TROY – The Tri-City ValleyCats had a great Sunday followed by an exhausting Monday.
After a 24-12 thrashing of the Gateway Grizzlies, the ValleyCats’ bus broke down with a blown head gasket in Sauget, Ill., the St. Louis suburb that’s home of the Grizzlies. That’s about 1,000 miles from Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
The Tri-City front office stepped in to fly home the majority of the players on Monday night, allowing them to get proper rest before starting a homestand Tuesday against the Lake Erie Crushers.
“I’ve been with a lot of organizations that wouldn’t have went this extra mile for the players,” ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia said. “I called (general manager) Matt (Callahan), thanked him. The fact that they were even trying meant the world to us.”
Monday is an off day in the Frontier League. Callahan, assistant general manager Jessica Guido and team president Rick Murphy spent it not only getting ready for the homestand, but scrambling to get plane tickets on short notice. That was after booking hotel rooms for an extra night on Sunday. Some players had to switch hotels.
“Matt worked his magic amongst the 77 things he had to do probably that day,” Incaviglia said. “We were on the phone going, ‘All right, we’ve got these two guys booked, get out of here. Get an Uber and go to the airport.’ It was an interesting day. We’re glad to be home.”
They couldn’t accommodate everyone. While about a dozen players got plane seats based on seniority, a group of 10 took a replacement bus home: Incaviglia, bench coach Thomas Incaviglia, pitching coach Brooks Carey, team trainer Michael Plaisance and six rookie players.
“I was fortunate to be able to fly back, so that helped things a little bit,” Tri-City third baseman Pavin Parks said.
Those left behind had to move all the equipment from the broken-down bus to the replacement bus. Then they had to stop in Cleveland…
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