Cal notes: Ace runs last race in Lake Elsinore
LAKE ELSINORE, California -- Eric Theiss' job may look like nothing but fun, but if you stop and think about it, it's easy to see a downside."You don't want to beat a little kid," he said. "No grown adult wants to do that, you know?"Nonetheless, Theiss -- better known as
LAKE ELSINORE, California -- Eric Theiss' job may look like nothing but fun, but if you stop and think about it, it's easy to see a downside.
"You don't want to beat a little kid," he said. "No grown adult wants to do that, you know?"
Nonetheless, Theiss -- better known as Ace, the Fastest Squirrel in the World -- has spent the last six seasons beating little kids, night after night, despite giving them humongous head starts in sprints across the outfield at The Diamond, home of the Storm. On Sunday, however, Ace ran his last race.
Believe it or not, guilt has nothing to do with his retirement. The mild-mannered sales and marketing executive inside the squirrel suit is 30 and his wife, Jamie, is pregnant with their first child.
"I think it's more outside of baseball. A little bit different responsibilities and I need to take on a different role outside of this," Theiss said. "And I think it's run its course, not in the sense of fan enjoyment and that I get to do it but in that you always need to do something new and something fun and exciting to get the fans going. This has been six years.
"Early on in the squirrel life, [Lake Elsinore director of broadcasting Sean McCall] told me the average grey squirrel lives six years. This will be the sixth season and we'll kind of keep it at that."
But don't cry for Ace. His life has been as rich as a squirrel could ask for. He was featured on a bobblehead given away at The Diamond on Aug. 19. He's gone practically undefeated, his few losses coming when he's been sabotaged or set up against a ringer. He's run at Petco Park and ignited a Padres comeback, and he's been featured on ESPN's SportsCenter and later appeared in a SportsCenter commercial.
Get your "Ace" The Fastest Squirrel Bobbletail TONIGHT! Get here early, we only have 1,500! #LakeElsinoreStorm #UnitedWeStorm #milb pic.twitter.com/7itDixHCHj
— Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) August 19, 2017
This season, he's also seen his trademark stunt get national attention, as the Atlanta Braves have run Nigel Talton -- aka The Freeze -- against a range of competitors along the warning track at SunTrust Park. The Storm issued a challenge to The Freeze on behalf of Ace that went unanswered. There are no hard feelings in Lake Elsinore, though.
"There's nobody else I can relate to besides him," Theiss said, only half joking. "I actually think it's the greatest thing. I don't have any remorse or think that they stole our idea or anything. I would be curious of how they came about the idea, just if there was a connection, if somebody saw something here and it kind of correlated. But I love it. I love what it's brought to Major League Baseball."
Like Talton, Theiss is a former college track standout. He was on the track team at SUNY Oneonta, where he went from a casual runner to a much more serious athlete, racing a personal best 21.877 to win the 200-meter dash at the Syracuse Invitational in 2009, his senior season.
"My great coaching in college -- I definitely flourished when I went there," he said. "When I got to college, it just kind of opened me up to the health world and how your diet [affects] your exercise and all that stuff. It's definitely become who I am. I don't think it will ever go away."
When Theiss started working for the Storm in 2012, his fitness level wasn't lost on his coworkers. Ace was the result of a perfect storm: a front-office employee who happens to be a gifted and dedicated sprinter, an order of somewhat random costumes and the idea to flip a classic ballpark promo on its head.
At the typical stadium race, Theiss said, the mascot runs against a kid "and something happens and distracts the mascot and the kid wins. So, it was kind of a funny thought: 'What if the mascot always beats the kid?'"
Young fans chat with Ace, the Fastest Squirrel in the World, before a race. (Josh Jackson/MiLB.com)
That spring, Robert Gillett, the Storm's former director of promotions who gained notice with such characters as the Grounds Crew Gorilla and the Rally Cop, tried out a bevy of new costumes. When the staff saw that the squirrel suit fit Theiss perfectly -- nobody would call it aerodynamic -- a tradition was born. But as much as the bushy tail and baggy legs have slowed him down, there was at least one time that they helped him.
"My first couple years, I had a hard time kind of figuring out [how much of a lead to give the opponent]. I had this nice, nice young man who was in high school at the time, maybe college," Theiss said. "I misjudged the distance and I literally just out of instinct dove forward. [The players in the Storm bullpen] said the only reason I won was the squirrel tail made it across the line."
Most nights, he needs no such advantage. Running against spry 17-year-old Stevie Sandy in mid-August, Theiss gave her over a half-field advantage but easily coasted past her several feet before the finish.
"I don't know how he does it. He gave me a huge head start, but he still got me," she said, noting that she'd been watching him race the last couple years. "It's really exciting [to run against him]. I'm sad it's his last year, though."
Theiss, who is regularly teased by coworkers for having butterflies before a race that's often against 6-year-olds, plans to remain in the best shape that he can as he continues to work in the Lake Elsinore front office.
"For sure, I'll try to stay as healthy and as lean as possible," he said, "just in case I have to step out onto the field one more time."
In brief
Most Valuable: The Cal League announced its end-of-season honors last week, with Rancho Cucamonga's DJ Peters (the Dodgers' No. 17 prospect) taking home MVP and Rookie of the Year awards and Modesto's Nick Neidert (the Mariners' No. 2 prospect) being named Pitcher of the Year. Last season, Josh Sborz took that title for his work with the Quakes, while the Storm's Luis Urías was tabbed MVP and Rookie of the Year.
66ers find an engine: Jahmai Jones, the Angels' No. 2 prospect, will end up with the longest hitting streak in the circuit. From July 27-Aug. 24, the Inland Empire center fielder collected knocks in 25 straight. Jose Rojas, formerly of the 66ers, and Brendan Rodgers, formerly of the JetHawks, had 23-game runs. Rojas' Cal League streak is technically still active, although he hasn't been around since a mid-July promotion to Double-A Mobile.
What can Brown do for you? A's prospect Seth Brown homered in five straight games for the Ports last week. His power show came to an end on Friday, but he collected two hits in that game and two more on Saturday.
No contest: While it looks like it will take the final week of the season to settle the pennant race in both divisions, several pitchers have a shot at finishing with the most strikeouts and at least three sluggers have the potential to come away with the most homers, Lancaster players have a couple crowns pretty much locked up. With 12 games to play, Yonathan Daza had a .340 batting average, 21 points higher than the next hitter (teammate Garrett Hampson). As a team, the JetHawks had stolen 275 bases (next was Inland Empire's 121), and no wonder: Wes Rogers had 63, and seven of the top 10 spots on the leaderboard were occupied by Lancaster players. (Hampson was second again with 48 thefts).
Josh Jackson is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @JoshJacksonMiLB.
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