Kernels In The Cornfields

Would you consider driving over 550 miles round trip to see a minor league baseball game?  I did it a couple of years ago, and I liked it so much I did it again late last month.  The lowest level of minor league ball, other than the rookie leagues, is Class A.  The Minnesota Twins franchise owns two minor league teams which play at the Class A (usually called "single A") level, the Fort Myers Miracle and the Cedar Rapids Kernels.  Cedar Rapids, the second largest city in Iowa, is an easy drive, a shade over four hours from Minneapolis.  The Kernels play in Perfect Game Field at Veterans' Memorial Stadium.

The first thing you'll notice at Veterans' Memorial is that the large parking lot adjacent to the stadium is free.  Of course that would be unheard of at any MLB venue.  The second surprise is the price of tickets.  Thirteen dollars gets you the best seat in the house, but if that's too rich for your blood, nine bucks puts you barely past the dugouts on the lower level.  Even cheaper is the popular lawn seating area along the left field line.  The stadium also features a faux "green monster," Fenway Park-style, with a few dozen seats perched above.  

While we're on the subject of costs, you'd be hard pressed to find a meal over six dollars or a beer over five.  Proud of myself for recognizing a good meal deal when I saw one, I ate two: a juicy hot dog upon arrival, and a tasty burrito in the top of the fifth.  I had to save funnel cakes and barbeque for another time.

I never found Iowans to be a particularly congenial bunch at sporting events involving the Gophers, but here it was a different story.  The staff at Veterans' Memorial was extraordinarily friendly.  Maybe they were Minnesota expats(?).  From the ticket sellers to the vendors to the ushers and other security, every one was either a genuinely welcoming host or else a good thespian.  A tip of the hat to the Kernels' personnel honchos for hiring those folks.

Minnesota prides itself on its craft beer, but you'd hardly know it at Target Field where a thirsty fan has to look high and low to find a decent brew.  The Twins beverage operations managers could (and should) take a lesson from the Cedar Rapidians.  There were at least three separate draught beer stands offering first class options behind the infield seats.  That's pretty good when you consider the stadium only holds 5300 fans.  The vendor closest to the main gate carried Laguinitas IPA, New Belgium Brewing Fat Tire, Odell's 90 Shilling, Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, Fresh Squeezed by Deschutes, and Bell's Oberon.  Another directly behind the plate had many of the same pours, plus Burnout Brown from Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny.  Down the first base line was Craft Beer Cabin where two of Iowa's favorite micro breweries were represented, Millstone Brewery from Amana, and Big Grove Brewery of Iowa City.  Vets' Memorial was a veritable beer drinkers' paradise.

I almost forgot the main reason to make the journey was to watch some baseball.  The first thing I check when attending a minor league game is the player roster bios, including age, home town, last year's team, and how the player was acquired by the Twins' franchise.  I did the same for the Kernels' opponent, the Beloit Snappers, an affiliate of the Oakland A's.  Since Class A is professional baseball's lowest level, it stands to reason that a Class A roster would be comprised of very young players.  The Kernels' ten man starting lineup included three teenagers and two other players who were twenty years of age.  The old man of the group was first baseman Robby Rinn, a hoary twenty-five year old.

I am pretty excited for these kids who, just like me, dreamed of playing Major League Baseball some day.  (I saw myself as the heir apparent to the Milwaukee Braves' slugging third baseman, Eddie Mathews.)  The difference, besides the obvious disparity in talent, is that these ballers are actually doing something about it.  They are gambling that they will climb the minor league ladder and rise to The Bigs before their prime years (usually ages 27-32) have come and gone.  Meanwhile, they toil in obscurity, take long bus rides, risk debilitating injury which could delay or even end their career, and hope that they don't suffer through a dreaded slump which could result in other young players passing them by with promotions to higher levels.

Most minor league baseball players turn pro immediately out of high school.  Unlike many college players who have their degrees to fall back on if things don't work out on the diamond, the Kernels and other minor leaguers made one of the most important decisions of their professional lives at age seventeen or eighteen.  They have undoubtedly seen the statistics showing that less than 3% of all minor leaguers and college players will ever play for one of the thirty MLB teams.  I wonder if they ever get discouraged when they see players like Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals or the Cleveland Indians' Francisco Lindor reach the Majors at ages nineteen and twenty-one, respectively.  Those two All Stars are rare exceptions to the rule.

The level of play, even for single A, is way above average.  These guys are definitely not kicking the ball around; for the most part it is a cleanly-played game.  The Kernels' second baseman, Andrew Bechtold, reminded me of Brian Dozier with his slick glove work.  Too bad Andrew is hitting only .214, not nearly enough to be in line for a promotion.  I witnessed power pitching from the Kernels' starter, Edwar Colina.  He is a twenty-one year old Venezuelan who, as an undrafted free agent, played for the Twins' rookie league team in Elizabethton, Tennessee last year.  He threw low to mid-nineties for six frames the night I saw him in person, averaging more than a strikeout per inning.  Sure he was facing Class A batters, but after watching the mediocre Twins' bullpen in action this season, I wonder if Edwar should be given a shot with the big team in the next year or two.

The Kernels player drawing the most fan interest for the first half of this season was shortstop Royce Lewis, the Twins' most recent first round draft choice.  Only nineteen years old, Royce was signed to a $6.7 million contract last year out of high school in San Juan Capistrano, California.  When I saw him in June he was the only Kernel batting above .300, at .303.  The Twins see Royce as a five tool player.  They have him on a fast track as proven by his elevation last week to their higher level Class A farm team, the Fort Myers Miracle.

Lewis is thus following in the footsteps of the Twins' 2016 first round draft selection, outfielder Alex Kiriloff.  Alex, a Plum, Pennsylvania native, was also signed out of high school as the fifteenth overall pick.  His contract was for $2.8 million, not nearly as much as Lewis, but still a little more than I made at the Piggly Wiggly my senior year.  Unfortunately for me, by the time I was able to get down to Cedar Rapids, Alex had already been promoted to the Miracle, where he has hardly missed a beat.  His batting average with the Kernels was .333; so far with the Miracle it's .317. By the year 2021, and maybe 2020, I will not need to travel to Florida to watch Lewis and Kiriloff; they should be six miles away at Target Field.