Fish take to field in Fargo

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/06/2020 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Day 1 of training camp usually begins with players walking into the clubhouse, catching up with teammates and introducing themselves to the new faces in the room.

But this year’s camp had a bit of a different start for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

The Fish kicked it off on Thursday with a field trip. They left their Fargo hotel first thing in the morning and drove over to North Dakota State University to get tested for COVID-19. From there, they went back to the hotel, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to Newman Outdoor Field — home of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks — for their first training session. The Fish, one of six teams playing a modified 60-game American Association season with fans in attendance at half capacity, are playing out of Fargo and will share the ballpark with the RedHawks.

They will get the results back from their COVID-19 testing in a day or two.

For veteran infielder Wes Darvill, the only normal thing about the first day of camp was their time on the diamond, other than the fact it didn’t take place at Shaw Park, of course.

“Once we got out on the field and you get to see some familiar faces like (Mitchell) Lambson and (Kevin) McGovern, you know, guys you’ve played with for a long time, it’s actually quite comforting. It’s almost like a bit of a break from all the craziness, really,” said Darvill, a Langley, B.C., native who’s entering his fourth season with the Goldeyes.

“Really, when you’re out there playing, for the first time you could let the COVID and the pandemic turn off in your mind for a little bit and you could relax. It was really nice to be back on the field and have some resemblance of normal life.”

The decision to cross the border and spend the summer living out of a hotel room to play baseball wasn’t an easy one for Darvill, a member of the Canadian national team and the Goldeyes’ 2016 and 2017 championship squads. Darvill flew from Vancouver to Winnipeg before making the drive to Fargo earlier in the week.

“I wrestled with it for probably about a week on whether or not I wanted to go,” admitted Darvill.

“I had a lot of talks with my family and that was probably one of the hardest parts. You feel really safe at home and I was pretty confident that in the situation that I was in that I wasn’t going to contract it and not really having a risk of getting it. So, that was a really, really tough decision for me. But I’m really trusting that everyone in charge is really putting us in the right situation and doing their best to keep us safe. That’s what ultimately led to me to the decision to come down here.”

Spending months in a hotel sounds less than ideal, but Darvill said it’s not as bad as you may think. Perhaps the lack of distractions will do him good. It’ll also force him to hit the books as he’s taking online courses at the University of Phoenix in business administration.

“The hotel setup is really great. Really spacious rooms, we have a little kitchen in there, so they did a really great job at setting us up,” said the 28-year-old who hit .317 with seven home runs and 34 RBIs in 88 games for the Goldeyes in 2019.

“Personally, for me, I’m doing some summer classes to try to knock out my degree, so that’ll keep me busy when I’m not on the field. Other than that, I think everyone is just trying to be smart, be safe and not put themselves in compromising positions and just have a season with baseball and hang out with the guys. I’m looking forward to that.”

The Goldeyes will have a week to adjust to their new surroundings before they open the regular season on July 3 against the RedHawks. All American Association games will be hosted by the RedHawks, Milwaukee Milkmen and Sioux Falls Canaries. The Goldeyes will play 42 of the 60 games at “home” in Fargo to limit travel. The Chicago Dogs and St. Paul Saints are in the same boat as the Goldeyes as they’ll be playing out of hub cities. The Dogs will occupy Ballpark Commons with the Milkmen and the Saints are paired up with the Canaries as they’ll be based out of Sioux Falls Stadium.

It was announced on Thursday that radio 93.7 FM CJNU will broadcast all Goldeyes games. There’s been no announcement on whether the games will be streamed online.

“That’s bizarre and that’s really unfortunate,” said Darvill on not being able to play at Shaw Park in 2020.

“Playing in front of Winnipeg fans, being in Winnipeg, getting to experience the city, that’s what makes baseball so much fun. That’s why all those players love to come back to Winnipeg because of the fans and the city. Everybody really loves the city. It really sucks, but we’ll do what we can and hopefully we’ll have baseball back up there real soon.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31