Long Ball City was born from two broken hearts—one figurative, and one literal.
After a painful breakup in the spring of 2014, Stetson University’s Melching Field in DeLand, Fla., became my place of refuge. The combination of sunshine and baseball was a soothing tonic. I taught at Stetson at the time, so I knew several players and soon became a rabid fan.
Consequently, I was beyond excited for the Hatters’ 2015 season-opener on Friday, February 13 (yes, Friday the 13th), but little did I know what would happen to me that evening. Without warning, about the eighth inning, I suffered an electrical malfunction of my heart. Doctors later told me it lasted less than a millisecond, but it proved fatal.
Since I was sitting alone, no one realized I was dead until a Stetson baseball mom noticed me slumped and motionless with no pulse, wide-open eyes, bright blue skin, and a puddle of drool at my feet.
Several fans and the team trainer quickly began CPR and defibrillation until paramedics arrived to transport me to the hospital.
At some point, they generated a faint pulse, but those who followed me to the hospital received a grim prognosis about my chances of survival.
Yet over the next few days, thanks to God and great medical care, I slowly recovered and was deemed a living miracle by everyone from my doctors to my rescuers.
Exactly two weeks after falling dead, I walked from the hospital under my own power and went home in normal health, aside from a sore sternum, a little weakness, and a pacemaker.
During my recovery, I volunteered to do color commentary on the Stetson baseball radio broadcasts, which I did for the rest of that season and the next. I went from the morgue to the mic, you might say!
In 2016, I returned to work Missouri State University, in Springfield, Mo., where I’d taught prior to my time at Stetson. Upon my arrival, folks asked me if I’d be broadcasting Bears baseball as I’d done at Stetson. I told them the odds of that were so slim until I had no plans to pursue it.
Yet during a chance meeting that winter, the legendary “Voice of the Bears” Art Hains surprised me to no end when he invited me to join him on the Bears’ baseball radio broadcast team for the 2017 season.
One day during the conference tournament that season, I left the ballpark to grab a meal. While driving to the restaurant, I tuned to Art’s daily radio talk show, which had a guest host that day.
The topic turned to a baseball player who was hitting home runs with great frequency. During the discussion, the host uttered the phrase “Long Ball City.”
Bells and whistles immediately sounded in my mind, and I decided to find a way to bring that phrase to life.
Over the next few months, the brand featured on this site emerged, and I’m thrilled to welcome you the place where we celebrate the most difficult, dramatic, and meaningful play in sports: Long Ball City!