Goldeyes win American
Association championship
By Scott Taylor, Photos by Jeff Miller
Even when the Winnipeg Goldeyes had
their collective backs against the wall,
Goldeyes manager Rick Forney knew
exactly what he would get from his
baseball team.
“They never gave up, and they
believed in themselves,” Forney said,
shortly after his Goldeyes disposed
of the Wichita Wingnuts in the fifthand-deciding game of the American
Association championship series. “It
showed in the way they played. There
was no panicking. They just came out
and played. They’re willing to lay it on
the line for each other, and this was the
result.
“One of the biggest secrets to our
Man of the Year Reggie Abercrombie had two homers
and seven RBI in thge championship game
32 / sportslife
team is not only that we have good
baseball players – that’s obvious – but
they genuinely love each other. They
play hard for one another, and it was
just one hell of a season.”
On Monday night, Sept. 19, at
Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita,
Kan., Goldeyes’ lefthanded ace Kevin
McGovern pitched six solid innings
while American Association Man of
the Year Reggie Abercrombie hit two,
two-run home runs and drove in seven
as the Goldeyes built an 8-0 lead before
going on to rip the Wichita Wingnuts
11-4 to claim the 2016 American
Association championship.
It was the second time in four years
that the Goldeyes have won the league
title and the third time in franchise
history that the Fish have won a
championship: They were Northern
League champions in their inaugural
season of 1994.
It was an incredible season for Forney
and his Goldeyes. This was a team that
was 21-22 on July 3, acquired slugger
Willie Cabrera a few days later and
finished 58-42, clinching a Wild Card
playoff berth on the final day of the
season.
The win in Wichita also capped
the second incredible comeback by
the Goldeyes in less than 10 days. In
fact, the Fish faced elimination four
times during the playoffs
and won each and every
time. They had to win
Games 4 and 5 of the
American Association
semifinal series in St. Paul
to eliminate the St. Paul
Saints and then they had
to do the same thing in
Wichita.
And they succeeded.
Of course, a quick start
in Game 5 didn’t hurt.
Winnipeg jumped out to
a 2-0 lead in the top of
the first. Adam Heisler led
off with a single, but was
erased on a fielder’s choice
that left Maikol Gonzalez at
first. Willie Cabrera singled
to send Gonzalez to second
and then Abercrombie
doubled to send home
both Gonzalez and
Cabrera.
The Goldeyes added
two in the second and
one more in the fourth to
take a 5-0 lead and in the
seventh, the Fish put it
away. Cabrera led off with
a single and scored ahead
of Abercrombie who drilled
his first two-run homer.