For Mallards, title-game stumble was only blemish on and off the field
A short time into a long ride back from Ontario late Sunday night, Madison Mallards general manager Vern Stenman offered some perspective on a season that was eventful -- if not always for the greatest reasons.
"Every year we aim to make it the best summer ever, and I think when you consider what happened on the field and off the field, even though we had some challenges on both sides, we feel like this is the best summer ever," he said.
"Yeah, we won a championship back in 2004, but the crowd's gotten better, and the experience at the ballpark has gotten better. This group of guys played as good of baseball for five (playoff) games as I've seen the team play."
It was a somewhat somber trip back from Thunder Bay after the Mallards lost the deciding Game 3 of the Northwoods League championship series, and probably somewhat familiar. The last time Madison was in the title series three years ago, it lost to the Border Cats in Game 3 on the road.
But considering how things tilted toward a collapse in the second half of the season, it's remarkable that the Mallards were playing in the final game of the NWL season at all.
Consider:
-- After a four-game winning streak from July 17 to July 20, the Mallards, who won their place in the postseason through the first-half South Division championship, ended the regular season with a 5-17 stretch.
-- After posting a 3.16 team ERA (3.28 by starters) in the first half, Madison's pitching took a turn for the worse. Its second-half ERA was 5.27 (5.16 by starters).
-- The Mallards endured a nine-game losing streak from July 21 to July 28 in which they were outscored 53-31.
"We've seen it all here," Mallards pitcher Kyle Heim said. "We've seen the highs. We've seen the lows. Obviously, that first-half championship and then that terrible start to the second half -- actually, terrible whole second half. I just think that shows the maturity and the talent level of our team. We realize we didn't play good in the second half, but that's not what matters."
When the playoffs started, the Mallards seemed to turn the page with ease. They swept Wisconsin, including a victory over the Woodchucks on the road for the first time this season in Game 1 of the South Division playoffs.
And they continued a close season series with Thunder Bay right down to the last in a series of one-run games.
"We talk a lot about the grind of the season here in the Northwoods League," Mallards pitching coach Jason Immekus said, "and the guys did a great job of coming through that."
From a front-office perspective, the Mallards had good reason to think things went well.
They set another team and league regular-season attendance record with a 6,116 average, not including the three Waterloo home games they hosted while the Bucks' stadium was flooded. Eight times they cracked the 7,000 mark at 7,500-seat capacity Warner Park.
The NWL All-Star Game drew an event-record 5,357 fans to the ballpark, which may have completed its penultimate season.
The new stadium at Warner Park that the team had hoped to have in place for the 2009 season appears more likely for 2010, Stenman said. He'd like to have all the details worked out by the time the team gets together again next May.
"That's the next challenge, I guess, to start thinking about," he said.
Here's one last look at the 2008 season:
Best day
You could pick the night the Mallards won the South Division title, but that trip into the postseason never would have happened without a pair of clutch outings on July 3.
Madison needed to stay one step ahead of Wisconsin in the South Division standings, and with a doubleheader in Battle Creek, that meant a sweep. The Mallards got it with a complete-game effort from pitcher Alex Rivers in the opener and a three-hitter in the nightcap on a combined pitching effort.
Worst day
Maybe that should read worst day ever. On Aug. 2, Eau Claire thumped the Mallards 19-0 at Warner Park, handing Madison the most lopsided loss in franchise history.
The Express scored nine times in the fifth inning before the Mallards recorded an out, and that was after they had already accumulated an 8-0 lead.
Best promotion
This one is open to debate, but the Mallards got mention on ESPNEWS when diminutive former child actor Gary Coleman got "ejected" from a staged at-bat during his appearance at Warner Park on Aug. 1, and that's the kind of attention you can't buy.
Big player
Outfielder Rob Lyerly won the Northwoods League batting title, hitting .342 with a Mallards-record 48 RBIs. And how's this for clutch: He hit .439 with 22 RBIs with runners in scoring position.
Greg Dixon
Outfielder Rob Lyerly was named the Mallards MVP after winning the Northwoods League batting title with a .342 average.
