How the T-Bones Started



    The Northern League was founded in 1993 as a way for players who had been cast aside by a major league organization to continue their careers. The league started in cities such as Thunder Bay, Ont.; Fargo, N. D.; and Duluth, Minn., and quickly became well known as the premier independent league. Prevailing factors in the Northern League's ascent were the characters in the league as well as the quality of play. The ballclub in Duluth played as the Duluth-Superior Dukes and were housed in a Depression-era stadium, Wade Stadium. As the league grew, more teams moved from their antiquated stadiums and, in a lot of cases, into larger markets such as Schaumburg, Ill. The same was true for the Dukes, for whom attendance was waning. In late 2002, the decision was made to move the Dukes to Kansas City, Kan. Plans were made to build a ballpark in the Village West shopping area, adjacent to the Kansas Speedway. The team name and mascot were both selected in fan contests, both of which reflected the region's strong ties to the meat industry. Titan Construction designed and built the award-winning ballpark in a mere nine months and two days, in enough time to start the 2003 season.

    The T-Bones began the campaign with a long road trip. They played their first home game on June 6, 2003, and lost 1-0 to Sioux City, yet Lee’s Summit native Jonathan Krysa pitched a gem. Left fielder Chad Ehrnsberger barely missed a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth ("Dirty" Al will tell you it was a fair ball). In the first season, the club posted a 43-46 record, staying in contention until the last week of the second half of the season. Eddie Pearson won the league's Most Valuable Player award after his June trade from St. Paul, hitting a league-leading .369 with a sizzling .404 clip in August. Pearson was named a league All-Star, along with center fielder Rick Prieto (.340) and closer D.J. Johnson (17 saves). Prieto was also named the league's Player of the Week for June 18-22. The second season began with a triumph over the Lincoln Saltdogs, a 7-4 win keyed with homers by Phil Thompson and Chad Shindle. However, the T-Bones tailed off in the first half of the season and finished the first 48 just 20-28. The ballclub showed signs of improvement during the half after the acquisition of righthanded starter Greg Bicknell. "It's not about being named to the first-half All-Star team; we care about how we finish at the end of the year," Bicknell said at the All-Star Break. Bicknell’s attitude prevailed in the second half. Going into the break, Pearson and Johnson were selected to the All-Star team. Pearson finished second in the home run contest while he put on a show for the fans in Joliet. The fireworks Pearson displayed in the second half were a preview of things to come. After a 3-7 start in the second half, including two heartbreaking last at-bat losses to Sioux Falls to start the half, the T-Bones caught fire. They won 10 of their next 11 and finished the half 25-13, including two eight-game winning streaks. The team didn’t simply blow out the opposition; the Cardiac Kids continued to find ways to win. If it wasn't Cody Nowlin who tripled down the left field line to give the T-Bones an 8-7 win on August 5, it was Mike Brown who crushed a three-run shot off Sioux City reliever Sean Kramer to again give Kansas City an 8-7 win in the final homestand of the season. In the same homestand, the T-Bones won three games in their final at-bat: Brown's aforementioned round-tripper; a Ray Brown game-winning single two nights later; and "The Eddie Pearson Show", in which Pearson homered to left against Lincoln reliever Byron Embry to tie the game in the ninth. Pearson homered again in the bottom of the 11th for a 2-1 win. The T-Bones clinched the second-half title against Gary on September 3, which matched them in the playoffs against the Schaumburg Flyers, the first-half champs. The T-Bones won two of the first three games, when Bicknell out dueled Schaumburg ace Hank Woodman in the 2-0 series opener. Schaumburg won the final two to advance to the championship series.

    Overall, the season was a huge success. The T-Bones averaged 5,080 fans per game, with almost 1/4 million fans entering CommunityAmerica Ballpark for the full season. Pearson led the league in a total of 30 homers, became the league’s Player of the Week on one occasion, was named a Northern League All-Star as well as an independent league All-Star and set its intentional walks record. Ray Brown was the second-team all-independent DH. He finished in the top five in the Northern League in eight offensive categories and was named Player of the Month for August. Prieto set the league records for walks (78) and runs (97), while he tied the league record for triples (10). Also, Prieto was named the league's Player of the Week for July 26-August 1, when he hit .654. On the mound, Krysa set league marks for batters faced, innings pitched (165.1) and games started (24) as the T-Bones moved to a four-man rotation in the second half. One day after the team's 17-inning loss on August 20, Krysa threw 162 pitches in a 3-1 win over Lincoln. Bicknell led the league in wins (13) and complete games (5) despite coming to the T-Bones in June. Righty Jon McDonald tied the team mark for strikeouts (11) on July 14 against Sioux Falls.

    The 2005 season may be remembered best by the record-setting support of T-Bones fans who poured through CommunityAmerica Ballpark’s turnstiles all summer long. On August 27, the T-Bones drew 9,013 to witness a 3-1 win over Sioux Falls, smashing the club’s previous single-game attendance record. The T-Bones increased their turnout by almost 10 percent, to 5,555 per game and enjoyed five of their top 10 crowds of all time in 2005, entertaining a team-record 244,414 fans. The average attendance figure was good for third in the Northern League and fourth in all of independent baseball. For Kansas City, the pitching was a consistent strength of the club all season. Led by Greg Bicknell and his league-best sixteen wins, the T-Bones finished third in the Northern League in earned run average with a respectable 4.05 mark. Despite spending a portion of the season in the bullpen, third-year T-Bone Jonathan Krysa led the Northern League in strikeouts, capping his season with a franchise-record 13 K’s in a 2-0 loss at Calgary in the second to last game of the season. Righthander Jon McDonald was selected as a Northern League All-Star and finished with a 2.76 ERA. David Viane, who had never started a professional game until June, acquitted himself well in the rotation. The best-known T-Bone in franchise history, Eddie Pearson, moved to Potros de Tijuana in the Mexican League. Pearson hit .266 in the equivalent of Triple-A and homered four times in 27 games. Within days of losing Pearson, closer Derek Forbes signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Forbes recorded a 1.32 ERA with seven saves, while he didn’t miss a beat with the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds. The righthander out of Scottsdale, AZ posted a 2.41 ERA in 16 games. Later in the season, fireballing righty Caleb Balbuena was signed by the Colorado Rockies and went 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 12 relief appearances for Class A Modesto. To help soften the blow of Pearson’s departure, the T-Bones signed Triple-A veteran Greg Jacobs in late June. Jacobs finished the season fourth in the league in batting average while slamming 10 home runs. On defense, Jacobs became known for his rifle left arm and penchant for slamming his body into walls in pursuit of fly balls. The first rookie to make his presence known in 2005 was third baseman Brandon Jones. Jones arrived unexpectedly in open tryouts and immediately impressed others with his arm and his power. The T-Bones needed a third baseman, thus Jones was signed to a contract. In his second pro game, the lanky Crossett, Ark. native homered twice. Jones homered 11 more times in his first pro campaign to lead the club. Another newcomer, Kansas City, Kan., native Eric Vega, was cut from tryouts twice, but remained with the team through spring training in 2005. When the opportunity arose, he didn’t let it pass him by. Vega showed speed on the bases (20 of 23 SB) and hit a solid .255. Ray Brown was in the top 10 in the league in nearly every major offensive category. He definitely enjoyed another above-average season in 2004. The veteran hit .305 while driving in a team-high 61 runs. Rick Prieto batted a robust .333 and ended the season as the franchise’s career leader in games played and hits.

    The T-Bones were featured in a number of media outlets after announcing they would play the first two innings of their July 16 game against Schaumburg on a Microsoft X-Box. While the promotion, initially approved by the league, was later disallowed, the final two innings of the game were replayed on an X-Box. As it turned out, the real game provided one of the biggest on-field highlights of the season for the T-Bones. Kansas City trailed Schaumburg faced a 7-4 deficit in the sixth inning when Cody Nowlin pinch hit for Sean Flynn with the bases loaded. Nowlin’s pinch-hit grand slam made a winner of Joe Goodmann, who chipped in with four 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Krysa.

    The T-Bones organization would like to thank their fans for a tremendous season, and look forward to another all-star summer!