A great day for the Goldeyes

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This article was published 11/08/2023 (814 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Friday was a very good day for the Winnipeg Goldeyes. A 16-6 triumph over their long-time rivals from Fargo-Moorhead served as the icing on the celebratory cake.

There’s no question it’s been a tough season for the usually fearsome Fish, who are floundering at the very bottom of the 12-team American Association standings and struggling to find their footing under first-year manager Greg Tagert.

For 24 hours, at least, all was right in their world.

It began with a sold-out luncheon at the Fairmont Hotel to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the franchise. You had the past and the present coming together under one roof, serving up a reminder of the connection between the club and the community which has included four championships over the years.

Retired outfielder Reggie Abercrombie was the guest of honour, with a surprise cameo from former skipper Rick Forney (who took a job this season closer to his home with the York Revolution in the Atlantic League and flew in unannounced). The pair embraced to a rousing round of applause and were reduced to tears.

The bond, which included back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017, remains strong.

Abercrombie was then feted in front of 5,224 fans prior to the game, as his No. 11 became just the sixth in Goldeyes history to be retired. The one-of-a-kind slugger, who spent six seasons in Winnipeg, holds numerous franchise records. He was given a standing ovation, along with repeated chants of “Reggie,” in what amounted to a huge love-in.

“Just coming out here and seeing all this love for me is amazing. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” the Georgia native said to the crowd, which included Goldeyes owner Sam Katz and general manager Andrew Collier. “I’ll never forget that. My family will never forget that.”

Prior to the game, Abercrombie said he’s rooting for current Goldeyes star Max Murphy to surpass as many of his achievements as possible. Murphy, who is in his third season in Winnipeg and sixth overall in the league, led the American Association with 31 home runs and 97 RBI last year en route to being named MVP.

The 30-year-old from Minnesota, who suffered a broken leg during the playoffs last September and got off to a slow start (at least by his lofty standards) this year, entered play Friday with a league-best 22 homers along with 68 RBI, which was second-best.

So how did Murphy respond to Abercrombie’s invitation? In storybook fashion, belting a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give the home team an early lead. He then went yard again in the sixth inning with a solo shot to deep right field.

No doubt Abercrombie was nodding in approval. Which, considering the first 1,000 fans through the gates received a bobblehead in his likeness, seems fitting.

Turns out having the league’s all-time home-run king in attendance served as a good omen for Winnipeg, who had their hitting shoes on in this one. Catcher Jackson Smith delivered a solo shot in the first to make it 4-0, and then left-fielder Miles Simington crushed a grand slam in the bottom of the second to quickly turn the game into a rout.

Simington had made a dazzling play in the top of the first inning, diving to catch a liner that would have for sure scored one, and likely two, runs and put his team in an early hole.

Simington plated two more runs in the fourth inning with a hustle triple. The 23-year-old rookie from Illinois entered the game with just four RBI through 27 games this year, only to surpass that total in just two terrific at-bats. A double later in the game left him just a single short of the cycle.

The offence kept coming, with Smith and first baseman Tommy McCarthy adding run-scoring singles in the frame. Smith had another RBI in the sixth to go with Murphy’s second homer of the night.

Shortstop Andy Armstrong then got in on the action and finished off the scoring in the seventh with the rarest of feats — a two-run inside-the-park homer — which was aided by Fargo-Moorhead right-fielder Alex Olund crashing into the wall and appearing to suffer a serious lower-body injury. He was eventually taken off the field on a stretcher.

RedHawks pitcher Correlle Prime had a night to forget on the mound, giving up 12 earned runs off seven hits and six walks in just four innings of work before getting a merciful hook.

Prime, 29, has established himself as one of the league’s premier power hitters but added “hurler” to his resume last year, making three late-season relief appearances while playing with Milwaukee.

Now with Fargo, he made his 16th start of the year on Friday but wasn’t fooling any Winnipeg hitters as he fell to 3-8 with a bloated earned-run-average of 6.33. In other words, he’s got a long way to go to become the next Shohei Ohtani. Prime, who leads the RedHawks with 13 home runs and 43 RBI, went 0-for-2 at the plate with a strikeout.

Winnipeg opener Tyler Jandron was effective in tossing three shutout innings, giving up just one hit, before Canadian Travis Seabrooke took over. Seabrooke didn’t fare as well in five innings of work, surrendering six runs off a Leobaldo Pina solo blast, a bases-loaded walk and a sixth-inning grand slam by Michael Falsetti.

Reliever Nolan LaMere worked a scoreless ninth for Winnipeg to close it out.

The Goldeyes have now won three straight games to sit at 33-45. Fargo-Moorhead fell for a second straight outing and are now 37-40. The two teams meet again today at 6 p.m. for Winnipeg’s annual “bark at the park” game, then finish out the three-game set on Sunday afternoon.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg