The Winnipeg Goldeyes‘ season ended without a playoff berth for the third straight year.
While the wheels really fell off the last three weeks of the season, it’s hard to point fingers considering they were the only team in the league to spend the entire campaign on the road amid COVID-19 safety measures.
“If it can go wrong, it went wrong this year for us it seems,” Goldeyes first baseman Kyle Martin said.
The Goldeyes finished their season last Thursday with back-to-back wins after suffering losses in 14 of their previous 16 contests.
It was a season of ups and downs for the Fish. From a blown tire and a minor bus crash early in the year, to sitting in top spot with just three weeks left in the regular season. But after two straight months of riding the bus around the United States, it all came crashing down with an 11-game losing streak in early September.
“We hit a lull and just couldn’t get out of it,” Martin said. “We had a little bit of a slump and had a tough time bouncing back. I think we were just tired at that point, which sucks to say.
“There’s a lot of things that run into it, but at the end of the day your job is to show up and do everything you can to win. It just so happens that 11 game stretch really hurt us.”
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“It was a long summer. They were tired,” general manager Andrew Collier said. “They ran out of gas. We had some injuries. Probably half our starting lineup was injured.”
The injuries started to pile up late in the season, and not having a home base to heal and rehab helped contribute to the late-season free fall.
Martin was their lone all-star in his second season with the Goldeyes. He led the team in batting average (.301), home runs (16), and runs batted in (51).
“He was a warrior this summer,” Collier said. “He probably played the last three weeks hurt, but he continued to put up numbers.”
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It’s been more than a full calendar year since the Goldeyes last played at Shaw Park, and players look forward to the first game back, whenever that will be. And after a full season playing as the enemy, it sure will be nice to have fans cheering for them, instead of against.
“I loved everything about Winnipeg,” Martin said. “I did miss the fans this year. They showed a lot of love last year and I really appreciated that, and hopefully, I can get back up there next season.”
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