TODAY’S GAME
South Bend at Dayton, 4 p.m.
WONE-AM (980), WHIO-TV Ch. 7.2, TWC Ch. 372 and 23
It’s not a guarantee for success, but it sure helps to have a Dragons roster full of championship players.
The Dragons own the longest consecutive home sellout streak in professional sports history, but there’s another streak our low-class A minor league baseball team would like to snap. No Dragons team in 15 previous seasons has won a Midwest League championship. And it hasn’t been close.
As usual in the early season, expectations are high, and why not? The team is loaded with at least 15 players who played key roles for the Billings (Mont.) Mustangs championship team that won the advanced-rookie Pioneer League last season.
“As we saw in spring training, this is a special group of kids,” Dragons manager Jose Nieves said last week. “They have that feeling of what it takes to be a winner. That creates a tougher mentality and expectations.
“Day by day, things can change. Injuries, promotions, you can’t control that. If they play like they played in spring training, it’s going to be a fruitful season for us this year.”
Those great expectations began Friday in Grand Rapids, Mich., against the West Michigan Whitecaps after Thursday’s scheduled opener was rained out. The home opener is at 4 p.m. today against the South Bend Cubs at Fifth Third Field.
That’s the first of a three-game series against South Bend, followed by a three-game series against the visiting Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods that concludes Friday.
As usual, it’ll be a festive atmosphere today. There will be a pregame flyover, skydivers who’ll descend upon the field and a dove release. Between innings and elsewhere will be all kinds of fan-friendly skits, contests and videos that have nothing to do with baseball and everything to do with Fifth Third Field entertainment. Heater, Gem, Roofman, Wink and ATMO will see to that.
A new whiz-bang HD giant video board has been installed. It’s bigger and has more doodads zinging through it than anything you’ve seen at a minor-league stadium. Hunger for some “variable content zoning” and 16 times more LEDs as the previous board? Done.
Milano’s Tap Room also is new. The local sub guru teamed with Heidelberg Distributing for an unbeatable concept: Italian fare and 10 craft beers.
There’s much more to like, even on the field.
It’s anyone’s guess who’ll be the next former Dragon to make it big with the parent Cincinnati Reds. Depending on need at other minor-league levels, call-ups can unravel a winning lineup as much as injuries to key players.
The goal — as always — is to prepare these players for the “big show.” Nieves is in his third consecutive season at Dayton doing just that. That’s not an indictment on his inability to also be promoted. It’s more a nod to his special knack for getting the job done, win or lose.
“It’s tough,” he said. “Sometimes the group you choose has a good chemistry and are playing good together, they know each other and they’re pulling in the same direction.
“You want to have success and win championships, but the bottom line is our job here is to get them better for promotion to the next level. We look forward to teaching the individuals and in the long run, hopefully, they can make it to the big leagues.”
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