USPBL All-Star Saturday shows league is back to pre-COVID form as 2024 expansion looms

Fans lined the outfield berms at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica on Saturday as baseballs flew their way in the 2022 United Shore Professional Baseball League Home Run Derby.

Kids of all ages congregated on the left field hill, trying to catch blasts from right-handed power hitters, then sprinted around the outfield fence to right for the lefty batters.

Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers utility player Dakota McFadden clubbed a record 39 home runs to win the derby, most of his drives finding those same youngsters beyond left field. Half an hour later, anyone and everyone threw out a ceremonial first pitch for the 2022 All-Star Game, which finished in a 1-1 tie. Dance team routines, free “softie balls” and birthday messages on the video board made for mid-inning festivities.

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USPBL owner Andy Appleby strolled below the grandstands, greeting families in the field level suites. With over 33 years of sports management experience that includes the Detroit Pistons, Shock and Vipers, Appleby believes it's good business to welcome everyone.

“It's a dream to just see all this great crowd, beautiful night,” Appleby said. “People always ask me, ‘How do you go to 70 games?’ I'm like, 'Geez, I can't think of a better place to be to entertain 4,000 people every night that are as happy as can be.' ”

Business is good for Appleby, whose developmental summer league for recent college graduates is back to selling out its 4,500 seat stadium off M-59 in Utica. Two summers ago, attendance was limited to 100 people per game by COVID-19. Appleby hoped they’d continue scaling back restrictions and welcoming more fans, but it only happened at the season's end.

Now, the restored USPBL is vibrant as ever, serving as one of Utica’s best entertainment venues. Appleby’s four-team league founded in 2016 has impacted the city in ways felt by owner, ticket holders and players alike. As expansion remains front of mind, another town could soon benefit from the Disney-like Americana and affordable family fun Appleby is offering.

“We really treat every game like it's the World Series,” Appleby said. “We want to make sure that everyone's having a great time. We want to be the cleanest ballpark in America, we want to be the safest ballpark, double the level of service, and all do it at a very affordable price.

“And thanks to our partnerships, I'm able to invest so much into the game itself, so when people come, the reason we get thousands of testimonials is people think that they get four or five times the value of what they pay. And in an age of $4 coffees, when do we ever feel that way?”

Darrell Seelinger certainly thinks his USPBL experience is worth every penny. He and his wife, Janis, have been season ticket holders since day one.

Five years ago, they made their Macomb residence a host home. Their current guest, outfielder Drue Galassi, captained and hit leadoff for one of the All-Star teams, opposite his Utica Unicorns teammate Ari Sechopoulos.

USPBL host families receive discounts and bonus tickets for neighbors and business clients. With friends nearby and a beer in hand, Seelinger feels “like a king” in his aisle seat every weekend. He gets excited as any kid for Friday fireworks.

“If you’d told somebody 10 years ago they were going to consider building, in such a small little community as Utica, a baseball park, they're thinking, ‘Where are you going to put that?' ” Seelinger said. “And yet they found a way.

“On the nights I know we’re going… It gives me something to look forward to in the summertime for an evening out, and it’s always fun-filled entertainment. And these guys, they’re hardworking, they’re striving to make it to the next level, and so we look forward to seeing their hard work and efforts.”

Seelinger has seen firsthand the USPBL’s impact on the economy in downtown Utica. He’d like local businesses to thank the league by framing players’ jerseys on their walls.

His love for the USPBL left him devastated by the empty corridors and concession stands during the 2020 pandemic season. He still gets emotional thinking about it. The USPBL was the first pro baseball league in America to return amid COVID-19, although it suffered a 75% percent revenue hit via a shortened schedule and limited attendance.

Appleby was disheartened every time he saw the barren kids zone down the right field line. “We even had to rope off the playground, for God’s sake,” he said.

“It was like a ghost town, it was very hard,” Seelinger said. “But we came, we tried to do all we could to support, not just the league itself, but then being a good host family, you want to be here for (the players).”

Appleby did note one positive from the pandemic season. He improved his broadcasts from one camera to four, and was rewarded with roughly 16,000 viewers per game on YouTube and other social media. That helped retain sponsorships and increase player exposure.

Even with Seelingers and other hosts helping, the venue lacked the traditional energy that comes with being at the ballpark, though. Westside Woolly Mammoths outfielder Greg Vaughn Jr. was self-motivated, but acknowledged the atmosphere wasn’t the same.

“Just from a player's standpoint, we dream of playing in front of hundreds of thousands of fans,” said Vaughn, whose father was a four-time MLB All-Star. “We feed off that. It makes us happy and appreciate the reason why we're here.

“The fans and the kids loving us, it feels good. It’s a feeling that you can’t really describe, but it’s something that you’ve always wanted and something you’ve always dreamt of.”

Though not an All-Star this year, Vaughn recalled his best memories while taking in the sights and sounds of Saturday’s contest. Following the lackluster 2020 season, he saw crowds return in force when he won the 2021 Home Run Derby and played in the USPBL championship game against the Unicorns. The 2022 All-Star festivities were comparably colorful.

“Each year I've been here, it's gotten better and better and better,” Vaughn said. “I guess the next coming years will tell how much higher the game goes here.”

Vaughn and Seelinger both support league expansion, hoping to serve other communities and add to the 47 USPBL alums signed by major league franchises. The Utica complex is maxed out by the Beavers, Unicorns, Woolly Mammoths and Eastside Diamond Hoppers, so a new location is in order.

Appleby said two or three communities were close to adding USPBL ballparks, before partnering mayors weren’t reelected and other complications arose. He’d like to create at least two more teams, build a new park and be ready to play by 2024.

“I've got about 10 months to get our second ballpark done, and it's my goal to get it done,” Appleby said. “I think I will.”

Until then, he can revel in changing the perception of Utica and Macomb County for the better. He enjoys seeing Utica mentioned in most television weather reports, a sign to him that it has become known as a good community thanks to his aid.

At the 2020 season’s worst, he wondered if families would ever come back to Jimmy John’s Field. As children chased home run balls across the outfield hills, he wasn’t left to wonder anymore.

“It's just nice that they are (coming back),” Appleby said, “And so I'm really thankful that things are getting back to normal.”

Contact Mason Young: MEYoung@freepress.com Follow him on Twitter: @Mason_Young_0

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How the USPBL has resurged from COVID-19 and hopes to expand in 2024