Bench Press Sling Shot by Body Reapers

On the Road: Rancho Cucamonga at Last!

In April, I visited the Frisco RoughRiders. This was the last Minor League team in Texas I had yet to visit. In May, I visited the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. This was the last team in California I had yet to visit Best Slingshot For Bench Press.

Ben’s Biz 2017: Gettin’ it done!

Was I saving the best for last? I’m a professional diplomat (some would say a chronic waffler) who does not like to state definitive opinions. But what I would like to state, for the record, is that I very much enjoyed my evening at Rancho Cucamonga’s LoanMart Field.

The ballpark, built in 1993 and owned by the city, is quintessentially Cali as regards its architecture and larger surroundings. Trees — palm and otherwise — are plentiful, as are surrounding amateur fields.

It was a cool, gray afternoon, but it never rained. (Does it ever rain in Rancho Cucamonga? I’ll have to look into that.)

The Quakes were established in 1993, and have been affiliated with the Dodgers since 2011. In that time, they’ve given away a wide array of L.A.-themed bobbleheads.

Even more bobbleheads can be found atop the wonderfully picturesque desk of office manager Shelley Scebbi.

L.A.-centric giveaways make a lot of sense for the Quakes, as Los Angeles is just 41 miles west of Rancho Cucamonga. By and large, Quakes fans are Dodgers fans.

And the Dodgers fans were out in particularly strong numbers on this particular Tuesday evening, as the Quakes’ line-up included a pair of rehabbing Major Leaguers. Logan Forsythe batted second, as the DH, while Adrian Gonzalez played first base and hit third.

As the gates opened, however, the most immediately accessible player was first baseman Ibandel Isabel. (I’m not sure if Isabel is a clubhouse leader; if so I hope he will one day be referred to as I.I. Captain.)

Meanwhile, outside, the skies were beginning to brighten.

Note that LoanMart Field has padding on the dugout floors, meaning that the familiar click-clack of cleats on concrete is nowhere to be heard. The dugout is as quiet as a church mouse.

Forsythe, whose name I neglected to include in the below Instagram post, was methodically signing autographs for a concentrated clutch of Dodger fans.

And it did, but only momentarily. When the anthem concluded, the kids who had taken the field along with the players immediately swarmed Adrian Gonzalez.

Shortly after the game began, I spent some time with the evening’s Designated Eater. That, of course, will be covered in a separate post.

Designated Eating was followed by one of the greatest between-inning embarrassments of my professional career. All I had to do was catch some baseballs. You’d think I’d be able to catch some baseballs, right?

I had three opportunities to catch a baseball, launched from a slingshot. I missed all three of them. The first one I didn’t even see. The next two I did see, but that didn’t change the outcome.

I’ve lost a lot of on-field contests in my day, and most of these losses didn’t bother me. Defeat or no, it still represented a chance to ham it up, try something new and get some unique material for the blog. All in good fun.

But this one was different. This one bothered me. I played baseball well into my teenage years, and always had decent eye-hand coordination and the innate ability to catch a fly ball. Those skills have eroded, apparently, and I am left questioning how it got to be this way. Thank you, Quakes, for this eye-opening moment. I can, and must, be better in the future.

But there was not, nor should there ever be, time to feel sorry for myself. The next destination was a changing room located just around the corner from the home dugout. Inside that changing room was this man.

That man is Aaron Bishop, a local husband, father, teacher and mascot. For the past 20 years, Bishop has suited up as Quakes’ mascot Tremor the Rallysaurus. I interviewed Aaron about his unorthodox career journey, which subsequently formed the basis for an MiLB.com feature story.

The story really took off, particularly on Facebook. I think it was because Aaron’s professional journey is a generally interesting one and, more importantly, he’s a well-known figure in the community. People in the Rancho Cucamonga area were really excited to read and share his story, including many current and former students who had no idea that he was and is Tremor.

My next stop was the well-appointed broadcast lair of longtime Quakes play-by-play man Mike Lindskog and his assistant, Zach Bigley. Here’s the view:

Mike’s selfie prowess is very strong. Zach, a little less so. Me, a lot less so.

But on the radio, it’s not about how you look. I’d like to think that the Quakes’ listening audience enjoyed our banter, just three old pals chatting about life.

The Quakes ended up winning the ballgame, defeating visiting Lake Elsinore by a score of 4–2. The players hightailed it into the dugout for a presumably lavish Fleming’s Steakhouse postgame spread paid for by Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, hundreds of fans congregated outside of the home clubhouse entrance in the hopes of snagging Gonzalez’s autograph.

It took a while for Gonzalez to make it out that way. First, there was a brief postgame press conference in the home dugout.

There was nothing left for me to do but exit the ballpark, make a joke and then get out of town.

Thanks for having me, Rancho Cucamonga.