Mapping the path

EASTERN MIDWEST BASEBALL

Springfield Lucky Horseshoes

After a quick lunch in Rockville, Indiana, we press on to Springfield, Illinois, the heart of the Land of Lincoln. We check out Lincoln’s Home, tour the Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, and stop by the state capitol and other buildings around Springfield before our game with the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes.

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We began on I-70, heading due west through the flat farmland of eastern Indiana. Dad talked about his family’s origins in the Midwest: His mother was born in Lesterville, South Dakota, in a region of Czech immigrants. His dad was from Spalding, Nebraska, an equally small rural town. They were married in 1940 in Omaha at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral. This confirmed for me that our next big baseball odyssey needed to be in the Western Midwest — the seven states west of the Mississippi — so we could explore some of those places together.

We continued west beyond Indianapolis, transitioning to the more rustic Highway 36. Fields of corn and soybeans flowed past in a steady stream, occasionally interrupted by little towns that whizzed by in a heartbeat. Just before noon, we arrived in Rockville, Indiana, a town of about 2,500 with an impressive county courthouse, built in 1882.

We stopped for lunch at Thirty-Six Saloon, a woodsy watering hole popular with bikers and hunters.

The sandwiches were tasty, and the prices were incredibly cheap: My chicken Philly cost just $6.50. As we refueled and rested up, news came from the real world that Joe Biden would be leaving the 2024 presidential race with a little more than four months until Election Day.

Dad and I cruised into the center of Springfield, dodging detours from extensive construction downtown. We made our first stop at Lincoln’s Home Historic Site, run by the National Park Service. It includes the 12-room house where Lincoln lived from 1844-1861 with his wife, Mary Todd, and their three children — one of whom, Eddie, died at age 3.

The site extends to the preservation of buildings on the four blocks surrounding the home, many restored to their appearance in Lincoln’s time, others still privately owned.

We stepped into the museum and were soon greeted by Joe Crain, Director of Public Programs and Community Engagement for the Library and Museum. He had connected with me over Twitter and offered to give us a personal introduction to the beautiful and compelling museum.

The museum naturally covers the life of Lincoln, from his birth in a log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky, to his family’s migration to Indiana, to his work in Springfield and his path to politics, which ultimately led to his election as president during the most critical juncture in the nation’s history.

The second half of the museum is devoted to dramatic portrayals of Lincoln’s tumultuous time in office: the declaration of war, the death of his son Willie from typhoid fever, his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the push to finish the war, and his assassination less than a week after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.

It was getting late, but I had a few minutes to trot across the street to the Presidential Library to see a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, one of just 27 copies remaining after the original was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871.

This simple, one-page document is one of the greatest expressions of commitment to protect individual liberty that has ever existed, and it led to the freedom of about four million enslaved people.

“I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are and henceforth shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.”

We drove on to find its replacement, a Renaissance Revivial building constructed between 1868 and 1888, with a 361-foot dome covered in zinc. As we took it all in, a local TV news crew pulled up to record a story, using the elegant edifice as a backdrop.

Our last stop was the Illinois Governor’s Mansion, built in 1855 and still the official residence of Illinois’ First Family. The 16-room manor is the third-oldest state governor’s residence in America and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Springfield’s baseball history extends well beyond its 100-year-old ballpark. The Springfield Senators were a minor league franchise that played on and off from 1889 to 1935, changing names to the Foot Trackers, Hustlers, Watchmakers, and the Senators once again. Hall of Famer Joe McGinnity, who played for four Major League teams and won a World Series with the New York Giants in 1905, played for the Senators at the end of his career in 1925. That same year, Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis threw out the ceremonial first pitch to kick off Springfield’s season in the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League.

The Springfield Browns picked up where the Senators left off in the Three-I League, playing from 1938-1942 and 1946-1949. Other minor league clubs who called Robin Roberts home included the Double-A Springfield Redbirds (1978-1981) and the Class-A Midwest League Springfield Cardinals (1982-1993), who rebranded as the Springfield Sultans from 1994-1995.

The Lucky Horseshoes are the third collegiate wood-bat franchise to play in town. The Springfield Capitals (1963-1977) played at Robin Roberts Stadium, and the Springfield Rifles (1983-2006) played at Lincoln Land Community College as members of the Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL). The Capitals returned as an independent pro team from 1996-2001 as part of the Frontier League.

The Lucky Horseshoes began life in 2008 as the Springfield Sliders, an expansion team in the CICL, which merged with the Prospect League after the Sliders inaugural season. The club rebranded in 2022 as the Lucky Horseshoes, inspired by Lincoln’s image on the penny and the tradition of people rubbing the nose of his statue at Lincoln’s tomb for good luck; and by the horseshoe sandwich, a regional favorite we would experience first-hand a little later.

The team store — called the “'Shoe Box,” as it’s more like a large kiosk — is located just inside the front gate at Robin Roberts Stadium, a necessary and convenient stop on our way to our seats.

I was happy to pick up the sweet copper-billed hat worn on-field for home games in 2024 — an unusual color and appropriate for the penny and horseshoe themes. Dad grabbed his baseball, and we were on our way in.

The Lucky Horseshoes drew an an average of 2,028 fans per game in 2024, third-best in the 18-team Prospect League.

Several players from the Sliders and Lucky Horseshoes franchise have made it to the majors, including Nick Maton, who joined the Chicago White Sox in 2025 — his fourth team in five seasons; Tyler Henieman (parts of six seasons in the majors, now with the Toronto Blue Jays); Cameron Perkins (42 games with the Philadelphia Phillies); and Elliot Soto (three games with the Los Angeles Angels).

The Horseshoes had not experienced much luck in the 2024 season, finishing the first half with a 8-18 record. Their opponent, the Normal CornBelters from nearby Normal, Illinois, had finished the first half closer to .500 but had also not done enough to make the Prospect League playoffs. The second half offered a fresh start for both.

On this July 3, a man dressed in a stars-and-stripes tank top and an American flag cowboy hat sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" with a strong country twang, and we were underway.

But first things first. It was time to try a horseshoe sandwich.

Invented in Springfield, Illinois, the horseshoe is an open-faced sandwich consisting of thick-sliced toasted bread, meat, french fries, and cheese sauce. Hamburger is the most common protein used on the sandwich today, but the original meat was ham.

Dad ordered the pulled pork, and I opted for buffalo chicken. I had to take a second photo to prove the existence of meat after we had excavated the cheese-and-fries layer. It’s a lot to put into your body on purpose, but we had no complaints.

The CornBelters brought home the first run in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly. Springfield responded in the home half with a three-run homer to right by Lucky Horseshoes second baseman Jimmy Koza. Koza had struggled earlier in the year at the Virginia Military Institute, hitting just .211, and would transfer to Francis Marion University for 2025. But in 53 games in Springfield, he would put up a .292 average from the leadoff spot.

The Lucky Horseshoes led it 3-1 after three.

The headlining entertainment for the night was BirdZerk! — exclamation point his — who appears at major and minor league ballparks across the country, performing skits and pranks between innings. He is the creation of Dominic and Brennan Latkovski — Dominic is in the costume, Brennan is the straight man — and his origins date back to 1990 and Dominic’s work as mascot Billy Bird with the Triple-A Louisville Cardinals. The brothers honed Billy Bird’s act and broke away from the club with their own BirdZerk! identity in 1995.

BirdZerk! does good work, and the crowd got into his dance routines and mischief-making. (Watch them on the episode!) But with respect, as a San Diego Padres fan who grew up watching the KGB-turned-San Diego Chicken, I know the answer to the question, “Which came first? The chicken or the bird?”

In the top of the third, CornBelters designated hitter Landon Johnson blasted a shot to right to tighten the score to 3-2 Springfield. Johnson would finish his summer with Normal sporting a .372 average in 47 games.

I walked behind the third-base stands to see the kids’ play area and some of the historical markers of Springfield’s past (including the logos shown earlier). In addition to Robin Roberts, Springfield’s retired numbers include Abraham Lincoln (number 16 for the 16th president) and Lucas Otto, who was pitching for Springfield in 2022 when he died in a car crash.

The home team scored again in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Springfield starting pitcher Matt Cruise left the game with the lead despite allowing five walks in five innings.

I climbed to the top of the stands on the first-base side to catch the prettiest baseball sky of our road trip. The deep pinks and blues against the whites of the ballpark lights felt like early notice for the arrival of July 4th. Beyond the right-field fence and in the distance elsewhere, small-scale fireworks popped off as confirmation.

Late in the game, the crowd was treated to an appearance by Harry Canary, one of the inflated-mascot ZOOperstars! — also not my exclamation point — created by the Latkovski brothers. The ZOOperstars! wobble about uncertainly, which makes the impersonation of legendary broadcaster Harry Carry (who was known to be a bit of a tippler) very funny and on the beak.

I moved up to a spot behind home plate in the eighth inning and found Joe Crain, who had introduced us to the Lincoln Library & Museum earlier in the day. Encounters like this really increase the sense of community at a small-town ballpark like Robin Roberts Stadium.

Lucky Horseshoes mascot Horace finally made an appearance in the ninth inning, once the BirdZerk! and Zooperstars! team had cleared out.

It was nearing the end of another long day on the road, but there was still more excitement to come. In the top of the ninth, with two outs and a runner on first, Normal delivered a double and a single to tie the game, 4-4. Could we be going to extra innings once again?

CornBelters reliever Zach O’Donnell got the first two outs to start the bottom of the ninth. The next two hitters reached base on a walk and an error, and O’Donnell was lifted for right-hander Tyler Altenbaumer. Springfield center fielder Mike Murphy came to the plate looking for his third hit of the game. The tension rose.

Murphy sliced a pitch down the right-field line to score the lead runner. A mob of happy players with a bucket of water chased Murphy into the left-field corner as the crowd celebrated. The ‘Shoes had come up lucky, winning it 5-4.

As we walked to the exit, I was stopped by a man I had met while waiting in line for our Horseshoe Sandwiches. I had told him about the trip I was doing with Dad, and he seemed genuinely excited. Now, as the Shoe Box lit the darkened passageway near the gate, he tapped my arm. “Hey, I wanted to tell you that I was really moved by what you are doing with your dad,” he said. “I’ve decided I’m going to plan a big baseball trip like that when my son gets a little older.”

I smiled and shook his hand, and we walked out into the night.

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