Can you smell it?

I have never before witnessed a team clinch a championship in person. At least, I hadn’t witnessed such an event until August 22, when a little over 1,400 folks and I got to see a team from my hometown win it all.

For a team in only its sixth year, the 2010 Eau Claire Express was a solid force that broke records and delivered on the field when expected. The culmination of the season was the deciding Game 3 of the Northwoods League Championship Series against the Rochester Honkers, played on a summery Sunday afternoon at Carson Park. This was must-attend baseball. I had chosen days in advance to volunteer at the game for the Eau Claire BaseballHistory Committee, and this proved to be a prescient choice.

The “buzz” we often hear about was ever-present for this game. There was a feeling of anticipation, that we were about to bring a title home amongst us. Yet there was a reminder that we were still on a somewhat smaller stage: as I sat at the committee’s table outside Carson Park, a man in a polo shirt casually walked by the ticket line and into the stadium holding a trophy. Turns out it was the Northwoods League Director Of Operations carrying the NWL Championship Trophy. I get the feeling the Stanley Cup or the Vince Lombardi Trophy enter their venues with a tad more fanfare under a wee bit more security.

Once the game was underway, I was at my usual table position between the grandstand and bleachers on the first base side. This was an excellent position to watch the reactions of the Express players as the dugout is immediately in front of the walkway.

If anyone wonders whether college baseball players care about winning a summer collegiate league title, the faces and body language of the players right in front of me proved their passion – it was palpable. When Steve McGuiggan returned from his first two-run home run, I saw up-close the sheer exuberance on his face as he was congratulated by his teammates (especially Matt McDaniel, putting in a Mark Madsen-level performance as leader of the bench players’ cheers).

By the sixth inning, the Express had such momentum that I felt the game about to get out of hand. The crowd’s energy was unstoppable, ready to will the Express to a win if necessary. However, I never allowed myself to feel comfortable with the growing lead until they had two outs and a 9-1 lead in the 9th inning – large comebacks are all too commonplace at this level of baseball.

Once the last Honker batter flew out to McGuiggan, the Express players rushed the mound and leaped over one another in the classic victory pile. It was the baseball title-winning reaction I’ve seen countless times on television, and now I got to witness it with my own eyes. We – Eau Claire – had won it all, right in front of me.

Meanwhile, the crowd clapped along to the first song played after the final out: Dancing On The Ceiling? I’m sure even Lionel Richie would be surprised by that choice. Yet all we cared about was the win. The Championship Trophy was presented to Manager Dale Varsho, and the team posed for numerous photos with the trophy. Fans stuck around long after the end of the game to get autographs.

For some reason, I couldn’t quite emotionally capture the impact of seeing the Express holding that trophy. Maybe this was because I had never seen that particular trophy before this day, so I had no connection to its meaning. Yet I could feel that connection grow while watching players passing around the trophy on the field.

I noticed a couple players kissing the trophy. In a small way, I can relate – my senior year at Memorial High School, the Old Abe Show Choir finished fourth in a competition, the best position we had ever placed. I found myself kissing that fourth place trophy on the bus ride home – sure, it was for fourth place, but it meant something to me and us. The NWL trophy meant something to those players, and that’s what matters. Oh, what a feeling.