Game 5- Here comes the Boom

After the demise of the Flyers, Alexian Field stood dormant for the 2011 season. I’m sure there were college games and high school tournaments, but I didn’t hear about them. It was a baseball-less summer in my small town, and I got used to it. The Flyers weren’t a huge part of my life before they disappeared, so after the initial shock, I was over it.

Luckily, the Village of Schaumburg wanted another team to fill the stadium.  After changing hands a few times, a new stadium lease landed in the hands of Pat Salvi. This guy is also owns the Gary Southshore Railcats, a long time rival of the Flyers in the Northern League. Since he owned both teams, he moved the Schaumburg team to the Frontier League from the American Association so they would never play each other.

During the winter of 2011, the new team had a naming contest. People actually submitted the Mallers (because of Woodfield...yikes) and CubSox (Oh God). Luckily, we came out with the least ridiculous name, the Boomers.

Oh, so like, they hit booming home runs? Not quite.

I personally learned about these prairie chickens in Bio 2 Senior year of high school. They’re heavily endangered now, but Illinois was infested with them before urbanization took over 150 years ago. They got the idea somehow from the mating dance in the video above, something about the feet or feathers puffing out.

Moving on….

I missed the first franchise opening in Schaumburg, and I wasn’t about to let this one pass me by. I checked the new team website every few days to not only see updates to the roster, but to see what kind of work they were doing on the stadium, and things they were doing to promote the team. I can’t really compare the two teams, but it seemed like the Boomers genuinely cared about what they put on the field, and wanted to make the fans happy.  As I implied before, the Flyers were the running joke of the town; but these Boomers executives believed they were starting something great…and did a good job of convincing me, too.

My family got hold of some tickets for the very first home game in franchise history. On the opening road trip, they went 5-1. I was actually impressed. I checked up on the scores, and got to know some names.

We showed up on game day and I already noticed the changed entrance.

It was a surprise, but expected at the same time. Alexian Field was now Boomers Stadium.

As we approached the first base gate, I got my first glimpse of the old field.

We got our t-shirt and program:

I hurried to see my first full view of the field.

When I was actually there in person, looking at the field I spent so many hours ON as well as around, I felt...lost. The Flyers were my team, I knew them better than anyone else. When I went to games after I didn't work for them anymore, I still felt like I knew everything about the organization. I saw the clubhouse, the offices, the tunnels below the seats every day for 4 summers. I worked with executives that were still there in 2010, and recognized a few faces. Not much changed after I left, and I started to feel like I was seeing an old friend and catching up. 

As I stood there and tried to understand my feelings, I constantly flipped back and forth. On one hand, it is the same stadium. Sure, a few new signs and fresh paint, but they couldn't change everything. But on the other, the building is the ONLY thing that stayed the same. I had no idea who anyone was or if they changed something down below that normal fans couldn't see. The management made it clear they wanted nothing to do with the old organization. They wanted a clean slate and a fresh start. With that attitude, how could I still feel connected? I was no better than any random fan in the seats this night. This was the most hurtful realization I've had through this whole process, and I hope I can turn it into a good thing sometime soon.

I shrugged that all off and tried to enjoy the experience. Like I said, no major construction was done; same old green seats, concourse, press box and concession stands.

But the scoreboard, man oh man. Spending $250,000 on a video board was one of the things that made me think these guys were the real deal. They took away the old manual numbers and LED board, and replaced it with this new, yet ultimately (slightly) boring, video board. The line score was nothing special.

For an independent team, the video board is top notch. It can do all colors and graphics, and also shows a video feed. It’s not in HD and has some bad camera work at times, but it sure is a giant improvement. They had a little ceremony when they turned it on for the first time, and it created a good atmosphere that got more of the crowd ready to go.

Pat Salvi, the principal owner, came out to greet the players, maybe meeting some for the first time. This was another gesture that just blew me away when I saw it. It may have been the occasion and good mood of everyone with this being the home opener, but I was again thoroughly impressed.

In the pregame ceremony before the lineups were introduced, Salvi addressed the crowd:

Along with GM Andy Viano:

 Frontier League Deputy Commissioner,Steve Tahsler:

And the long time Schaumburg Mayor, Al Larson:

Roger Brossard, AKA “The Sodfather” helped with the new turf and drainage system in the offseason, but I don’t think he was the one in the tuxedo:

All the higher up employees had tuxedos. It was a little funny to see, but a gesture I defiantly didn’t expect. Seeing management in them goes on the list of good things, too.

Mayor Larson threw out the first pitch for the second franchise in his run as Mayor.

And finally, it was time to focus on the game. The Boomers were warming up down the first base line.

Soon after, the coaches, lineup, and reserves for the Florence Freedom were introduced.

And then our Boomers.

(The net was pretty annoying the whole time).

The anthem went well with the colors well represented.

The first lineup cards were exchanged.

And the Boomers took the field. The crowd was neither huge nor paying attention. It was the typical draw of families and Boy Scout troops like you would see at any other game. I would say about 1,500 seats were empty. I guess I set my expectations too high when I wished 7,000 pure baseball fans would show up wearing all orange like the Facebook group said to.

Finally after these people trying so hard and doing so much work to bring baseball back, the first pitch was thrown for a called strike.

I kept score of course, on the scorecard that came with the program. I watched the first few innings closely, then started to wander like I do every time I’m here.

This is my favorite picture of the night, just because you can see the whole field:

From the same spot, here’s most of the crowd:

They tried to “Boomerize” (as they put it) as much as they could, like the section signs and outfield wall. They even made the foul poles orange.

Creative with the pole. I like it.

The first place my dad and I headed was the bleachers. We always spent a couple innings out there if it wasn’t taken up by a party or some other event.

One time when were enjoying the game quite a few years ago, a Flyer hit a home run that bounced right off my hands. It physically stung a lot, but besides the fact that it was a homer, I didn’t care. I must have some kind of telepathic force around me, because in the bottom of the 6th, right fielder Nate Baumann hit the first homer at the “new” stadium. It was a two run shot that gave the Boomers a 4-1 lead. I wasn’t entirely close, but if I had been paying attention, had my glove, and wasn’t worried about looking like a dork for running around at an independent league game, it would have been mine. Here’s a shot standing from where it landed; compare it to the picture of where I was sitting.

By the end of that big inning, the Boomers had a commanding 5-1 lead.

I took 2 panoramic shots, one from the outfield right before we left.

And the other back by our seats.

Before I knew it, it was the middle of the 8^th inning and the Boomers still had a 5-2 lead. Closer Alex Thieroff came and and converted the save to give the Boomers the win, the first win in Schaumburg in a year and a half.

It was quite a scene, more than I thought it would be. (Most of the fans were still there to see the fireworks that followed). The players and management seemed to have the same expression of joy and excitement; all their collective hard work pay off on a special night for the franchise.

Some of the players stayed out and signed autographs. I was hanging out by the dugout. I had the weirdest feeling that I was around real professional players, ones that may have a future in the game somewhere down the line. I never got that feeling with the Flyers besides the one season they reached the Championship series. But even then, some of the guys were old and moving towards the end of their baseball career.  

The customary minor league fireworks followed.

And we took a group picture before we headed out. Left to right: Mrs.Mort, Mr.Mort, myself, my cousin Dylan, Dylan’s friend Jake, Uncle Dan, Aunt Kathy.

And one with the ridiculous looking prairie chicken mascot, Coop.

Now, I kept something in the back of my mind the whole game. I wanted something that not many other people would bring home. I had the t-shirt, program, and scorecard, but I needed something that would be cool from even a minor league game, being the first home game in team history. A ball would have fulfilled that need, but I wasn’t that lucky. I ended up with this:

It’s the LARGE lineup card from the Florence dugout! I always had this in mind to get, but I didn’t know how lucky I would be. I thought the Boomers would want to keep as much memorabilia from the night as they could.  I asked one of the players signing autographs to check the home dugout, but he told me it was gone already. Right before we walked out, I saw the visiting dugout still had theirs. I asked a female employee down on the field, and she had no idea what I was talking about. Luckily, a male overheard, walked ALL the way over, took off the card and a roster, walked ALL the way back, and handed it to me. I couldn’t believe how willing he was to do it. I don’t care if you think it's as cool as I do, this has to be one of the best pieces of baseball memorabilia in my collection.

After that, we FINALLY left. I'm sure I'll be to many more games this year and years to come. This first one was a swirl of different emotions, but I'm anxious to go back already.