The 2003 Northwoods League season was a banner year for the Madison Mallards on and off the field. No record, be it attendance or home runs, was safe.
On the diamond, the Mallards succeeded like they never had before. New manager Darrell Handelsman guided the team to a 38-26 mark, the best in the franchise’s three-year history. A 22-10 first half netted Madison the South Division championship for the half and with it, the first playoff berth in team history. After the stellar first half, eight Ducks were selected for the midseason All-Star game held in Madison.
Marshall outfielder Francois Larmore gave future Mallard sluggers a new mark to aim for, as he set a new team record with seven home runs in a season. On the mound, starters Corey Cabral (San Jose State) and Jake Hansen (Northern Iowa) each recorded five wins, also a new team record.
The team rode the all-around play of slick-fielding St. John’s shortstop Mike Rozema (.300, two home runs, 32 RBIs and 32 stolen bases) and a pitching staff headed by Cabral and Hansen into the playoffs, where it fell two games to one to the eventual NWL champions, the Wisconsin Woodchucks.
But while they were left out of the championship series, the Mallards were not left out of the awards. Cabral and Hansen were named to the prestigious postseason All-Star team, and Doug Beck (Texas Tech) took home the Rawlings Silver Glove at second base.
As much as the Mallards team accomplished on the field, the Mallards franchise accomplished even more off of it. Thanks to a winning team, renovations of Warner Park (the Great Dane Duck Blind in right field and the Big Mike’s Super Section in left) and a great atmosphere, the team attracted fans in record numbers, demolishing any previous attendance records for the Northwoods League, Madison baseball and summertime collegiate baseball in general.
“This season has really put us on the map nationally,” Mallards general manager Vern Stenman said.
After a home opener attended by 5,642 fans, the Mallards went on to draw crowds of more than 5,000 five times.
“Coming into the season, I was hoping we’d draw 2,500 to 3,000 fans a night,” Stenman said. “I didn’t even want to say 3,000 because I was afraid I’d look like an idiot.”
The peak came Aug. 7, the final regular-season game, when 7,491 Mallards fans packed the Duck Pond. In all, 136,751 fans came through the gates at Warner Park, giving the team an average of 4,411 per game, shattering league records. The Mallards had set the previous mark for total attendance in 2002. That year, they drew a total of 67,184.
“Our success is due to many things,” Stenman said. “Everything we do out here is like a piece to a big puzzle. Whether it’s the great promotions we do, the atmosphere we generate or even the winning on the field, when it all comes together you get a special season like this.”
Along with shattering attendance records, the Mallards franchise may have also shattered the myth that baseball could not survive in Madison. Previous attempts by the Muskies and the Mad Hatters in the Single A Midwest League and by the Black Wolf of the Independent Northern League proved to be in vain.
In the Mallards — a team comprised of collegiate players from around the country — the city of Madison may have also found a college team to call its own, as the University of Wisconsin has been without a baseball team since the program was dropped in 1991.
“We don’t have too many fans that come to our games, so coming to Madison and playing in front of all those fans, it was a great experience,” Hansen said. “That was the best summer of my life in Madison.”
