With a dome of radiant blue overhead and a nearly flawless carpet of green beneath their feet, it was a difficult for even the most big league-minded St. Paul Saints players to want to be any place else than CHS Field on Saturday, when the Saints players worked out and met with the media for the first time this season.
"I mean, look at this place," said Dan Johnson, the former Blaine High School star and major leaguer trying to work his way back as a knuckleball pitcher. "This is better than any minor league park I've been in. They make it so much fun for the fans and the players. It's second to none."
St. Paul is generally considered the cornerstone franchise of the American Association — "We've been called the Yankees of the league, even before we moved in here," said Sean Aronson, vice president/director of media relations/broadcaster — and, as such, rarely has problems attracting talent. The past two regular seasons have been remarkably fruitful, with the team putting together a 135-65 record over that span.
But that hasn't translated to postseason success, losing in the first round of the American Association playoffs each year. Last year, pitchers Johnson, John Straka and Eric Veglahn were all lured away by major league organizations in the final days of the regular season, one reason for the Saints' early demise.
"It's disappointing because our goal is to win a championship," longtime manager George Tsamis said. "The players' goal is to win a championship and get signed by a major league club. It's tough when we lose those players at around the same time, in August, but that's why they're playing — to get to the big leagues."
All three are back with the Saints, as are longtime favorites Mark Hamburger, the No. 1 starter, and Robert Coe, the franchise's all-time leader in career victories and strikeouts entering his sixth season.
Coe, an Appleton, Wis., native, admits that he is one of few Saints without realistic big-league dreams. He is driven by the chance to play in a glorious ballpark and, hopefully, win a championship.
"If it wasn't for George wanting me back, I'd probably have retired by now," he said. "But this is a great place to play, and I remember what it was like in 2011, when we came so close to winning [the league championship]. I want that feeling one more time."
The Saints open the 2017 season May 18, playing host to the Gary SouthShore Rail Cats.
