserved in a circular placard mounted to the front of the press box, a badge of loyalty drilled into the stadium’s bones. 

“There’s nobody I’d rather see still wearing that number,” Bachman said. 

After Ryan’s fourth and final season concluded last summer, Grayson was a wreck. Thankfully, Ryan is back as a coach. And Grayson? He is back in his usual spot, roaming the stands, uniting the crowd. Some days, Grayson joins the guys down in the outfield for their daily prayer.

“Grayson is part of the team,” Bachman said. “He may be a bit younger and smaller, but we all look up to him.”

This summer, a new addition has been wrapped around the wrists of Bachman and many others. A navy band with gold lettering. On one side, a supportive message, bracketed by a childhood cancer ribbon:

No One Fights Alone! Go GOLD 4 kids!

On the other, a tribute. A symbol of what everybody at this park is part of. 

Grayson’s Support Squad.

Almost every player received one, and none have taken it off. There’s reasons for all of this, the bracelets, saving pop tabs, and uplifting the fans. Bringing the town, the team and the crowd together. 

The first time Grayson donated pop tabs, he hauled 88 pounds, his entire wagon was stuffed to the brim. It all went to the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis to help house kids like him. He was just four years old then. Ever since, his family has collected yearly donations. Today, his goal is a bit bigger. 

Four thousand pounds. Six million individual tabs. 

“We just keep breaking our own records,” Gray said, laughing. “How great is that?”

The Longest Season

Four years ago, white walls and fluorescent lights surrounded his bed for 26 days.

A breathing tube was pressed into his mouth. His body swelled from steroids. He couldn’t walk. Outside the room, time stretched and cracked. Inside, Grayson Chapeau fought to stay.

He had first been placed on the ventilator in the emergency room at Spearfish Hospital. When storms grounded the life flight bound for their usual children’s hospital in Denver, Colorado, the plane was redirected to an unfamiliar facility in Omaha. It was 2021, the pandemic still ravaging medical centers nationwide. None of the doctors were well-known at first. The wing of the hospital that housed Grayson was unfamiliar and surreal. Ceiling tiles leaked from rainwater and hung low in the hallways.

“It was brutal,” his father Jeremiah said. “It looked abandoned. We felt lost.”

While Grayson’s regular team in Denver fought to transfer him back, he remained on the ventilator for several days. Jeremiah, a respiratory therapist, knew his son didn’t need sedation to complete his impending MRIs. He fought to get the tube out. 

At his age, Grayson should’ve been producing 75 milliliters of cerebrospinal fluid, enough to cushion the brain and spinal cord. Grayson wasn’t producing just 75 milliliteres. He was pumping 300. When the body produces more fluid than it can absorb, pressure builds until the balance breaks: hydrocephalus.

Back in South Dakota, Chelsey tried to hold their home together. She was taking care of four other kids, and sending kisses over FaceTime. Grayson would catch them and pretend to eat them, even with the ventilator strapped to his face.

She couldn’t take it. When doctors got the green light to move Grayson to Denver, Chelsey drove to Colorado. There, her son was waiting. He was heavier, and hollowed out. A shell of the boy he’d been. 

His siblings were also struggling. Caleb, Hannah, Josh and Saray needed rides to school and places to sleep. Uncertainty engulfed the family. 

“Some nights I would stay up and just cry with them,” Hannah, now 12, recalled. 

Surgeries became routine. At one point, every Tuesday for three weeks Grayson needed surgery to install shunts, braided tubing to redirect excess fluid from his brain to his stomach. Soon, Grayson’s words shrank to a simple thumbs up. The family felt him slipping away. 

“I don’t remember much,” Grayson said, his eyes wandering. Jeremiah chimed in, “Maybe that’s for the best.”

“I remember walking the halls praying to God,” Chelsey said, tearing up. “I didn’t know how to help my son.”

One morning changed everything. 

As Grayson lay there, eyes barely open, the whir of a hand sanitizer machine startled him awake. A burst of foam sprayed down, landing right on his dad’s head. It was accidental. Jeremiah flinched. Chelsey turned. Grayson giggled. It was a slow chuckle, but it was the first time in weeks they heard his laughter. 

His shell had cracked open. The boy was still in there. 

In the months that followed, Grayson relearned how to walk. He picked up Nerf guns again. During one Nerf target battle with his doctors, a hospital cabinet was lined with a row of pop cans. Fitting. He grinned and insisted he hit, “14 out of 20,” shots. It was really 7 out of 10. But with his double vision, who could argue? 

There would be more challenges to follow, including three years of physical therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy to stimulate healing. He still drives to Colorado every three months for more MRI treatments and doctor’s appointments. 

“We had no idea how he would react to it all,” Jeremiah said. “Of course it was no problem. He’s our superhero.”

Normal, Mostly

Taped to the wooden slats of his bunk bed at home are pictures. Some of them are new, others are dangling by worn Scotch tape. The photos feature the doctors and teachers of his past, he doesn’t forget what they did for him. 

Grayson lies down and pulls a tattered stuffed animal close, “this is Softy.” It’s a threadbare dog with an orange bandana, gifted to him during his first treatments. It’s been through hell; they both have. 

He shares this room with his nine-year-old brother Caleb, who sleeps above him. Together they pull out a collection of Hot Wheels and a book of baseball cards. Mixed in among the MLB All-Stars are faces from the Spearfish Sasquatch. He keeps them in the same protective sheets. To Grayson, they all count.

Down the hallway, Hannah and Josh help prepare dinner. Saray is leaving for work at the ballpark. The dining room smells of French dip sandwiches and dish soap from a long day of cooking and making bubbles. Raspberry rhubarb crumble cools on the counter, with berries picked fresh from the family’s backyard garden. This is the world Grayson returns to after his long weeks at the hospital. 

“It takes time,” Grayson said, pausing. “But I’m sitting here, right now.”

After dinner, he walks outside to examine his ever-growing collection of pop tabs, and pauses on the steps. His right hand tightens around the wooden railing of the stairs. 

Onward. 

Out in the garage, he beams as he shows off his latest invention: a homemade sifter designed to catch anything that isn’t a true aluminum pop tab. A screw clinks against the magnets. He plucks it out, “these don’t help,” he says, tossing it aside.

He grins the entire time, energized by the mission. What he’s been through is unforgettable. But that’s not what drives him. It’s where he chooses to place his focus. “We think of it like a magnifying glass,” Chelsey says. “Whatever you look at, it grows. You can choose the good or the bad. Grayson chooses joy.”

Ninety Feet of Freedom

It wasn’t a sold-out crowd. There were no news cameras, no formal rosters. Just a midsummer exhibition between the Spearfish Sasquatch and Post 164, the local high school team. But in the bottom of the fifth inning, all eyes turned toward one kid in an oversized jersey. A kid every single fan knows. Grayson Chapeau was getting his chance.

As he stepped into the batter’s box, his shorts brushed his knees. His helmet wobbled as he adjusted it. His shoes weren’t cleats, just his gym pair from school. The gloves were borrowed.

On the mound stood the coach Ryan Bachman, the former player Grayson idolized. He waved his fielders back. Everyone knew what was coming.

Grayson swung at the first pitch. He connected, cracking it down the third-base line. Four years ago, he could barely muster five feet without a walker. Here, in front of his hometown crowd as pop tabs rattled beneath the bleachers, Grayson ran.

All ninety feet. 

He reached first base standing up with outstretched arms and a glowing smile. The dugout erupted, players sprinting over to wrap their teammate Grayson in bearhugs.

Ninety feet, a symbol: where he’s been, and where he has been leading others his whole life.

Grayson didn’t just take the field, he carried this town with him. The people of Spearfish might never know what it is like to be him. But in his presence, they’ve learned what it means to stand with courage. To witness joy, chosen again and again. And to feel, somehow, familiar. 

“You’re not supposed to just have a great day,” Grayson said. “You’re supposed to make it great.” 

The post The Grayt Team: Grayson Chapeau’s Story appeared first on KRUI Radio.

1) Ohtani Shohei

He’s 24 years old. 6’4” and a southpaw. He has been heralded as the second Babe Ruth in the history of baseball. I’m talking about Ohtani Shohei, the rookie hitter + pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels pro baseball team. He is the first successful player to both hit and pitch since the American legend Babe Ruth, and has already gathered a devoted fan base, who chant and display the unofficial slogan “Sho-time” in anticipation of his great feats.

Ohtani, as you might imagine, has entered major league baseball at a pretty young age. But he was also the second baseball player in Japanese history to be drafted into a Japanese professional baseball team right out of high school (the first time this happened was in 1951). He recorded the fastest pitch in Japanese high school baseball, and was the first in all Japanese history to start with the dual-role of pitcher and right-fielder. So yes, he’s done a lot of “historical”-range things already, and his career is just starting.

His popularity stems not only from his rare skill, but also the fact that he 1) decided to enter the MLB earlier at the expense of a high salary he would have received if he waited two more years (Ichiro Suzuki and Yu Darvish started at a later age, 28 and 26 respectively), and 2) chose his team (the Angels) based on where he felt he fit in the best. This meant turning down teams like the Yankees, Mariners, and Red Sox.

He showed spitfire baseball this first season, but unfortunately, has had his share of subsequent injuries, which may result in surgery at the end of this season. But he is firmly determined to continue his “two-way” spree in 2020.

2) Osaka Naomi

You have probably heard about the recent debacle surrounding Serena Williams in the US Open tournament. All the fire and smoke from this series of events clouded the champion of the match, Osaka Naomi, representing Japan. It is easy to dwell on how unfortunate all of the circumstances were—Serena gets fined and ogre-ified by people who couldn’t take her awesomeness in the first place. The fiery events dampened Osaka’s long-awaited opportunity to play against a tennis star she respected since childhood, and her victory was soiled, such that she felt a need to apologize for winning.

It is apparent that I have opinions about this whole event. But it is fair to point out that there are many positive things to pluck out of this affair. Osaka is the first Japanese player to win the US Open, and is at the dawn of what will assuredly be a sparkling tennis career.

Furthermore, as a biracial individual (with Japanese and Haitian heritage), she has brought hope and encouragement to many people—people in Japan, people in Haiti, and multi-racial people in general. She has elicited celebration from many and puzzlement from others (they’ll figure things out soon…hopefully) by the fact that her mixed heritage, her appearance, or her linguistic abilities, do not limit her right and validity to represent Japan as a Japanese individual. She has shown that identity is choice.

But I also think she unearths the reality that we still have a lot of improving to do. Many of us have yet to move beyond the need to locate someone ethnically and culturally, and when this does not meet our assumptions, we can’t seem to let this go. And I’m glad Osaka is here to smash expectations and be awesome about it.

The post Matcha, Manga, and Mayonnaise: Sports! appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In Heller’s 4 years with the program? 4 for 4, plus the team’s first Big Ten championship since 1990 last May.

Heller has led the Hawkeyes to two NCAA regionals in his four seasons. Iowa had only made three in the program’s entire history before he arrived.

It’s not difficult to see why excitement is at an all-time high for the Hawkeyes baseball program. Upwards of at least twenty different media personalities were in attendance for Thursday’s media day festivities, a sight that would have been unthinkable under the previous regime.

“Last year sometimes we kind of crept up on some teams,” said sophomore outfielder Ben Norman. “This year, they’ll know that we’re a serious team.”

The Hawkeyes’ run to the Houston regional last May and abundance of talent returning has already led to some preseason accolades. Junior outfielder Robert Neustrom has been tabbed Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by both Perfect Game USA and Baseball America.

“It’s special, but I still got a ways to go,” said Neustrom, who was an All-Star on the prestigious Cape Cod League last summer. “It was unbelievable,” Neustrom said of his Cape experience. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”

Neustrom has also been noted by several publications as a potential high draft pick in June’s MLB Draft after his strong summer.

“Inevitably, [the draft] is going to be on your mind,” he said. “Nothing’s guaranteed in the game of baseball. I just gotta keep focusing on the process, coming to practice every day, working hard.”

The Hawkeyes will have to replace the power bat of Jake Adams, who left Iowa for the Houston Astros after one season in which he was named Big Ten Player of the Year, as well as stalwart shortstop Mason McCoy, who signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Iowa will also have to contend with the temporary loss of Chris Whelan, who had Tommy John surgery in the offseason and has an uncertain timetable to return.

Luckily, the lineup has a collection of veterans and newcomers to help even out the losses.

Senior catcher Tyler Cropley is back after a year in which he hit to the tune of an .830 OPS and played stellar defense behind the plate. Matt Hoeg, Grant Judkins, and Mitchell Boe are all back after significant contributions in 2017, and all can slide around the diamond to combat the losses of Adams and Whelan on the infield corners. Kirkwood transfer Lorenzo Elion has also taken reps at third and appears likely to be the early season starter.

As for the pitching staff, the Hawkeyes’ outlook is a little more bleak. All three of last year’s weekend starters have moved on, with Nick Gallagher and Ryan Erickson signing professional contracts. Heller named Nick Allgeyer, who missed all of 2017 with Tommy John surgery, as the opening day starter next Friday against Toledo. Cole McDonald, who made 11 starts in 2017, will start on Saturday, with Sunday still up in the air.

“[Being named Friday night starter] is a big privilege,” said Allgeyer, who was a bullpen stalwart in his first two years with the Hawkeyes. “I gotta do my job and live up to it.”

Heller also said that he is playing the waiting game with highly-touted junior college transfer Brady Schanuel. The two-time MLB draft selection pitched limited innings in the winter with a rotator cuff issue, and Heller said he most likely will not be available to start at the earliest goings, instead working mainly out of the bullpen to limit innings and stress on his arm.

The bullpen in total should be a strength for Iowa in 2018. Four of Iowa’s top five relievers from last season in terms of innings – Nick Nelsen, Zach Daniels, Shane Ritter, and Kyle Shimp – are back. Iowa also has a number of intriguing arms from the freshman class including lefties Jack Dreyer and Cam Baumann and right-hander Ben Probst.

“I like the depth of our pitching staff,” said Heller. “The bullpen is really deep and really strong.”

Heller was also excited about the prospects of Iowa’s schedule, which he called the “strongest the program’s ever had.” The Hawkeyes catch no breaks with the Big Ten scheduling, catching most of the projected top teams in the conference – Nebraska, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan. All of those series, besides the Huskers, are at home at Duane Banks Field.

Heller also put together a weekend set with Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma State in early May, during Iowa’s Big Ten bye weekend. “That’s a sign of where the program is,” he said, “They know the RPI is good, it’s a good game for them.” Heller also said that a trio of annual contenders from California – UC Irvine, Saint Mary’s, and Cal State Northridge – will visit Iowa City in future years.

Iowa’s baseball season gets underway on February 16 at the Diamond 9 Sunshine State Classic Series in Kissimmee, Florida. The Hawkeyes’ first scheduled home game is February 27 against Cornell.

The post Iowa Baseball Gearing Up for Start of Season appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The defending National Champions in the Major Baseball League manage to survive. For now. The mounting of a comeback has begun in Chicago. In a low scoring match between the Chicago Cubs and the LA Dodgers, the Cubs would top their adversaries 3-2 in Wrigley Field.

This particular addition to the series would face off Jake Arrieta and Alex Wood. Unlike other faceoffs between the Dodgers and Cubs, this matchup would only allow runs scored off home runs. In similar fashion to Game 3, the Cubs would strike first on a second inning home run from Wilson Contreras. A 491 foot bomb into left field.

Contrasting the previous outing, Chicago would not merely score once this inning. The 437 foot belt into left by Javier Baez would further the gap. This hit is very significant for the second baseman. The end of a 0 for 20 streak slayed the demons which haunted Baez for longer than any Cubs fan would enjoy.

Despite this, the Dodgers would respond the next inning. Another homer, this one from first baseman Cody Bellinger. The score would stay at a 2-1 standstill until the fifth inning following the 378 foot blast.

Off of another pitch by Wood, Baez would once again swing for the fences. And succeed. A 380 foot solo shot into left field put the Dodgers into a 3-1 hole. In spite of their best attempts, LA would stay in the hole. An eighth inning home run by Justin Turner tightens the gap to a single run once more. Nonetheless, this would be the last run scored by either side.

The bullpens for both Los Angeles and Chicago performed well in Game 4 with both sides totaling more than 10 strikeouts a piece. The Cubs would total 12 strikeouts and the Dodgers, 11. The Dodgers would end up pulling 6 members of the bullpen onto to mound in opposition to Chicago bringing only Arrieta, Brian Duensing, and Wade Davis to close.

In the top of the ninth, Game 4 ends in dramatic fashion with a Bellinger hit turning into a Chicago double play. The Cubs stave off elimination to earn another fight. Game 5 between the Cubs and Dodgers will occur Thursday night at Wrigley Field once again. Clayton Kershaw will be on the mound for the Dodgers facing Chicago’s Jose Quintana with the first pitch at 7:08 pm CST on TBS.

The post Cubbie Comeback Continues into Game 5 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I know a place where you walk through neighborhoods of people just to glance the grand structure. Children peer up, awestruck. Adults do the same. Your age won’t matter here. Your gender doesn’t matter here. Your ethnicity doesn’t matter here.

I know a place where strangers are family. United in their attire, united in excitement, united in their understanding. The understanding that the score isn’t what this is all about.

I know a place where that ramp seems to have no end. It’s the impatience resulting from that eagerness to see what rests beyond the finish. It’s the feeling in the pit of your stomach, the quick pace of your heart, the slap of the soles of your shoes that instills that ramp with everlasting greatness. It’s hope.

I know a place where those last few steps off the ramp catch sight of a tunnel, suddenly there’s a state like tonic immobility. And will it live up to its massive, impossible, grandiose expectations? Be it your first time, your second, your one-hundredth time, the feeling will be there, right under your chest.

I know a place where the light traces an outline at the end of the tunnel and it becomes more blinding as you near it. Is this Heaven? Might as well be. Exit the tunnel, breathing uneasy, your knees might shake. You expect to be overwhelmed by the vastness of the landscape but instead, you’re captivated by the contrary. Energy hits you from every direction. It comes from the other people, from the employees, from the players, from the flags flapping in the breeze, the perfectly cut grass, the smell of Vienna Beef hotdogs. It’s coming from your bones.

I know a place where everyone is equal for just a short time. A place where your seat is only your seat if no one else gets there first. You can’t buy yourself early access. You can’t pay more for a solidified spot. You just know there will be a special spot waiting for you.

I know a place where there’s only a wire basket between you and the deep green ivy that hugs the aging brick wall. Heroes stand beyond the wall. They wear white jerseys with deep blue pinstripes and wear smiles on their faces. They’re playing the game for a living. They often interact with the people on the other side of the wall.

I know a place where you never know what might happen next. You don’t know whom you’ll interact with. A place where Greg Maddux can toss a ball to an eight-year-old during batting practice and smile and say, “Throw it back.” I still have that video, just me playing catch with my hero.

I know a place where the left battle the right in a non-political fashion. You’ll hear thousands chant in unison, “Left-field sucks,” only to hear, “Right-field sucks,” shouted right back. You’ll realize that anyone could have picked the left or right side and that you’re all part of the exclusive club they call the Bleacher Bums. It’s tradition.

I know a place where a ladder drops down from the deep green scoreboard. A place where you climb the ladder slowly and wonder what awaits you at the top. You find the inside to be a faded bronze and you smell the paint chipping away on the rusting metal. You feel the breeze sweep through the panels as the leader tears the plate out to insert one that signals an update in the action. The few panels left open lets you see the entirety of it.

I know a place where time stops and nothing else matters again until the final out is recorded. A place where anyone can identify that something is different. This is more than just a game. Something is special. Welcome to Wrigley Field.

The post Welcome to the Friendly Confines appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Recap of last weekend:

The Hawkeyes’ bats last weekend were again hot, as they swept UNLV at home after a 3-0 win on Friday, and two late scoring rallies on Saturday 6-5,and 7-6. They tallied up 16 runs total outscoring the Rebels 16-11 for the weekend. Pitching for Iowa still struggled, although they had a highlight as Friday’s win was the first time this season that they allowed no runs in a game.

Although the struggling bullpen has given up runs, it has mainly been the bats leading them to a 6-game win streak so far after going 2-1 against Purdue the weekend before and a win over Grand View (6-5) on March 28th. Riding high, Iowa was going into this week looking to make that 7.

Recap of this week:

Iowa was victorious, once again, over South Dakota St. on Tuesday with a final of 4-3 as their bats were the deciding force. The Hawkeyes found themselves down 3-2 after their first five innings, going into the seventh. However, that quickly changed after Mitchell Boe walked followed by a double by Mason McCoy that allowed for Jake Adams to tie the game off of a fielder’s choice ground out. Robert Neustrom then doubled to make it 4-3 which ended up being the final.

As mentioned previously Iowa’s pitching hasn’t been the best and that continued on Tuesday allowing for 5 hits and 3 runs. Meanwhile, the bullpen ended up saving the game by controlling the game with excellent relief pitching from Zach Daniels and Kyle Shimp.

“Zach Daniels and Kyle did a great job of settling the game down in the fifth,” Manager Rick Heller said about the relief pitchers. Thankfully, that wasn’t the only thing Heller was happy about. “We played hard, played good defense, and our focus was better than it was this past weekend.” For a team coming off of a series sweep, this is great news and something to look forward to.

Preview of this weekend:

The Hawkeyes will try to expand their win streak to 8+, as they take on Northwestern in Evanston this weekend, to continue Big Ten play. First game will be Friday April 7th at 3:30 P.M.

The post Iowa Baseball Builds Off A Great Weekend appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Team USA can finally scream “We Are the Champions” after high expectations to win the World Baseball Classic. It did not come easy though, as Team USA had to beat highly-skilled opponents in the Dominican Republic, Japan, and WBC runner-up Puerto Rico in consecutive games. Team USA was aided greatly by their starting pitching, going 3-1 with a 1.25 ERA in the tournament. Puerto Rico did not stand a chance against Marcus Stroman, who no-hit them through 6 innings. Some key hitters for Team USA were Brandon Crawford and Eric Hosmer, who both had an OPS over a thousand.

Overall the WBC set record highs with ratings and attendance. This year marks the first time in which total attendance for every game exceeded 1 million fans. This count was prior to the championship game, which was the second most attended game for a WBC final game with 51,565 fans.

Ratings were also at its peak in WBC history, as 2.3 million fans watched the championship game, roughly 1.4 million more viewers than the 2013 final. Speaking of 1.4 million, that is the amount of fans that tuned in to the semifinal game between USA and Japan. Yet, this was on the MLB Network, not a major network like ESPN. Imagine the amount of viewership if the games were broadcasted on ESPN or if it can ever get to a major point, FOX.

Personally, the WBC gets me foaming at the mouth. I crave the excitement, I crave the opportunity to see international players, and I crave the passion and intensity international fans bring to games. The Japanese fans brought a different ambiance that American baseball fans are accustomed. The Japanese used what seemed to be boom stick noisemakers everywhere they went and were doing an organized chant prior to every pitch. Many countries had fans with noisemakers like the ones they used in the World Cup.

Every country had multitudes of fans who brought their respective country’s flag and wore it like a cape.

In the WBC, we saw an impressive run by Israel, a team that was not only on the verge of not making the tournament, but also not expected to make it out of the first round. However, they were one game away from having the chance to play in the championship round. We saw figures like the American Eagle and the “Mensch on a Bench”.

We saw Italy make an astounding comeback against Mexico, scoring 5 runs in the 9^th to beat Mexico 10-9. We saw impressive pitching performances from players we may not recognize. We saw one of the game’s best relievers in Andrew Miller blow a lead to Nelson Cruz and the Dominican Republic. We saw Adam Jones make an impressive home run saving catch sparking the U.S. to advance to the championship round. All in all, we saw a lot of international baseball history.

Hopefully, the World Baseball Classic has helped increase the excitement and importance of international baseball, especially for major league players. With Team USA winning the championship, this could bring the top-tier players from the United States, such as Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, and Kris Bryant to play for Team USA in future WBCs. I hope to be able to see countries allow their major-league players to play for their countries, like Cuba, who does not allow defected players to play for their country. Countries like Japan, South Korea, and China only allow a select number of players due to the tournament’s expensive insurance policy. Increasing participation for the WBC would be instrumental, as it would be one step closer to have the best of the best square off against one another.

The post The World Baseball Classic Was Much More Than Excitement appeared first on KRUI Radio.