It has been a long time coming — 631 days to be exact if Joe Putnam’s math is correct. Not that he has been counting or anything.
But Putnam – the Spikes’ communications director and play-by-play announcer – could have also been counting down. Not toward first pitch but toward the last pitch as Major League Baseball reconfigured its minor league system, cutting teams and tiers along the way. With the State College Spikes so far down the pecking order, it seemed more and more possible that the Spikes could find themselves on the chopping block.
That day never came though. The 2019 season turned out to be the last for the New York-Penn League — last season was canceled because of COVID-19 — but the Spikes are now part of of the MLB Draft League that will showcase draft-eligible players among six founding franchises.
For many of those 631 days since the Spikes last took the field the future was uncertain, but as the Spikes found themselves still alive and kicking, there was a relief that came in that moment of survival.
“To have all that come together, it was definitely reassuring,” Putnam said. “We are in the first season of a new league. There’s ups, there’s downs, certainly, you know. The intent is for this to be the premier destination for draft-eligible prospects to compete against one another, make their big league dreams come true, improve their draft stock, and then await their names to be called by one of the big league clubs.”
The season opens on Monday when the Spikes host former New York-Penn League rival the Williamsport Crosscutters for a 6:35 p.m. game at Medlar Field. New Penn State men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry will throw out the first pitch.
The 68-regular season games — 34 home and 34 away for each team — won’t impact the NCAA eligibility of the players taking part. That means fans could hope to see some of college baseball’s top prospects taking swings in State College. And yes, more than a few Nittany Lions who already call the ballpark home.
Of course there is the other aspect to the Spikes’ return: fans. After a year when sports largely stood still without cheering and shouting from the stands, fans will be back to welcome in a new era of Spikes baseball, and with it a return to something a little bit more normal.
“Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is a whole lot better when there’s baseball on the field and people in the seats,” Putnam said. “We were moving along last summer without those things and it’s a whole different experience.”
As far as what to look forward to, Putnam rattled off all the highlights you’ve come to expect from an evening at the ballpark. There will be fireworks (on at least eight occasions, including Monday night) and promotions, like Bark in the Park Night on May 28 when fans can bring their pooches. There will be beer and food and happy hours and cheering and all the hallmarks of what makes going to a minor league baseball game so much fun.
Season, single-game and flexbook ticket packages are available through the Spikes’ website. The season wraps up on Aug. 13.
The Spikes will also offer a few new features this season including early first-pitch times at 6:35 p.m. as well as 4:05 p.m. games on Sundays so families can stay with younger fans game without staying up so late. Because yes, the Spikes are back, but so too is the ever present need to prove that the decision was worth it and that the business makes sense. And nothing is better for business than fans in seats having a great time.
“As things open up here this summer, I think fans are gonna be coming out here with families and friends coming together once again. This has been a great community meeting place and it’ll be that once more,” Putnam said.
As for him, it’s fitting that Putnam knows how long it has been. In a lot of ways we’ve all been counting the days since we last handed out a hug or high-fived a stranger after a home run. There is a sense of normalcy that comes with baseball and hot dogs in the summer.
And for the Spikes, no feeling like knowing the franchise made it to see another season.
“There’s no experience like opening night, the satisfaction that you get after the night,” Putnam said, reflecting. “You played hopefully nine innings of baseball, you got the beers out there, you get the food out there, you entertain the crowd. There’s just nothing like it. And that’s I think what I’m most looking forward to is when all is said and done after the final pitches thrown and after all the fans depart following fireworks and the first. Just being able to sit there at the end of the night and say, you know, what we made it through.”
And made it through they did, in more ways than one.
