Frosty Microbrews: Road Life

One could certainly understand if members of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers got used to home cooking during their 14-game, 15-day homestand that spanned much of the month of May. Every top has a bottom, though, and their long run at home was followed by a 10-game, 10-day road trip, tied for their longest of the season.

This trip is taking the Rattlers across Iowa and Illinois, with stops in Clinton, Cedar Rapids and Peoria. All told, they'll travel nearly 800 miles while they're gone, and still have games to play each day.

"While the travel can be harsh on the body, I think the league has done everything it could the last few years to change the schedule to make it a little bit easier," Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson said.

The Timber Rattlers experience a little more travel than many other Midwest League rivals due to geography: As the league's northernmost franchise they travel a little further over the course of the season than Erickson did, for example, when he played for Kane County in 1998. Over his years with Wisconsin, though, he's developed a routine to make things easier and more efficient.

"Our road trips consist of waking up, packing a bus anytime from 7 am to 9 am, depending on how far we have to travel that day," Erickson said. "Everybody packs the bus together, we jump on and head down, we usually stop around halfway through to grab a late breakfast or brunch to break up the trip, get off the bus, stretch the legs.

"And then we go into the next city, and I like to go first day directly to the ballpark. For years minor league baseball has gone to the hotel and a lot of times on that first day those hotels have other teams trying to get out of there, a lot of the rooms aren't ready, we have a lot of guys hanging out in the lobby. So I've found it a little easier to go straight to the ballpark, everybody unloads, we get our normal work day in and then we check in after the game when the hotels are definitely ready for us and all the rooms are ready. It's worked out a little more efficiently that way."

The best laid plans, however, are still vulnerable to the challenges inherent in taking a large group of 18-to-23 year olds, many of whom are still adjusting to the day-to-day professional baseball life, on the road. Erickson has said previously that a large part of his job is helping these young players get acclimated to the routine and grind of a long season, and a portion of that relates to helping them adjust and thrive in these situations.

"You want to treat them like adults," Erickson said. "I want to develop trust with them, and when I have that trust with them it goes really easy. And obviously they're looking to develop trust in our staff. It's easier to take criticism and some teachings when you're working with a mutual trust. So we work a lot on communication, a lot on trust. If that trust is broken then yeah, there are times when I need to check or babysit. Fortunately for us, I think our staff does a pretty good job of educating on the front end so we haven't had too many issues in that respect."

Long road trips also present logistical challenges for young players who haven't experienced long road trips or Midwestern weather before. Timber Rattlers pitcher and Hawaii native Jordan Yamamoto cited those challenges when asked what he was planning to bring along for this trip.

"I really don't know. Just a lot of clothes. You never know if it's going to be cold, hot. So it's going to be a lot of packing tonight," Yamamoto said.

Life on the road also leaves players with a little more free time than they might experience at home. Visiting teams take batting practice later in the day than home teams, so while the team might be at the ballpark by 1 or 1:30 pm for a night game at home, the bus typically doesn't leave for the ballpark until 2:30 or 3 on the road.

"Guys are different," Erickson said. "Some guys get up, have some breakfast and go back to bed. Some guys develop hobbies like playing the guitar, there's a lot of reading of books, video games are a big thing, some guys are movie watchers, but some guys are finishing school and trying to do some school work. Everybody's a little different when it comes to that, but we try to make them as comfortable as we can and encourage as much rest as we can."

Hopefully Yamamoto remembered to pack a deck of cards for the road.

"A lot of us like to play cards," Yamamoto said. "That's pretty much all we do in the hotel is cards, watch TV and sleep."

For catcher Mitch Ghelfi, the top priority on the road is getting an opportunity to rest and recover from long days at the ballpark.

"Sometimes I play some video games if someone brings their Playstation or something. But other than that, just pretty much relaxing since you're at the field for so long," Ghelfi said. "Most of the time when you're done you're a little bit mentally drained and you just want to go back and chill. So that's what I usually do."

For Erickson, spending some time on the road allows him to pursue a hobby he doesn't always find time for at home.

"What's nice about this year's staff with (hitting coach) Al LeBoeuf and (pitching coach) Gary Lucas, they're both golf maniacs and I like to play the game as well," Erickson said. "Being at home with the family and the three kids, I don't play as much golf as I probably want to. But on the road with that extra time in the morning, we're trying to plan out a few more golf trips. So that's nice. When we go on the road I bring my golf clubs, try to get out and enjoy the weather, enjoy the communities, the different cities."

Among the players interviewed for this story, the best part of a minor league road trip was a split between extra time to bond with teammates and an opportunity to see new places.

"Just being around the guys," Timber Rattlers catcher Max McDowell said. "There are a lot of good guys on the team so there are a lot of good moments with them on bus trips, and in hotels. So I always look forward to being around them."

"It's fun just being with the guys, getting to see different parts of the country," pitcher Jon Perrin said while with the Timber Rattlers in April. Perrin has since been promoted to Brevard County.

"The scenery. The scenery of driving to and from all these places. I've never been out here, I've never been in the Midwest, seeing new areas and new parts of the nation is pretty cool to me," Yamamoto said.

There was, however, some consensus about the worst part of these trips.

"Bus rides," Perrin said. "Grinding it out. Truck stop food, stuff like that. But it's all part of the experience, I guess, to toughen you up a little bit so that when you get to the big leagues and get to fly everywhere, you've earned it."