FROM A CHAMPIONSHIP IN '19 TO COVID-19

THE STORY OF THE COVID SHUTDOWN THROUGH THE EYES OF THE SOUTH BEND CUBS

By: Josh Sperber

Six hundred and one days. That is how long it was between game two of the Midwest League Championship, the last game in South Bend in 2019, and Opening Night of the 2021 season. It seems like just yesterday that Cole Roederer scored on a wild pitch to end the 2019 home slate on the highest possible note. Two days later the Cubs would capture their fourth Midwest League Championship, first as a Chicago Cubs Affiliate. Six months later the club was preparing to defend their league title and readying the stadium for the best fans in Minor League Baseball. Then, everything stopped.

“Going into Spring Training, I was ready for a full year. Everybody was amped up, especially coming off a championship… When it got shut down, we were all kind of bummed, but there was nothing you could really do about it, everybody was going through the same struggles,” said Cubs top outfield prospect Brennen Davis.

All of a sudden, the excitement of a new season came to a grinding halt. Everyone had questions, but no one had answers. Public gatherings of any kind, including professional sports were canceled.

“I’d be lying to tell you the first month wasn’t really tough, not really knowing what

I was going to do, after that, you know, we got everything canceled and didn’t know when

we were going to play again,” said South Bend Cubs outfielder Cole Roederer.

While plans were forming to bring back other major sports leagues without fans or in a bubble, no such plans were coming for Minor League Baseball. A minor league season was not financially viable and couldn’t be sustained without fans in the stands. As a response, minor league organizations at every level were forced to furlough some of their staff, a difficult decision that was not lost on Team President, Joe Hart.

“These were colleagues of yours, friends of yours, people that you worked with. And it was no fault of their own, we were just letting them know that this is what we had to do. Really the harder part was just not having answers… we just didn’t know how long it was going to last.”

While normally buzzing with baseball excitement, Four Winds Field would sit dormant in April and May of 2020.

It was the uncertainty that surrounded this entire period which forced the hands of front offices around the country to find ways to survive until baseball returned.

The only choice was to move forward and think creatively about ways to maintain the team’s role in the South Bend community without baseball. It began by posting supportive messages on social media, encouraging the community that everyone would get through this difficult time together and ensuring them that they would be back in the stands soon. Continued on page 10...

While there was still hope of a season and fans were craving any kind of sports content, the team would showcase past games on Facebook, even going as far as developing a couple virtual gamedays, bringing the experience of Four Winds Field into the homes of fans everywhere. As the pandemic overloaded the region’s healthcare systems, the South Bend Cubs shifted their efforts to supporting frontline workers by delivering food to nurses, doctors, and other local hospital employees to try and ease the heavy burden Covid-19 forced on their shoulders.

Families of John Adams High School students watch seniors receive their diplomas. (July 24, 2020)

When recommended isolation moved to physical distancing, the remaining South Bend Cubs staff came up with various ways to provide the community with a social outlet for fans. “Evenings at the Four Winds Field Tiki Hut” became one of the few activities in the region where people could gather safely.

Once larger groups were permitted, events like the South Bend Community School Corporation graduations gave high school seniors their moment of walking across that stage and ending an important chapter of their lives in front of their friends and family.

While providing these experiences and opportunities to create memories is part of

the South Bend Cubs credo, it was not an easy task without a full staff for these events. It became necessary for the remaining staff members to step out of their comfort zone and work jobs they had never done before. Vice President and General Manager Nick Brown described 2020 as a resumé builder.

Fans gather on the field to watch "The Sandlot" on the video board. (August 14, 2020)

“There were no tasks that we couldn’t do as a group. Everyone had to pitch in regardless of your position. We all had to wear different hats, and there were more hats to be worn than we had bodies.”

That may have meant cooking in the stadium kitchen during a movie night and repairing a pitcher’s mound for the Chicago Cubs Alternate Site team the next day. Everyone needed to help keep the facility pristine.

Regardless of the shorthanded staff, the South Bend Cubs were eager to cater to fans as soon as it was allowed by the health department.

A big part of the summer and fall revolved around events utilizing the Four Winds Field video board. Four movie nights and three Chicago Cubs watch parties provided fans an opportunity to get the family out of the house and safely enjoy the company of others.

A limited number of free tickets were distributed to families across South Bend to attend the safe trickor-treating event put on by the South Bend Police Department. (October 26, 2020)

In conjunction with the South Bend Police Department, the third annual Cops and Goblins event provided a place for kids in the community to have a fun and safe trick-or-treating experience.

Throughout the fall and into winter, additional watch parties focused on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, including the ACC Championship game. And in the spring, March Madness came to the Pepsi Stadium Club.

While still hosting events at the stadium, the South Bend Cubs would continue to help

those in need. Partnering with the Food Bank of Northern Indiana and Meijer, the organization helped distribute 2,000 frozen turkeys and 1,000 food boxes from the Four Winds Field parking lot on February 25.

On March 21, the club hosted the fifth annual Polar Plunge to support Special Olympics Indiana.

2020 was bleak for everyone. The lack of a season was difficult, and it was especially

crushing not to see a stadium full of smiles and hear the roar of the best fans in baseball night in and night out during the summer. But the South Bend Cubs wanted to continue to demonstrate their passion for the community and fan base, along with their commitment to bring fun, joy, and of course, Cubs baseball to the people of South Bend.

Four Notre Dame students pose for a photo after participating in the Special Olympics Polar Plunge. (March 21, 2021)

With the organization of the minor leagues changing due to the pandemic and

resulting contraction, South Bend was fortunate enough to be moved up a level to High-A baseball, one step closer to Wrigley Field on the organization’s minor league ladder.

But one of the most exciting pieces of news came in January when the South Bend Cubs extended their stadium agreement through 2041 with the City of South Bend, ensuring that professional baseball would remain at Four Winds Field for many years to come.

Now that baseball is back and 2020 is inthe rear-view mirror, there is plenty to beoptimistic about in 2021.