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Spring Break(out): Inside the Pelicans’ Trip to 2024 Cubs Spring Training

March 25, 2024

March 28, 2024 by Sam Weiderhaft Experiencing spring training has become my favorite annual tradition. Reconnecting with old friends and catching up with the players who have established themselves in the Cubs’ organization always makes for a fulfilling trip. For the second year in a row, Hunter Horenstein and I

March 28, 2024 by Sam Weiderhaft

Experiencing spring training has become my favorite annual tradition. Reconnecting with old friends and catching up with the players who have established themselves in the Cubs’ organization always makes for a fulfilling trip.

For the second year in a row, Hunter Horenstein and I flew out west to Mesa, Arizona, to capture content and gear up for the upcoming season at the Cubs’ complex. My account of the activities of our vacation (work trip) is compacted in this story.

The Marquee sign at Sloan Park, modeled off the one at Wrigley Field.

This year’s trip would throw some different experiences our way. MLB had rolled out their “Spring Breakout” games, putting the best prospects in each organization against each other for a slate of games across the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues. Our trip was planned around the March 15 contest between the Cubs and White Sox, which provided us a chance to see some old friends compete on a bigger stage.

We got to Arizona on Wednesday afternoon with excitement building for our upcoming plans. Before we could get to work, we had to make our first stop at In-N-Out. No trip out west would be complete without starting with a double-double, animal fries, and a vanilla shake.

The greatest meal on earth. You can't not be hungry while staring at this.

Thursday was our first day at the complex. With a Cubs game later that day, we spent the morning in the big-league clubhouse. Hunter got to catch up with former Pelican David Bote, and we got to see fan-favorite Luke Little at his locker. Talking the big lefty brought back memories of our past reunions where I get reminded of what it’s like to be 6’8.

Luke Little and myself at the 2024 Cubs Convention. I may or may not be standing on a chair.

There was also an appearance of the new man in charge in Chicago, Craig Counsell. After his media availability broke, I caught up with Elise Menaker of the Marquee Sports Network to run through their Emmy-winning show, “Road to Wrigley.”

Elise, Lance Brozdowsky, and Jim Callis make that show come to life and it’s always a great feeling to be included in their roundtable around the Cubs’ system.

From there, we walked out to the back fields to catch the minor league action. Right away, we found 2023 Pelican outfielder, Andy Garriola. After telling Andy that I based my new haircut on his style, I heard a loud “Samuelito!” and knew exactly who was coming. 2023 Pelican Rafael Morel came over after taking some swings on the field to say hi, along with Reivaj Garcia, Cristian Hernandez, Brian Kalmer, and Juan Mora. Cubs Hitting Coordinator and former Birds’ hitting coach Steven Pollakov also stopped by the field to tell us how talented our group will be this year. It’s impossible not to be fired up when listening to Polly talk baseball.

The other field featured more former Myrtle Beach players in Christian Franklin, Scotty McKeon, Parker Chavers, Jonathon Long, and Pedro Ramirez. Watching those former players gave me many flashbacks of their highlight reels while in Pelicans uniforms and seeing them move up and succeed is the coolest thing.

Quick hug with Christian Franklin in between rounds of BP. He spent the end of 2021 and beginning of 2023 in Myrtle Beach.Hunter Horenstein
Catching up with Brian Kalmer and Rafael Morel, both played for the Pelicans in 2023.Hunter Horenstein

I caught up with Miguel Pabon for a quick interview to check on his offseason after spending time in Puerto Rico playing in the winter league. Pabon was one of the clubhouse leaders last year and spent a majority of the season reminding me to get a watch, which I still haven’t done.

Talking with Miguel Pabon. He's probably telling me to get a watch.Hunter Horenstein

The Major League game started soon after, so we strutted down the walkway with South Bend Cubs broadcaster Brendan King and made our way to Sloan Park. Friend of the team and Arizona photographer Rich Biesterfeld (You may remember him from our interview last year) snagged some cool photos of our walk-up to the stadium as we passed the tailgates.

The walk into Sloan Park.Rich Biesterfeld

It was the Cubs and the A’s on a perfect afternoon. We spent the whole game up in the press box, and I got to meet the new Oakland broadcast team in Chris Caray and Jenny Cavnar as they were scouting out their team. Jenny was a guest speaker for one of my classes during my senior year at Butler University, so we got to reflect on that and talk about her journey.

Great talking with Jenny Cavnar after meeing her back in 2020. Excited to hear the new A's broadcast team!

Shota Imanaga dealt on the mound with nine strikeouts through 4 1/3 innings and the fans were fired up. David Bote smacked his fifth home run of the spring and the Cubs won 3-1, filling the stadium with their famous “Go Cubs Go” victory song after the game.

After the game, I got a chance to reflect on the memories of last season at dinner with last year’s Pelicans Video Coordinator Britton Barthold and Trey Thomas, who will be taking the position this year. A night out in Scottsdale wrapped up our first full day in Arizona, and we looked forward to the big day tomorrow with the prospects taking part in the Breakout game.

Friday began with another trip to the Cubs’ clubhouse, where we tracked down Miguel Amaya and Justin Steele. Amaya made his MLB debut last season after playing for the Pelicans in 2019. Steele spent time in Myrtle Beach in 2017 and 2018 before breaking out last season in Chicago, which led to the Mississippi native being named the Cubs’ Opening Day starter this season. Both reflected on their time at Pelicans Ballpark with fond memories.

It was a gloomy day at the complex as clouds covered the area and the occasional raindrop was felt on my sweater. The Breakout game was slated for 2 PM, so we went back to the practice fields to catch some of the scrimmages. While we were out there, we ran into our legendary manager Buddy Bailey, back for his seventh season in Myrtle Beach. It’s always good to see Buddy, but this time was a little different.

Standing just outside the frame in this interview is a baseball legend, who has a son in the organization. Just before interviewing Buddy, he mentioned to me, “You might want to interview Mark.” Sure enough, standing right there was Mark McGwire, decked out in Cubs gear. His son, Mason, has a good chance of pitching for the Pelicans this season. Hunter and I talked with Mark about visiting Myrtle Beach before getting a picture I got to brag to my friends about.

Big Mac. No other words.

With the temperature cooling down and clouds still looming, we headed back to Sloan to get ready for the Breakout game. We went straight to the field to catch batting practice, where BJ Murray, Kevin Alcántara, Owen Caissie, Pete Crow-Armstrong, James Triantos, and others were warming up. Excitement was building as Brendan and I recorded a few videos to preview the matchup.

Short preview in the dugout with BK before the eventually canceled Spring Breakout game.Hunter Horenstein

Just as the Cubs wrapped up BP and the White Sox took the field, we could feel some heavier drops coming down. We retreated to the press box and hoped the weather would clear up. Those drops became more consistent, and quickly the floodgates opened, and it poured rain. The tarp came on the field, and we sat and waited for what felt like hours.

As puddles gathered near the dugouts, we could feel what was coming. The players went out to the concourse to sign autographs for the large crowd that showed up, but the game was canceled shortly after.

It was unfortunate because you knew this was probably the one chance you’ll get to see the top prospects all together playing on the same team. 2023 Pelican Cade Horton was slated to start with many other former players up and down the lineup.

On the bright side, we walked with the players back to the complex and interviewed Murray, who’s won two league championships and played in the World Baseball Classic since playing for the Pelicans in 2022. After our conversation, 2021 and 2022 Pelican Frankie Scalzo let his awesome personality shine by taking over the interview and having some fun, despite the circumstances.

Friday night saw a visit to a Mongolian restaurant with the South Bend and Marquee crew, where Scott Changnon, the man responsible for capturing all the special moments at Wrigley Field, showed us the proper way to pack our bowls with meat, noodles, vegetables, and whatever else you can fit before being cooked. It truly is an art.

Filling our bowls with Mongolian food. Harder than it looks.

We capped off our trip on Saturday, where the sun returned and warm air surrounded the fields. With one more stop in the clubhouse, I talked with Matt Mervis after coming off his Cubs debut in 2023. Mervis struggled with the Birds in 2021 but broke out in 2022 and took home the Cubs Minor League Player of the Year award. We chatted about his progression and his Duke Blue Devils, who look like a team bound for Omaha.

Following another look at Minor League camp, we took one last trip to the stadium to catch the Cubs and Royals. I took this opportunity to take a peek inside the radio booth, where I watched broadcasters Zach Zaidman and Ron Coomer call the first three innings. It was entertaining right from the start, when Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki, and Yan Gomes hit three home runs in a row in the first inning. I stayed in the booth for the first three innings and soaked up all I could of what an MLB booth looks and operates like. “Coom” was one of the nicest guys I’ve talked to, and I can’t thank him enough for letting me watch them in action.

With Ron Coomer (left) and Zach Zaidman in the Cubs radio booth.

With the work done for the trip, Hunter and I took advantage of the final few innings as we ventured out to the concourse. It was a fantastic afternoon for baseball, and I ended the game with a beer bat in hand. No complaints.

A beer bat to end our time in Mesa. The perfect finisher.

Another trip to Arizona complete. Once again, I can’t thank the Cubs and Pelicans enough for allowing us access to feel like big leaguers for a few days. We left with more memories collected, and I’m ready to make some more. Bring on the 2024 summer!