J-Rod's 7th Post: A Quick Sneak-peak at the upcoming season (with a random head shot of Asst. Coach Jason Immekus)

It is hard to believe that Opening Day is less than one week away. I must say the Operations Interns & their respective managers have really done a nice job getting everything ready seemingly earlier than usual, even with the number of ballpark improvements increasing at a high-rate this year. We hope ballpark improvements have a positive correlation with our fans' overall satisfaction upon visiting the "Duck Pond" during the summer as they give you experiences you never thought you'd be able to enjoy while watching a baseball game.

I mean, we're installing a beach (yes, a beach) just outside of the left-field corner to serve as just another means of enjoyment for kids during games when they're not bouncing in "Big Maynard," trying to show up dad at the speed pitch, or hitting the "floating" baseball at the t-ball machine.

On top of that, if you can text (or parents; have your kids teach you) and find yourself hungry at the ballpark, you'll love another addition to 2009: the ability to text your orders to Maynard's from any location in the ballpark & only have to show up once your order is ready. Why should you have to miss any part of the game while waiting for your food? Simply text your order (according to codes posted in the ballpark) to 608.622.EATS (3287) and we'll respond back with an approximate wait time, which averages less than 15 min. Once you've paid for your food at the window, it's time to enjoy the freshest and biggest portions in all of the park. Eat up!

Moving to the Great Dane Duck Blind, the addition of 200 actual seats should put a smile on a lot of people's faces. The key three words we keep stressing is that "capacity is unaffected" because it's important to note that we're not just adding more seating to allow more people to experience the Duck Blind. This area is constantly evolving, and your suggestions are always helpful. If you're able to grab a spot in the field-level addition, you're going to want to bring a glove because it feels like you're standing behind the first baseman.

Switching gears, about 15 players reported today, which further means that the baseball season is upon us. It's always fun to see the guys' first reactions when they step onto this field for the first time. In talking to them year after year, the cool thing they're most excited about is usually playing in front of 6,000-plus fans and the electricity that surrounds Mallards baseball. To be honest, they could care less about the team's 2004 Northwoods League Championship, or how this team has been ultra-competitive the past 4 seasons. They want to experience minor league baseball in a major league playoff type atmosphere. And yet, we're neither of those things.

This Wednesday, the Mallards will host the Swedish National Baseball Team at 6:05 p.m. at the Duck Pond. It'll be interesting to see how their style and the American style of baseball are both alike and yet different. We hope to see you out there...and if not, remember, Opening Day is THIS Monday against the Rochester Honkers. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.! Great seats are still available too I'm hearing.

Here's to a great season! And by the way, beginning in mid-June, we're going to turn Maynard's Musings over to the interns to get their thoughts on working for the Mallards and share a story or two. Consider it to be a glimpse into a facet of the team that is certainly underrated at times.

Liz's Entry: Only a week late!

So it is time for my next blog…well actually my blog was due last week but my kind co-worker Steven Stewart filled the gap for me. It is May, wow, I can’t believe it. The spring has flown by and summer is right around the corner. The day’s move pretty fast right now.

Vern is busy learning the ins and outs of twitter, the newest online craze. I don’t know that much about it however it sounds like it can be a little addicting.

Jerrad is busy running from room to room to the press box and back again. Good thing he has 2 interns in working for him now, it should make his plate a little less full.

Meanwhile Kevin is doing all that he can to help local schools complete their reading programs. This is the first year of the reading program and it has been well received. If you’re interested in learning more about the reading program, contact Kevin, he’s your guy.

Nick and John are busy preparing for the season; Nick is working on getting the souvenir stand up and running well & John is working on getting signage for the ballpark and getting things organized for Opening Day. Mike is busy setting up mascot appearances, delivering pocket schedules and not emailing us messages in the office. You see, he is old school and likes to put post-its on our desks. Ask Nick how much he likes post-its on his desk!

Steven, well, he is busy doing everything. He takes care of everything outside of the office from growing grass to painting. And when it rains he makes trips to Sports Impressions to pick up merchandise or he spends time working on getting us equipment for the summer. Steven really is pretty handy and helps us out a lot, I am pretty sure we don’t tell Steven that enough, so thanks Steven!

I have been busy doing a little bit of everything. Single game tickets are on sale now so we are busy taking ticket orders, printing tickets and finalizing orders. We recently received the rest of our ticket stock so I have been busy trying to organize the ticket office so it is not complete chaos.

Well now that you have the update of everyone in the office, I thought I would end with a few of the things I am looking forward to this summer.

1) The Trek Bike Blind. Many of you may not know but I am a closeted cyclist. I got hooked when I lived in Green Bay and still continue casual road-riding when I can. Having a more exclusive area for bikes this summer is something I am looking forward to.
2) The double header on July 12th, that is something that I am looking forward to. We will have a lot of fun packed into that day with a BBQ in between games. Nothing goes better with a double header then BBQ!
3) The Duck Blind Club level. The Club level includes unlimited ballpark food, drink, a nightly food special, separate food and beverage stations in the Club level and reserved picnic tables for 8! Not to mention one of the best views of the ballpark!
4) The Evergreen tree seedlings give away. We are going green and I couldn’t be more excited! There is something about giving out 2,000 trees that puts a smile on my face.

Well now you know what I am looking forward to... what are you looking forward to??

Nick's 6th Post: Rubbing's Racing

So I would like to dedicate this blog to a sport that is held very dear to Steven Stewart’s heart….NASCAR! (Steven is my roommate and a current seasonal staff member who also runs the main concession stand. During the season ask Steven how he is related to Tony Stewart)

I have never really had any interest in NASCAR prior to 2003 when my brother, Kevin, left his position as an auto mechanic in West Bend, WI to take a position working for Matt Kenseth and the #17 DeWalt team. He currently builds the transmissions for Kenseth’s cars and travels with the pit crew on race days. I do not watch the sport religiously but if I am sitting around on a Sunday afternoon I will flip back and forth between NASCAR and whatever else I am watching. I do follow it more closely than year's past and try to catch a glimpse of my brother on tv after Kenseth would win a race.

I have visited my brother who lives in Concord, NC, which is about 20 minutes north of Charlotte. This area is also home to many NASCAR teams. It amazes me how much the way of life differs down there from here. First off it is God’s country down there. I have never seen so many churches in rural areas and they are just packed on the weekend…maybe praying to the NASCAR gods?!?! Second, you cannot buy liquor in any old store. You have to go to what they call an “ABC” store. This is a store that is owned by the government whereby you cannot purchase liquor on Sundays. Lastly, I have never seen so many people crazy about NASCAR. I happened to be there for a week and wanted to find a place to watch the Packers game on Sunday so I headed to the Dave and Busters. Of course they had the satellite package that could pick up every NFL at the bar, but most of the patrons were complaining that most of the tv’s had football on and made the bartender turn on the race.

Anyways to get back on track (no pun intended) I was mentioning that the area surrounding Charlotte is home to many NASCAR teams. I was lucky enough to go to the shop where my brother worked on all of the #17 cars. This was not your ordinary shop that you and I are used to. This was a glass palace. I was amazed to how big these buildings were and that they were all tinted glass buildings. You could not see inside but you can definitely see everything going on outside. The shop was very pristine there was not much that was out of order. You could have licked the floor that’s how clean this place was.

I was also amazed at the number of race cars in the building. They were just lined up row after row. I never realized they have different styles of cars they use either. They have certain cars they use for short track races and roads races and usually have a new car for every race, which is not cheap because they cost right around $400,000-$500,000 per car. My brother also said they sell cars that are kind of banged up or they won’t use again to individuals who race in lower levels.


Also while I was there I visited the DEI Museum (Dale Earnhardt Incorporated). This was actually a pretty cool place. They had all sorts of memorabilia and career highlights of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. The thing that amazed me the most was in the center of the museum they had a large glass enclosure with a bunch cars that Sr. had driven throughout his career. It was quite remarkable to see the differences in the cars they drive today to one’s they drove 20-30 years ago.

I have been told attending a race is unlike any other event. People travel in RV’s from all around the country to attend the races. The Phillip Morris Company in Concord actually owns fields surrounding Lowe’s Motor Speedway and they charge people to park in their fields on race weekends. It is quite the scene! I also have been told that the young women who attend these races are phenomenal. My brother has also said "if you ever want to go you let me know," so maybe one of these years I’ll take a trip to a race somewhere.

I don’t have much insight on the sport in general and probably could tell you very little about any of the drivers, but I do respect what these guys do for a living. As for Steven he is such a huge fan of NASCAR he actually purchased NASCAR 09 for his Playstation 2. I have a little advice for you: easy on the left hand turns and slow down coming out of the pits! Well Steven good luck on your quest for the Nextel Cup Championship!

Only 41 Days Until Opening Day!

J-Rod's 6th Post: "State of the Brewers: It's a long season..."

Calm down Brewers fans, we're only 81 innings into the 2009 season.

Of course a 3-6 overall record and 2-4 mark at home isn't exactly the position we had hoped to be after nine games, but, considering that we're only 0.055% into the season, it's hardly the time to panic.

Consider this:

1)Apart from the 7-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants on April 9, the Brewers have had a legitimate chance to win every game. The Crew could easily have two more W's minus a blown save by fill-in closer Carlos Villanueva on April 11 against the hated Chicago Cubs and a six-run third inning meltdown by Yovani Gallardo this past Monday against the Cincinnati Reds. While a 5-4 record would look nice...peek around the rest of the league and you'll see the Boston Red Sox sitting at 3-6, the Minnesota Twins at 4-6, the defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays at 4-5, and the Arizona Diamondbacks at 3-6. Come October, I still expect at least two of these teams to be sitting atop their respective divisions.

2) Our starting pitching has been pathetic. It's hard to believe we're only third-to-last in the Major Leagues in walks allowed with 43 (only the Braves & Indians have been worse!). It's one thing to put guys on base, but when you start walking consecutive batters with the bases loaded, now we have a problem....*cough* Jeff Suppan. But once this bunch starts pounding the strike zone and gives the team a better chance to win ballgames, things will get interesting.

3) We rank #28 in hitting! Really, if Mike "I swear I'm off the juice" Cameron hadn't gotten off to the start that he has, we'd rank dead last. Check out these batting averages: Prince Fielder (.200), JJ Hardy (.156), Ryan Braun (.212), and Jason Kendall (.120). Manager Ken Macha said it best before yesterday's game in stating that it's evident a lot of these guys are trying to start the year off with a "bang" and are simply swinging at bad pitches. Once these guys settle down and let the game come to them, this offense will give a lot of opposing pitchers' nightmares.

I predicted before the season this team would finish with an 84-78 record, which should put them in the race for the Division (if the Cardinals come back to Earth) or Wild Card come October. Look for GM Doug Melvin to pull the trigger again this season at the trading deadline & make a move for a Jake Peavy-type impact in order to keep the fanbase excited & season attendance again near the 3 Million mark.

But more importantly, Mallards Opening Day is only 45 days, 21 hours, and 24 minutes away....

My favorite time of the year - Part II - Nick

In my last entry I had went ahead and made some predictions about the NCAA Tournament. After an almost nauseating weekend of watching basketball (by the way I did take Friday off), it looks like the four teams I predicted to still be alive at this point include: North Carolina, Villanova, Oklahoma and UConn.

I have enjoyed watching most of the games so far but it is a bit disappointing to not have a Cinderella in it, I mean you could consider Arizona a Cinderella team, but I think they will get knocked out by Louisville this week. As for the Badgers, they made a great run at, but it seems they found their match against Xavier. They played a game we all became used to this year, as they could not hit a shot down the stretch. Oh well maybe next year; I am excited to actually have a big man in the post with Ian Markoff.

Another reason this is my favorite time of year is that I get to golf, well at least when I have time during the summer. The past couple summers the Corporate Sales guys have been able to set up deals with Bridges and The Oaks golf courses. This is a nice opportunity to go out after work on a non-game day, drink a few beers and be absolutely frustrated as hell, yet still have a great time.

I could never figure out why people continually go out and golf yet never really get better because they can not dedicate the time on the range and the course. Every once in a while you get in a zone and surprise yourself. I managed to shoot +1 on the front nine at the Bridges, sinking 3 birdie putts of over 30 ft., yet playing the back nine first I shot +10. How does someone manage to turn around their game in that short amount of time? It’s perplexing and I think it’s the challenge of trying to get better even though deep down you know you won’t get better.

I have actually only been golfing for 13 years. I was turned on to the game by my cousin. I rented a set of clubs and went out with him one summer day and was hooked from there. I proceeded to start to look for clubs. For all you avid golfers you know how expensive clubs can be. I skimmed the classifieds trying to find a decent set of used clubs. I finally came a across a set of clubs that included a cart, balls and tees for $50! I knew that they weren’t going to be anything fancy, but the “rents” and I decided to go look at them. It turned out to be an elderly couple selling them because they were getting too old to golf anymore. I thought this was perfect, all except for one thing... the set was actually a woman’s set! I was pretty short and had always heard that people who were shorter would actually fit better with a woman’s set. Well I did end up purchasing the set.

Going into my freshman year of high school I decided I wanted to go out for the golf team. I went to a pretty small school (Kewaskum, WI) and everyone made the team. I was just happy I got to golf for free and hang out with friends. Well in high school image is everything. I still had the women’s set of clubs and they distinctly said “Lady King” on the heads of all the clubs. I decided I would put black electrical tape on all the heads where it said “Lady King”. This worked for awhile until one day one of my friends said “What is the black tape for”? Well he decided to pull it off and saw the words “Lady King”. Well there went my image! My next birthday my parents bought me a brand new set of “Men’s” clubs. It was kind of embarrassing, but I managed to play golf all four years of high school.

During high school I was so infatuated with golf that I found jobs where I immersed myself into the sport. The summers of my freshman and sophomore years I actually worked at a golf course in the restaurant kitchen washing dishes. This was probably one of the worst jobs I had, but it had the perk of free golf. I can’t tell how many days I went out in the morning golfed 18 holes and came back in the afternoon and golfed another 18 holes…..Man those were the days!

The summer of my junior year I actually caddied at a swanky country club in West Bend, WI. Again I found any way to surround myself with golf. Most days at the club all the caddies ended up playing cards waiting to be called to go out. I learned a lot of new card games that summer! Since it was my first year I was on the bottom of the totem pole and only went out every 3 days or so. Overall it was a pretty decent summer. I made some great friends and decided that carrying someone else’s club was not for me.

So here we are years later I have moved past the women’s clubs and found a great set of Ping irons. I still can’t figure out why I love golf so much, I am probably one of the guys you would hate to play with because I get so upset with myself after bad shot, but I always find myself at the course on a day off trying to tinker with my swing or get over a case of the yips.

Only 68 Days until Opening Day!

Playoffs?! Playoffs?! You talking playoffs???

Well if you’re not talking about the playoffs you should be because that is exactly what the latest buzz in the Mallards office is all about. That’s right folks, your Madison Mallards MSCR League team was crowned as the Second Half Champions after a big win on Monday night. The Mallards now face South Bay Lounge, who handed the us our only loss in the second half, in a one-game, winner takes all contest on Monday, March 16, 2009. We are encouraging all fans to show off their Mallards pride and come help cheer us on to victory!

As a side note to those who have been following blog posts about our team, my 8-game streak of being on the receiving end of an offensive foul came to an end on Monday night. (We’re still trying to verify if that is a new league record or not.) But not to worry, I plan on getting right back on the horse and then knocked down again, (ha ha) in the championship game.

Now, onto baseball news. It’s sometimes tough to think that when you look outside and see grass and blue skies that it’s anything but baseball weather. However, lately all you need to do is take one foot out the door and quickly realize that idea is gone. I guess that is one of the joys of spring in the Midwest is to have mother nature flirt with you for one week with sun and temperatures nearing 50-60 degrees then to only have it drop to near zero degrees and a wind-chill factor that freezes you to the bone. As a die-hard Twins fans, its days like this that are the ultimate head scratcher as to why the new Target Field doesn’t have a retractable roof. What’s to say that this type of weather won’t happen again in early April of 2010 and leave Twins fans in the cold or even worse having to cancel a game due to snow. (That actually happened two years ago in Detroit). I guess either way, I know I will still be there, dressed like it were a mid-December game at Lambeau Field or in flip-flops and a T-shirt…I just hope that the rest of Twins fans are willing to do the same.

Speaking of the Twins, I think they once again have a legitimate shot of being the Central Division Champs and potentially more. This year the Twins have one of the younger starting rotations in the game, however it is one that is returning 5 of last year’s starters: Liriano, Baker, Slowey, Perkins and Blackburn. And don’t forget, they went out and acquired Luis Ayala as a great 8th inning setup man to hand the ball over to one of the most dominant closers in the game in Joe Nathan.

Offensively the Twins have five everyday outfielders to fill three spots and one DH position. Young, Span, Gomes, Cuddyer, and Kubel can all roam the outfield with the best of them and while Span and Gomes can all out fly on the basepaths, Young and Kubel can provide the long ball, Cuddyer has arm strength and veteran leadership that all make me believe in these guys. Then, look at the infield. American League Batting Champion Joe Mauer behind the plate, American League All-Star Justin Morneau at first, the speedy Alexi Casilla at second, Nick “Popeye Forearms” Punto at short, and a newly acquired 3B in Joe Crede, who if healthy could help the Twins offensive numbers.

Soon, the whole baseball world will know the words and be singing along to one of the greatest songs in the game.

“We’re gonna win Twins, we’re gonna score. We’re gonna win Twins, watch that baseball soar. Knock out a homerun, shout a hip hooray, cheer for your Minnesota Twins today!”

The Opening Day Countdown Continues: MN TWINS 25 Days, MALLARDS 81 Days! PLAY BALL

On this very historic day...J-Rod Part III

I'm very humbled and honored to have been given the opportunity to post my third blog entry on the day that the United States of America's first black President, Barack Obama, is sworn into office. What a time of jubilation for those who have waited for change --from our grandparents to our parents; from our brothers and sisters to our friends; and from our children to our grandchildren, this is truly a day to be excited about in looking forward to correcting the problems in the present rather than pointing fingers for problems in the past. And who knows...given some time maybe President Obama will make a stop at the "Duck Pond" in the next four to eight years...

Shifting gears I want to pass along a story that GM Vern Stenman shared with us front office members this week involving former Mallard outfielder Jordan Comadena. (In my three years of working for the team my mom only remembers two players...Comadena & former Stanford standout Randy Molina...so maybe the secret to a closer connection between our players and fans is simply by drafting players with catchier names...lol.)

Anyway, without further ado here's the story we're about to break to the media (so this truly is the "inside scoop" for you die-hard Mallards fans!):

Kids, here’s a perfect example of why you should play hard because you never know who might be watching.

Enter Madison Mallards alumnus Jordan Comadena.

Comadena, who played for the Mallards from 2005 to 2007 & went undrafted out of Purdue University, was recently signed by the Houston Astros as a free agent heading into the ’09 season thanks largely in part to impressing a certain notable former major leaguer at last season’s third annual Mallards/MLB Alumni Game that saw Comadena blast two run-scoring doubles to pace Maynard’s All-Star

That major leaguer was none other than former Houston Astros outfielder Jimmy “The Toy Cannon” Wynn who enjoyed a big league career from 1963 to 1977 and opposed Comadena in the usually laid back event—that is, until Jordan accepted the Mallards invitation and took the “Duck Pond” field once again. Maybe Wynn saw a bit of himself in Comadena, as he too was signed as a free agent in 1962.

Comadena owns Mallards team career batting records in runs scored (119) and walks (89), and single-season records in runs scored (54), walks (54), and at-bats (259). He also remains the only player to play all 68 games when he reached that mark in 2006.

What a story. This tale could certainly be made into a children's book and serve as great fodder for generations of Mallards fans to read to their aspiring kids...and on and on it goes. It certainly can also apply to life outside of a ballpark. No matter what you're doing; no matter where you're going; and no matter when you're doing it, if you do things the right way (open to interpretation) and work hard, someone will notice and something special is bound to happen. Call that belief outlandish; call it aspiring; or simply call it anywhere in between; if there's one thing that springs eternal in the Mallards office each day --off-season & in-season--it's the hope that we as a staff provide the best summer entertainment for each and every one of our fans, both young and old. When you, the fans, leave the "Duck Pond" after games, we hope you're smiling; we hope you're laughing; and best of all, we hope that you're taking home memories to share with others for many years to come.

Here's to 132 days until Mallards Opening Day on June 1!