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AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2023

THE ROAD BACK CHICAGO CUBS 1ST-ROUND PICK ED HOWARD NEVER GAVE UP IN GRUELING INJURY REHAB By: Brendan King

ay 10, 2022 started as any ordinarily scheduled regular season game at Four Winds Field. Hosting the Fort Wayne TinCaps in early May, the South Bend Cubs were embarking on their eventual Midwest League Championship run. It was a week-long home stand that was a little warmer than usual May nights in Downtown South Bend, which brought big crowds to the park. The packed house of 4,592 South Bend Cubs fans saw a spectacular back-and-forth game between the two in-state rivals. Fort Wayne had the likes of top prospects Corey Rosier and Robert Hassell III on their roster before they got traded, and South Bend featured the likes of Matt Mervis, Owen Caissie, and 2020 first-round pick Ed Howard. Fort Wayne was up big early, but as we so often saw in 2022, the Cubs mounted a comeback. They eventually got things tied, and as the sun set on that late Spring day, it got really dark above the South Bend horizon. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Clear, warm, just a little breezy. Tied at 7-7, the game went to the bottom of the 9th inning. With one out, Ed Howard came up. Rocking that crisp white South Bend Cubs jersey with the blue pinstripes all over, and his royal blue helmet shining with the lights, it’s easy to envision the tall

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Howard fields a ground ball and prepares to throw from shortstop at Four Winds FIeld. Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly. and slender build of Howard in Chicago Cubs pinstripes when he gets to the Big Leagues. A ton of fans from Chicago came out early last season to get their first look at Howard playing so close to his hometown of Chicago. Chicago kid, South Side to be exact, but now rocking cubbie blue. Howard was just really starting to turn on the jets too. Playing in pretty cold environments for the first month of the season, the warm homestand was a sight for sore eyes. Howard had been hitting .320 in his previous 14 games leading up to May 10. Howard strolled up to the plate looking to help the Cubs get a win. He took a swing on an early count pitch and chopped a ball left side. It was fielded by Fort Wayne shortstop Ripken Reyes, who then floated a throw to first base. For whatever reason, the TinCaps first baseman Jack Stronach was inside the base-line looking to catch the ball. The throw was a little wide of the base, but not overly far. What happened next is now engraved in the mind in many. Howard crashed into Stronach, and the South Bend Cubs star took the worst of the collision. Down to the field, the capacity crowd could immediately tell something was wrong. Howard was assisted off the field by

CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. athletic trainer Seth Clapp, as well as his athletes in their prime, let alone a top MLB teammates, where he went right to the prospect just on his way towards the Big hospital. It was a hip injury. A season-ending Leagues. one. Brutal. Bo Jackson comes to mind first. Arguably Collectively, that crowd and environthe most freak athlete to ever play football ment at Four Winds Field felt like all air got or baseball. A hip problem sidelined him for vacuumed up from the park and we were in good. What makes Howard different? The limbo; Which is weird to say when you look work ethic that he learned at a very young at the fact that South Bend actually won that age. game on a walk-off homer from Matt Mervis. “Family,” Howard said. “It’s just how I was Unfortunately for Merv, raised. I saw my Dad that game isn’t rememeveryday work hard bered as well for the and provide for the walk-off bomb. family. Saw my Mom An ambulance took make sacrifices, I have Howard to the hospital, two sisters. There’s no where he spent the excuses. No stop. No night leading up to quit. Keep going.” surgery. With Howard Howard’s dad, Ed being from Evergreen Howard III, worked as Park, Illinois, his family a sales representative. was on hand. They His mom, Calandra, sadly had to see the a special education injury with the rest teacher. Ed, who of us. At 20-years-old, officially goes by Ed Howard sat in his Howard IV, knows that Howard prepares to step back in the box during an he’s not just playing hospital bed and at-bat in his return to the South Bend Cubs in 2023. pondered what was baseball for himself, Credit: Ethan Levy. next. but those back home For any usual person with such a strenwho believed in him all the way through. uous injury, doubt or fear might be on their From his days in the Little League World mind. For Howard, there was no anxiety. Just Series, to Mount Carmel High School, to the a desire to get back on the field. Cubs, it’s a family affair. “There was almost a shock, Howard said. That’s why this injury rehab was different. “But the thing I thought most about was how Howard didn’t just think he could do it, he and when I’m going to get back on the field. knew he could. And in a year and a month’s When that injury happened, it was a shock worth of time, he came back from an injury but I was committed to get back on the field that not many have. and I went straight there. I knew I could rehab “It just speaks to how tough that kid is and come back.” and how much he loves baseball,” South Bend Howard’s attitude propelled him in the Cubs hitting coach Dan Puente said. “Mentally right direction, but this was no ordinary he is a grinder. He’s trying to get better every injury we were discussing at the time. Full single day and had a ton of support from his blown hip injuries have ended and led to teammates last year. We’re all pulling for Ed the conclusion of numerous careers of star and want to see him play in the Big Leagues

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page.

During team stretch, Howard gets set to play a game on the road in Beloit and plays catch. Credit: Todd Johnson. with a long and successful career.” Last year on many Monday off day’s across the Midwest League, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Owen Caissie, Jordan Nwogu and other South Bend Cubs teammates would visit Howard as he was in the initial stages of his recovery. Well before he flew back out to Arizona for rehab, he was at home. Catching up on some TV shows and reading three of four different books. While watching TV or reading though,

the itch of getting back on the field just wouldn’t go away. “Enjoying time with the family and hanging out with my dog really helped pass the time,” Howard said. “That was my way of coping with it. Besides working hard and grinding, being around the family meant everything.” The mental part of the rehab was aided with having his family with him. The physical side of rehab can sometimes get lonely. A lot of times, it’s just a player working in the shadows where there are no cameras or reporters. Howard had the benefit of having his teammates around him who were also going through similar challenges. Guys like former South Bend Cubs Derek Casey and Jack Patterson were going through similar long, strenuous days like Howard was. “All the little things of baseball when you go through rehab all come back pieceby-piece and little-by-little,” Howard added. “That’s all I worried about. Getting better each day. Missing the games were tough. But the workouts were not overly physically

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so much more than

RR2022-IN-MMED-2098 OMPP Approved: 09/13/2022 | Issue Date: 09/23/2022

CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. demanding. It was just a process of getting story, as Cabrera played 15 years in the Big better one-percent everyday.” Leagues and won multiple Gold Glove Awards. Those little things literally mean the However, that might not be too far off. When smallest of skills. Before you take ground Howard was selected out of Mount Carmel, balls, you have to work on your footwork. he was giving major scouting points for his Before you run the bases, you must work on glove, and in his early South Bend Cubs career lead-offs. And before you hit in the cage, you he has been dynamite at shortstop. have to get comfortable in your swing again. It’s been a long road back for the Chicago All things that Howard had to go through in kid. Not an expected one either. Howard rehabbing back to the missed a full calendar point where he is now. year of game action As he plays again in due to the COVID-19 South Bend here in 2023, Pandemic, and now Howard’s first game back one due to injury. Keep featured a three-hit day. in mind, he’s only 21. If you arrive early to Four Howard will not turn 22 Winds Field, you’ll see until January of 2024. Howard working nearly And even with the everyday on hundreds of missed time, if Howard ground balls at shortstop choose to attend college and second base. and was drafted when Many of those prache was 22 hypothetically, tice sessions are with he’s got more than a South Bend Cubs bench full season of expericoach D’Angelo Jímenez. ence now that he would ‘DJ’ as he is known not have if he went the around the ballpark, is Being waved around third base, Howard runs college route. a former Big Leaguer Of course, there’s the home and scores a run for the South Bend Cubs. Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly. with the Reds, Yankees, thoughts and daydreams Nationals, Rangers and of seeing his name on multiple other teams. DJ made his Major the big video boards at Wrigley Field. And League debut for the Yankees playing third seeing his last name printed on the beautiful base next to Derek Jeter. He knows talent Cubs pinstripe uniforms. That will all come in when he sees it, and he knows that Howard time. Howard did so much work to just get to has the tools, especially with the leather, to this point. He’s put in the time to get back to succeed in the game of baseball. the Midwest League. Now that he’s here, the “Right now Ed has been outstanding,” work continues. Whether he’s in the desert, in Jímenez said. “His hands are there and he has the 574, or in Chicago, it’s the same approach. to continuing getting used to moving his feet “Of course you always think about the in the proper way. He’s been working so hard. future,” Howard said. “Where you want to go And he’s in great shape too.” and where you want to be. It is key to stay If there’s a comparison out there to what grounded and play in the moment. What Howard can someday be, ‘DJ’ compared meant to be is what’s going to happen. That’s Howard to former Big League shortstop why I work hard each day. Because I’m a step Orlando Cabrera. That would be quite the closer to my goals and where I want to be.”

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AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2023

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM

NO HITTER, NO PROBLEM

MICHAEL ARIAS, JAROD WRIGHT, EDUARNIEL NUNEZ, AND FRANKIE SCALZO JR. JOIN EXCLUSIVE NO-HIT CLUB By: Brendan King

later on. For some reason in baseball, when you have a team’s number, some bounces and momentum swings just seem to go your way. After the two Midwest League West Division rivals split the first couple games of the week long series, that night, July 6, was the South Bend Cubs night. Another No-Hitter in South Bend. Even before the big part of the night got started, South Bend had already won a game. The Cubs and Chiefs were suspended due to lightning the night before in the bottom of the 9th inning.

n front of a packed house of 4,536 South Bend Cubs fans on a raucous and loud Thursday, July 6 night at Four Winds Field in Downtown South Bend, there was just a different type of feeling around the ballpark that day; For a good reason. Hosting the rivaled St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs, South Bend was going through a difficult portion of the year right around July 4. They just got done with a series with the Beloit Sky Carp up in Wisconsin that did not go their way. It seemed like Beloit was able to capitalize on the smallest and most fortunate breaks, that did not benefit South Bend. “We had been struggling for a while,” South Bend Cubs pitcher Frankie Scalzo Jr said. “We needed a momentum push. There’s a lot of times where you fall back and can think about the bad results that you’ve had, but we know we can make a big jump from the first half.” The Cubs returned home that week with no off day between series, so there wasn’t much time for the clubhouse to feel bad about themselves. They were right back to work. South Bend was in search of a momentum swing. Last year, they dominated the Chiefs and had the upper-hand, especially late in the year. South Bend swept Peoria in six games, and then won five more

(L-R) Jarod Wright, Michael Arias, Moises Ballesteros, Eduarniel Nunez, and Frankie Scalzo Jr combined for the no-hitter. Credit: Ethan Levy. So the two teams picked it right back up before the regularly scheduled game at 7:05. As the suspended game went to extra innings, Kevin Alcántara stood at second base as the automatic runner. He eventually came home on a ball put in play by Ed Howard, an error was made, the Cubs walked-off the Chiefs. That put ear-to-ear smiles on the faces of all Cubs (just look at the front cover of this Game Program). The vibes were high in that home clubhouse, and history followed. Hard throwing right hander Michael Arias got the start for South Bend. Shortly after making his Midwest League debut the week prior in Beloit, it was easy to tell that Arias can absolutely bring it on the mound.

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. Fastballs at 99 MPH+, a wicked slider, and a vanishing changeup. He was working with new catcher Moises Ballesteros behind the plate. Both Arias and Ballesteros were recently promoted from Low-A Myrtle Beach, and have become important parts of the Cubs roster. You could tell that Arias had his strikeout game going as he punched out the first two batters of the contest. He whisked through a quick first inning, and actually stranded the bases loaded in the top of the 2nd. Peoria had picked up two walks and a hit-by-pitch, but Arias calmly struck out Alex Iadisernia for the second time in as many innings to get out of the jam. In all, Arias would finish with five strikeouts in three no-hit, shutout innings. He did walk four batters, none came around to score. Even with the inconsistent control at times, Arias knew he brought his best stuff that day. “I felt really good that day,” Arias said through translator and South Bend infielder Fabian Pertuz. “It was my second High-A start and first at home, so I enjoyed the game first of all. Even with the walks, I was focused on every pitch. At the time, I wasn’t focused on them having no-hits since I started, so the important part was to lock-in with every pitch.” Arias set the table to the middle innings, where Jarod Wright took over. The reliable right-hander has been a part of the South Bend Cubs for parts of two seasons now. And he is a gamer. The way that Wright goes about his busi-

ness is a lesson that young baseball players can really learn from. The ultimate teammate, Wright is a ‘Captain Serious’ type of mentality on the mound, and off of it he is always there for the guys around the clubhouse. That includes picking Jarod Wright kicks his leg and up the trash in the dugout at the rolls into his motion to deliver a pitch from the Four Winds end of the night. Field mound. Something that Credit: Casey McDonald. he has become synonymous for. When Wright entered the game in the top of the 4th inning, a no-no is not usually on the mind of a pitcher. The mentality is that you continue to keep your team in the ballgame. South Bend was leading 2-0 when Wright entered after RBI singles from both Ed Howard and Felix Stevens. Wright picked up right where Arias left off. In four no-hit and scoreless innings, his only blemish was a lead-off walk in the top of the 5th. He quickly worked around that and ended that 5th inning with a strikeout looking fo RJ Yeager. Showing a strong command for his slider especially, Wright cruised the Cubs through the middle frames. Over at third base, Fabian Pertuz made a

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. pair of skillful do-or-die scoop plays that kept the no-hitter alive. When you throw a no-no, the pitching obviously has to be top-tier, but you’re going to have to get a superstar performance from your defenders. South Bend got both. “Ballesteros at 19 years old calling a no-hitter is exceptional,” Wright said. “I had a rough week in the series before, but guys like Stevens and Pertuz backing us up all night was amazing.”

Eduarniel Nunez worked a scoreless 8th and continued the no-hitter effort with two strikeouts against Peoria. Credit: Ethan Levy. Felix Stevens was the other defensive web-gem master of that evening. At first base, Stevens was recently promoted from Myrtle Beach just like Arias and Ballesteros. The only thing was that the big bodied 6’5’’ native of Cuba played more outfield than first base at Low-A. You would never guess that with how he played first base on July 6. More on him a little later. Three of four innings that Wright pitched were in 1-2-3 style. He made quick work of the Chiefs, but still did not notice what was actually happening until midway through his outing. “I kind of noticed it in the 6th,” Wright said. “The guys got back in the dugout and they started to show pretty big smiles. There was a lot of nervous energy, but seeing

the smiles was awesome and later when everyone erupted it was incredible.” Another pitching change. This time, the fireballer righty Eduarniel Nunez. In his third season with the South Bend Cubs, it’s not out of bounds to say that Nunez may be the most improved pitcher in the Cubs organization this season. His stuff has taken a massive leap, he has gotten much stronger and muscular, and he can absolutely bring it with a fastball with movement that tops 100 MPH. The real change though is what he has done with his slider. It legitimately looks like a whiffle ball. Nunez only needed to throw 17 pitches to toss a scoreless 8th inning. He struck out two. What was sandwiched between those two strikeouts though was the defensive play of the night. Felix Stevens. A ball laced towards first hit by Nathan Church. Stevens laid out in full horizontal fashion, slapped the leather on it, and robbed Church of a base hit. The play of Stevens kept the dream alive for the home team. The Cubs were three outs away from a no-hitter. Up 4-0 now, the game went to the 9th. It wasn’t dark though. As we recently passed the summer solstice, the sun had been staying out for a very long time. The 9th inning featured a cotton candy sunset sky with shades of pink, blue, orange, and red all up there. It truly looked like this game was out of a storybook. Big crowd, lively environment, gorgeous night, perfection. Enter stage right, Frankie Scalzo Jr. The right-hander was just coming off an outing in Beloit where the Sky Carp walked-off the Cubs on that previous Monday. South Bend then sat through a long, late night bus ride home. Scalzo was champing at the bit to get back on the mound. Down to their final three outs, Peoria came to the plate against Scalzo trying to

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. break up the no-hit bid. First up, Jimmy Crooks. Scalzo make quick work of him as Crooks bounced out to Ed Howard at shortstop. The next batter Aaron McKeithan walked, not the end of the world. With a man on, Scalzo got Thomas Francisco to fly out to Jacob Wetzel in left field. Two down. One more to go. It was Frankie Scalzo Jr against Jeremy Rivas. The crowd of nearly 5,000 was on their feet; Clapping, yelling, cheering. As Scalzo pieced together the final at-bat of the night, a nasty breaking ball got Rivas swinging, and pandemonium ensued. The Cubs came barreling out of the dugout in celebration. A no-hitter. The 10th no-no in South Bend franchise history, and the fourth total as the South Bend Cubs. “Knowing that I’ve been in a big pressure situation like that and trusted all of

The South Bend Cubs jump and celebrate around Frankie Scalzo Jr. aftter he records the final out of the no-hitter. Credit: Ethan Levy.

my pitches, there is nothing as big as that moment,” Scalzo said. “It was a big confidence boost. I threw a no-hitter in high school in seven innings, but it wasn’t like that. At the professional level nothing sniffed how big that was for all of us.” As South Bend jumped on top of one another, it was a party at Four Winds Field. Lights flashing, ‘Go Cubs Go’ blasting through the speakers, and a crucial win and momentum swing for a ball club that deserved it. “I was telling Morty (Cubs pitching coach Clayton Mortensen) that I had never been part of anything like that,” Wright said. “It seemed like the last two weeks before that day, nothing was going well, and the two wins in one day really reset everything." Arias, Wright, Nunez, and Scalzo, with the help of key defensive plays by Pertuz and Stevens, plus the magic behind the plate of Ballesteros, joined quite the club. In 2018, Rollie Lacy and Ben Hecht no-hit the Fort Wayne TinCaps. 2019 saw Derek Casey and Peyton Remy teaming up for a no-hitter against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. And in 2021 on the road against the TinCaps again, it was Alexander Vizcaíno, Joe Nahas, and Burl Carraway no-hitting Fort Wayne at Parkview Field. July 6 was one for the record books. If you were there, you know exactly what that night meant to this team. Memories were made not just for the fans there or the one’s listening and watching, but for every player in that dog pile celebrating afterwards.

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM

2023 SOUTH BEND CUBS COACHING STAFF Lance Rymel - Manager

Rymel returns for year two as Manager of the South Bend Cubs. In 2021 he was the Rookie League Mesa Cubs Manager. Later that year, he managed the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League and won the league title. This will be his eighth season as a coach or manager in the Cubs organization, where he also managed Single-A Eugene in 2019 following two seasons at the helm of the Cubs Dominican Summer League squad in 2017-18. Rymel began his coaching career in 2016 following a three-year minor league playing career as a catcher in the Cubs system from 2012-14. Rymel was selected by the Cubs in the 28th round of the 2012 Draft out of Rogers State.

Clayton Mortensen - Pitching Coach

Mortensen spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons as the pitching coach for Low-A Myrtle Beach and will begin his third season in the Cubs organization. Mortensen spent 2019 as the Pitching Coach for the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League where his team won the 2019 Pioneer League championship. Mortensen was drafted by St. Louis in the first round (36th) of the 2007 draft and spent five years in Major League Baseball playing for St. Louis, Oakland, Colorado, and Boston.

Dan Puente - Hitting Coach

Puente returns as the hitting coach for South Bend. This marks Puente’s fourth season in the Cubs farm system. In 2021, Puente was the hitting coach for low-A Myrtle Beach. He has been a hitting and catching instructor at Elite Baseball Training since 2012, a technology-infused baseball and softball instructional company created by the Cubs Director of Hitting Justin Stone. Puente also served as an associate scout for the Houston Astros and from 2008-12 was the Manager of Youth Baseball Initiatives for the White. Sox. A former catcher, he was selected by Baltimore in the 12th round of the 2004 Draft and played two minor league seasons.

D’Angelo Jiménez - Bench Coach

D’Angelo Jiménez will continue to serve as the bench coach for the South Bend Cubs. He previously held the role of hitting coach for the DSL Cubs in 2021 and this will be his sixth season overall in the organization. Jiménez came up with the Yankees as a player and spent eight years playing in the MLB from 1999 to 2007, appearing with seven different teams. Primarily a Second Baseman, Jiménez would spend time at shortstop and third base.

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SOUTH BEND CUBS 2023 ROSTER

PITCHERS

MICHAEL ARIAS

MAX BAIN

BRANDON BIRDSELL

YOVANNY CRUZ

LUIS DEVERS

STEPHEN GONSALVES

ANGEL GONZALEZ

CADE HORTON

ADAM LASKEY

BRODY MCCULLOUGH

CONNOR NOLAND

SHELDON REED

TYLER SANTANA

JAROD WRIGHT

CATCHERS

FRANKIE SCALZO JR.

MOISES BALLESTEROS

ED HOWARD

KEVIN MADE

FABIAN PERTUZ

LIAM SPENCE

KEVIN ALCANTARA 22

CHRISTIAN FRANKLIN

EZEQUIEL PAGAN

YOHENDRICK PINANGO

ETHAN HEARN

DILAN GRANADILLO

INFIELDERS

JAMES TRIANTOS

LUIS VERDUGO

FELIX STEVENS

JACOB WETZEL

OUTFIELDERS

Roster updated as of July 26 26,, 2023

CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM

REMARKABLE JOURNEY MARK MCGILL RETURNS TO FOUR WINDS FIELD AFTER A BOUT WITH LEUKEMIA By Max Thoma

Give me 30 days of not being Mark McGill and I will give you the rest of your life to be Mark McGill,” the doctor said. If you’ve been to a South Bend Cubs game in the last decade, you know Mark McGill. He’s the most recognizable person at the ballpark and he’s as essential to Four Winds Field as the perfectly manicured grass or the players that trot out there every day. There’s a consistent reality that exists in which the Cubs are playing and fans are packed into the ballpark like sardines on a sultry summer night in June or July. That image is undoubtedly a place where everyone comes to forget about their problems, enjoy some food and drink, relax, and take in some baseball. It’s a happy place that’s undergone a metamorphosis since 2011. That reality has been what we’ve come to know for a long time in Downtown South Bend, and while superficially it would seem like everything is perfect, there’s been something missing these last couple months. The incomparable Mark McGill. The perennial jokester who fills this ballpark with laughs all summer long, a man who can turn a blowout game on its head and keep you with your rear end planted firmly in your seat and your foot stomping on the ground as

your hand slaps your leg because somehow you’re still having the time of your life, has been absent. Earlier this summer Mark, the Cubs on-field host, went to the doctor. His wife Julie convinced him to go in for a standard checkup. Nothing was amiss, he had no symptoms or worries, he’s Mark McGill, and frankly I’ve never seen him look apprehensive or perturbed about anything. “I was at the ballpark living my life doing my charity events, I had zero symptoms at all,” he said. “So I would never have gone to the doctor, you know, because I felt lousy, because I didn't feel lousy. And in fact, they were also just kind of, you know, confused because I had no symptoms, I wasn't tired. I had half the blood in my body; we figured out. Because your platelet count should be between 145 and 400 and my platelet count was 77. Your platelets are your body's ability to make blood. And so I literally had half the blood in my body.”

McGill with Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg . Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM

... continued from previous page. There was cause for concern with Mark’s platelet count but all of his other numbers and markers were just fine. To try to get a better grasp of a potential issue, his family physician had him come back four days later; his platelet count shrunk to 70.

Swoop, McGill, and Stu in the tunnel about to take the field before a game. Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly. Now there was no screwing around, Mark’s doctor sent him to a hematologist and after numerous scans and tests, a bone marrow biopsy revealed that he had hairy cell leukemia. Hairy cell leukemia is a rare form of adult leukemia, with approximately 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. Doctors told Mark that if he got treatment and underwent chemotherapy that the cancer wouldn’t kill him, but that his immune system would be completely wiped away temporarily, and his body would be left almost

completely defenseless against viruses until he rebounded. “And so I had a week of live chemo which stripped my body completely of the leukemia, it takes the bad cells but it can't differentiate them from the good cells,” said McGill. “So my immune system was at zero. The good news was it took the leukemia out of my body. The bad news was it took everything out of my body, including all of my vaccines that we get as kids, all of measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and so I have to get all of those again. So therefore, I was in medical lockdown sequestered for 30 days at least until my body rebounded because the chemotherapy completely wiped out my body.” Mark’s platelet count continued to decrease regularly and reached 43. After the treatment he returned to a life that unfortunately all of us can now somewhat empathize

Mark with his doctor after receiving his first chemo treatment. Credit: Julie McGill.

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Downtown South Bend

Celebrate Summer

JUNE

June 1: Pride Kickoff Party at The Lauber June 2: DTSB First Fridays: Kids’ Night Out June 2: SJCPL Summer Reading Club Kickoff Event June 3: Sunburst Races* June 3: Artopia: A Wonderland of Art, Music, & Theatre (Stockroom East)* June 4: U93’s Operation Duck Drop (East Race)* June 8: Shortcakes on the Blacktop June 9: Pulse FM’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Movie Screening (Morris Performing Arts Center)* June 10: Alzheimer’s and Dementia Services Stand by Me Walk (Howard Park)* June 10: East Race Whitewater Festival* June 10: DTSB Outdoor Film Series (Gridiron) June 12: Back to the Bricks Promo Tour June 13: African American Legacy Award Juneteenth Luncheon (History Museum)* June 16-July 2: Guys & Dolls (South Bend Civic Theatre)* June 17-18: Leeper Park Art Fair June 23-24: John Mellencamp Live and in Person (Morris Performing Arts Center)* June 24: Bacon Around the Bend 5K (Family Justice Center)* June 24-25: Dino Weekend (Four Winds Field)* June 25: The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes (Morris Performing Arts Center)* June 30: Symphony Under the Stars (Howard Park)

JULY

July 1: Blackstreet and Ginuwine (Morris Performing Arts Center)* July 4: Independence Day Celebration (Four Winds Field)* July 7: DTSB First Fridays: Backyard BBQ July 7: Meet Me on the Island (Century Center Island)* July 8: Concours d’Elegance at Copshaholm* July 8: DTSB Outdoor Film Series (Gridiron) July 11-16: Mural Mania July 14: Pulse FM’s “A Night of Laughter” featuring Michael Jr, with special guests Brad Stine and John Branyan (Morris Performing Arts Center)* July 17-23: International Jugglers’ Association Festival* July 20: United Way of St. Joseph County Campaign Kickoff (Howard Park) July 22-23: Superhero Weekend (Four Winds Field)* July 28: Music in the Gardens (History Museum)* July 29: Vibes Music Festival*

AUGUST

August 4: DTSB First Fridays: Totally 80s August 5: Michiana Gospel Fest (Howard Park) August 11: Meet Me on the Island (Century Center Island) August 11-27: Classics in the Courtyard (Pfeil Family Courtyard, SJC Public Library)* August 12: Michiana Music Festival featuring Smash Mouth with special guests LFO and Ryan Cabrera (Four Winds Field)* August 17: Buddy Guy: Damn Right Farewell Tour (Morris Performing Arts Center)* August 19: DTSB Art Beat’s 20th Anniversary – Presented by August 26: “Rock the Pink” Concert benefiting the Susan G. Koman Foundation (Morris Performing Arts Center)*

SEPTEMBER

September 1: DTSB First Fridays: Dog Days of Summer September 1: Beyond the Yard (Howard Park) September 9-10: Fusion Fest (Howard Park) September 9-10: The Color Purple (Morris Performing Arts Center)* September 16: Recover Michiana Fest (Howard Park) September 23: Out of the Darkness Community Walk (Howard Park)* September 30: South Bend Symphony Orchestra: Silk Road + Strauss w/ Joseph Gramley (Morris Performing Arts Center)*

EVENT SERIES

Downtown South Bend Architecture Walking Tours*: May 5 – October 6 (First Fridays) Howard Park Summer Concert Series: May 5 – September 1 (First Fridays) Yoga for EveryBODY: May 8 – September 27 (Monday - Wednesday) Cars & Coffee at the Studebaker National Museum: May 13 - October 14 (Second Saturday of the month, minus July) Purple Porch Co-op Market: May 31 – September 27 (Wednesdays) Latin Dance at Ironhand*: May 31 – September 27 (Wednesdays) Fridays by the Fountain: June 2 - August 25 (Fridays) East Race Rafting*: June 3 - September 17 (Saturdays and Sundays) DTSB Summer Fitness Series: June 10 - August 26 (Saturdays, excluding August 19 for Art Beat) South Bend Cubs Fireworks Series*: June 7, June 9, June 23, July 4, July 7, July 21, August 4, August 25, September 8, September 9 Wednesday Wine Walks*: June 14, July 12, August 9, September 13 (second Wednesdays) Howard Park Movie Nights: June 16, July 21, August 18 Summer Restaurant Weeks : July 24 - August 6 *These events may require tickets or advance registration.

Presented By Downtown South Bend

Visit DowntownSouthBend.com for a complete listing of downtown events.

CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM

... continued from previous page. with given the events of the last few years. He count to return to normal, a wait that could became sequestered in his home, but not just take up to six months. that, his immune system was so weak that During all of this, even though he nearly any foreign bacteria that could cause should’ve been lethargic and sapped of energy, illness, could cause death. Mark continued to work in every way he During COVID, the world shut down. But could: the man is a grinder. Last year the jovial while Mark was locked down, the world kept radio host filled out 9 W-2s. on spinning, while he needed to take every His jobs include morning radio host at precaution seemingly imaginable before 97.5 Y Country, afternoons on 96.1 The Ton, coming into contact Director of Member with someone or someRelations at the thing. South Bend Regional “I literally had no Chamber, Notre fight in my body, and Dame Public Address that was what the Announcer for volleydoctor was concerned ball, men’s basketball, about. He said off the and men’s/women’s bat, leukemia is not soccer, plus his gig going to kill me, the at Four Winds Field chemotherapy is not with the Cubs. Not going to kill me. Two to mention he’s done things might kill me, PA announcing for my wife, Julie… and the Chicago Cubs at pneumonia. Because Wrigley. imagine literally not The man doesn’t having any fight in know how to sit around your body to fight off and do nothing. He illness and disease. never has. So he didn’t. Anything even. I mean, Even with leukemia any germs I came in and quarantined in contact with would his own home, Mark Mark wearing his #MarkStrong shirt during his have turned into pneupersisted and did his quarantine at home. Credit: Julie McGill. monia. A common cold radio shows every day. would have just run The hardest part of through my body because my body had no the whole process and ordeal wasn’t the diagability to fight anything. And so I had a friend nosis, or the painful bone marrow biopsy, or that came in and used hospital grade ether, the chemo, it was the waiting game and just and he fogged my house to sanitize everystanding by as his body recovered and recalithing.” brated. Life had changed. Through it all, the gregarious man with Mark couldn’t go get the mail; the mail a boundless bevy of jokes and anecdotes contained germs. He couldn’t go grab somenever strayed from his uplifting and positive thing out of the fridge or even hand someone personality, even on the phone as I talked to a credit card through a drive-thru window. The him about his treatment and close calls when South Bend Cubs on-field host went to the he thought he might have contracted a cold doctor constantly and waited for his platelet while his immune system was at its weakest.

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AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2023

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... continued from previous page. “Being hooked up to chemo wasn't bad. Chemo did not make me sick, did not make me tired, I did not lose my hair, even my back hair, which I was hoping for,” said mark. He was still supplanting jokes with the

Ronald McDonald and Mark McGill. Credit: South Bend Cubs Social Media Team precision of a stand-up comedian, intermixed throughout our conversation about his bout with a rare form of leukemia. I even retracted something earlier in a quote that mentioned Julie because I wanted you to feel the magnitude of the disease and only later show that his eternal wit and humor remained unfazed and unflappable. That earlier quote looks like this in its entirety, “Two things might kill me, my wife, Julie, which is with or without leukemia, by the way, and pneumonia.” The comedian, performer, and entertainer in Mark is always on; ‘twas ever thus. During the South Bend Cubs final homestand of July we shot a video with Mark at the ballpark, a tease of his return that will come in early August. While it took place at noon and the park was empty, aside from the employees dispersed throughout going

through their daily routines, it represented the on-field host’s first time back at Four Winds Field since his diagnosis in May. It’s a special place and one he can’t wait to return to on a gameday. “I just get this feeling every time I drive in, I see the crowd you know walking in and it's just, there's just an electricity about a ballpark, and pulling in and then walking in the front doors,” he said. “It was like, welcome home. And then walking down the tunnel to the field was literally being home and it all comes rushing back to you.” Cancer never broke Mark’s spirit, it never stood a chance in that regard. But there’s a lesson to be learned here. “It’s cliché, but man go get your yearly checkup,” Mark said when I asked him what his biggest takeaway from this experience was. “I had no symptoms and it’s scary to think how long I had this and how it could’ve reared its ugly head. Take care of yourself. You only get one life, you only get one body. I look at my life and all that I do and I am blessed. And I want to live, I want to live a really long

Mark on the field pregame on Star Wars Night in 2022 vs Fort Wayne. Credit: Casey McDonald.

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GIve them A Show They’ll Never Forget!

1 800.854.4705 WWW.PYROTECNICO.COM

CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. time with my wife.” Mark McGill doesn’t swing a bat. He’ll never strikeout a batter to preserve a win or come through in the clutch with a base hit to send Four Winds Field into a raucous ovation. But in many ways he’s the heartbeat of home games. When Mark walks through the tunnel it signals that it’s time to enjoy yourself, laugh, take it easy, baseball is on the way and between innings this charismatic man with the microphone, wearing his blue wristbands and big glasses, is there to keep the fun going. With the robust mutability of the world we live in today, the long baseball season remains a constant, a tool to stave off events happening around us. For the last decade Mark has been that constant around these parts, a stalwart of South Bend, and now, he’s back home.

McGill singing the 7th Inning Stretch in 2022. Credit: Langston Johnson.

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