Pro baseball returns to Lexington: ‘It’s nice to do something that feels normal’
The new-look Lexington Legends and Florence Y’alls faced off in the Battle of the Bourbon Trail at Whitaker Bank Ballpark on Saturday, and the home squad came away with the victory.
After the minor league baseball season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Legends and Y’alls put together the Battle of the Bourbon Trail to provide an alternative. Each franchise built two separate teams consisting of former major league players as well as current and former minor league and college players, many of whom played at Kentucky colleges and high schools. Games will be played in front of fans in Lexington and Florence every Wednesday through Sunday for the next six weeks.
Matt Winaker, a fifth-round draft pick of the New York Mets in 2017, had three RBI as the Legends topped the Y’alls 4-3 in Saturday’s opener. Winaker gave the Legends a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning, then stretched the advantage to 4-1 with a two-out, two-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth.
The Y’alls scored twice in the ninth and had the winning run at the plate, but Lexington Christian Academy and University of Louisville alum Lincoln Henzman drew back-to-back groundouts to end the rally.
In Florence, the Lexington Leyendas defeated the Freedom 4-1.
At Whitaker Bank Ballpark on Saturday, fans began filing into the stadium well before the first pitch was scheduled to be thrown at 6:45 p.m. Fans were required to wear masks to enter and stadium staff checked everyone’s temperature at the gate with the hand-held thermal devices that have become common fixtures in public over the summer.
Fittingly, moments before the game was set to get underway, a brief but heavy rain shower popped up, driving fans out of the stands and into the concourse.
The skies quickly cleared and after a 25-minute delay, the players hit the diamond. No official attendance numbers were announced, but the crowd size seemed comparable to that of a typical Legends game and fans seemed enthusiastic, despite the unusual nature of the competition. At one point in the fourth inning the crowd took delight in loudly booing when a Y’alls runner was called safe at second during a bang-bang steal play.
Cheyenne Boone, a 21-year-old college student from New York, was in the stands watching her friend Jakob Shuler, who started at catcher for the Legends. Boone met Shuler, a 22-year-old Owensboro native and graduate of Apollo High School, during a summer internship in Indiana. Last year Shuler played for the Trinidad Triggers, which are based in Colorado and are part of the independent Pecos League.
Boone said it was a great feeling to attend a sporting event for the first time in several months.
“The last time I went to a game was last fall,” Boone said through her blue paper mask. “It’s definitely weird, but it’s nice to actually be around people again. I feel safe, and it’s nice to do something that feels normal.”
Boone said Shuler was stoked to be part of the Battle of the Bourbon Trail.
“I think he was really excited,” Boone said. “He missed being out there and I think he was happy to get back out on the field and do what he loves.”
The crowd was split fairly evenly between fans who kept their masks on while seated and others who lowered them, though the vast majority of fans seemed to cover up with their masks when moving around the facility. At one point when a light rain returned, the public address announcer asked fans to practice social distancing when seeking shelter in the concourse.
Lexington native and former major league pitcher Robbie Ross drew the start for the Legends, mere days after joining the team. Ross, who spent six seasons in MLB, the last in 2017 with the Boston Red Sox, took the mound to a rousing ovation from the crowd. It was a short outing for the Lexington Christian Academy graduate, as he allowed one hit and no runs in the first inning.
Ross was replaced in the second inning by Robby Rowland, a third-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. Rowland struck out the side in the second and worked around a lead-off hit in the third.
Tickets for every game of the Battle of the Bourbon Trail are on sale and can be purchased by visiting Lexingtonlegends.com. Individual tickets range from $7-$12. Updated safety protocols for Whitaker Bank Ballpark can be viewed at Lexingtonlegends.com.
This story was originally published August 2, 2020 at 10:58 AM.
