The Madison Mallards’ silver anniversary is underway. A 14-7 start has them in first place in the Great Lakes West division of the Northwoods League. The team begins an eight-game home stand tonight, hosting the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters.
The team has become a fixture in the Madison community. Each year, the Mallards focus on expanding the Duck Pond – their aptly named home stadium – and think of new ways to connect with Madisonians.
On the field, the Mallards have won two championships – in 2004 and 2013 – and have sent many young players up to the big leagues of Major League Baseball.
But it is perhaps off the field that the Mallards have made their biggest mark in Madison. The neon lights of the Duck Pond mesmerize the passer-by; the facilities at Warner Park have greatly improved, often on the team’s dime; and the Mallards’ presence in Madison paved the way for women’s softball to hit the local scene with the Madison Nightmares, who also share the Duck Pond.
Beer deliveries and bobbleheads
Team president Vern Stedman has been with the Mallards since the very beginning. He’s worn pretty much every hat the the organization and has been asked to do basically everything at one point or another.
But Stedman’s never done this. On a drizzling May day just before the team’s home opener, Stedman is figuring out how to rig the stadium’s zip line so that it can deliver beer. The premise is pretty simple: people standing on the other side of the stadium phone their order down, the beer vendor receives it, and sends the patron’s beer zipping at high speed over the heads of fans as they watch the game.
As if that weren’t enough, Stedman is also figuring out how to attach a fake duck to the top of the beer zipline since it is, well, the Duck Pond. But more importantly, it’s just the type of thing one would do in Madison.
“So, our mascot for 20 years has ziplined in before the game starts every night,” Stedman said. “It’s kind of become a tradition. So, this year we decided we wanted to change up beer delivery and do something kind of fun.”
Fun is what it’s all about for the Mallards. Stedman said that people interact with the Mallards in all sorts of personal ways, telling stories about themselves or Madison or the history of the community. The Mallards, in turn, use the stadium and interactive fan items to tell those stories back.
“Madison likes it when we do weird stuff,” Stedman said. “That’s always been my favorite part of what we do here. We’re finding cool ways to tell Madison stories and things that people in our community really care about.”
What kinds of stories are these? Ones about vital topics in Madison life, such as making the tastiest Old Fashioneds.
“A couple years ago, we made a 450-gallon cocktail that we sold at the stadium,” Stedman recalled. “It was great. We made the world’s largest Old Fashioned.”
This year, the team is doubling down on interactive things to celebrate the 25th anniversary. On June 8, the Mallards had Frank Lloyd Wright bobblehead night. They also have unveiled their “Frankenstein” uniforms, which, upon a closer look, shows the contours of Madison.
On July 5, the Mallards will be branded the “Madison Neverminds” to commemorate the Nirvana album “Nevermind”, which was recorded at Smart Studios in Madison and released in 1991.
“Nevermind” is ranked the sixth greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and features a famous album cover with a floating baby. When the Mallards become the Neverminds, they will play in a uniform with Maynard the Mallard floating in the same pose.
Growing some homegrown talent
The Mallards’ presence in Madison has also sparked better baseball to be played citywide. A decade ago, the Mallards might have had two or three local kids on the roster. Now, there are more than a dozen annually.
“I think we have at least 15 players on the roster from Wisconsin,” Stedman said. “I think Wisconsin and Madison, specifically, have become a better baseball town since we’ve been here.”
One of the non-Madisonian players on this year’s team is Noah Sheffield, the son of former Milwaukee Brewer Gary Sheffield. Sheffield is with the team via Florida State.
The Mallards’ presence has also helped the Warner Park area itself. The team has invested more than $10 million in improvements over the years.
“We have funded a vast majority of the improvements that have happened here over the years,” Stedman said. ”And we’ve never really looked at it as a very traditional business. It’s been more of a fan focus.”
The fans have loved the team for years. In the beginning, back in 2001, there were maybe a handful of fans, according to Stedman. Attendance grew for the first few years and has remained steady since.
Stedman said there hasn’t been a huge drop or growth in attendance in a very long time and ticket sales have remained consistent for more than five years.
“I think we’ve just kind of created a spot in Madison and there’s a group of people who really enjoy it,” Stedman said. “We grabbed onto this fan base in Madison and created something that they cared about.”
With that, Stedman rises from his seat. He needs to go back into the drizzling morning and attach that darn duck to the zipline. Because, while Madison certainly cares about the team, it also cares about beer.
“I’m literally just figuring this out right now,” Stedman said. “I gotta figure out how I’m going to mount this and sit this duck on top of it, which will just make it even weirder. These are the important things we worry about.”
