Gary SouthShore RailCats Celebrate American Association Championship

When the Gary SouthShore RailCats pulled up at the U.S. Steel Yard on Sunday night after an 11-hour bus ride back from Wichita, they found a large contingent of fans waiting for them.

Despite the fact that it was after 11 p.m. on a Sunday night, the fans did not miss the opportunity to celebrate with the 2013 American Association Champion RailCats, who clinched the title with a 6-5 victory over the Wichita Wingnuts on Saturday night, taking the series three games to one.

The championship was the team’s first since joining the American Association and the third overall after capturing Northern League titles in 2005 and 2007. RailCats manager Greg Tagert, who has never had a losing season in 18 years managing independent baseball, said that it is difficult to choose a favorite season among the three championship years.

“They are all special, but obviously this one’s special because I was able to share it with players that have been here for several years in [Mike] Massaro, [Adam] Klein and [Cristian] Guerrero,” Tagert said. “I was able to share it with these fans, who it’s so important to. From a personal standpoint, that’s what makes it special, to be able to share it with everybody that works so hard for it.”

None of the members of the 2013 RailCats were with team when it won the 2005 and 2007 titles. Guerrero rejoined the team for his fifth season in Gary this year after a one-year stint in Sioux Falls in 2012. Massaro just completed his fifth season as a RailCat, while Klein finished his fourth. All three veteran outfielders may retire this offseason.

“As far as I know within my heart, this is my last year,” Klein said. “I’m glad we won and it takes a little weight off my shoulders knowing that we went out on top. It’s a combination of exhilarating and a sense of relief that I had the opportunity to go out on top.”

Klein, who spent three years in the Oakland Athletics organization reaching as high as Double-A, called winning the 2013 American Association Championship the highlight of his seven-year professional baseball career.

While the roster has undergone a complete turnover, manager Greg Tagert has been the one constant through the three championship seasons.

“I think you have to look at the guy that is the parallel between the 2005 team, the 2007 team and this year’s team,” public address announcer Tommy Williams said. “When he came here the first year and the RailCats had three straight last place seasons, he comes here and wins a championship.”

When he addressed the crowd of RailCats fans, Klein agreed with Williams’s assessment of Tagert’s value.

“Over there in Wichita, [Wingnuts manager] Kevin Hooper received the Manager of the Year Award, but as far as I’m concerned, it goes to Greg Tagert,” Klein said. “Not only for what he did on the field, but for what he did off the field to get us all together.”

Williams, who has been behind the microphone for all 11 seasons of RailCats baseball, hesitated in selecting a favorite RailCats team.

“It’s like having three kids and you don’t want to say one’s better than the other one,” he said. “I have to say that this year’s team is very impressive because they didn’t have a lot of home run power. They were gutsy. They had a lot of grit.”

The RailCats faced a precarious situation in the championship series when they split the first two games, which were held at the U.S. Steel Yard. The best-of-five set shifted to Wichita for its duration, only to see the RailCats pick up back-to-back one-run victories to end the series in four games.

“We were feeling very confident going into Wichita, having had success there early on in the year,” Klein said. “I think we really opened their eyes with the way we played them the first two games here.”

The ‘Cats held a 6-2 lead going to the bottom of the eighth inning of the clinching game before the Wingnuts rallied for three eighth-inning runs to trim the advantage to one. Kyle Lindquist recorded the final out of the eighth as the Wingnuts stranded the bases loaded. Marco Gonzalez came on for the save, convincing C.J. Ziegler to fly out to centerfield for the game’s final out.

“That game was going about as smoothly as you can hope for any deciding game, but that eighth inning felt like an eternity,” Tagert said. “You’re playing a club like Wichita and as good as they were, you knew they weren’t going to go down easy. What impresses me most about our club is that we withstood that challenge.”

The RailCats finished the regular season 9.5 games behind the Wingnuts in the American Association Central Division, earning their way into the postseason via a Wild Card berth.

Guerrero was one player who heated up at the right time, hitting .333 in the playoffs after stroking .233 in 94 regular season contests.

“For me, I struggled a little bit during the regular season, but I said in my mind, ‘I’m forgetting about it,’” he said. “‘I’m going to focus on right now.’ I’m glad for that.”

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson joined the celebration, thanking the RailCats for what they have done for the city.

"So many people associate our city with negative things, but when we see the RailCats play with honor, tenacity and dedication and then bring home a championship, it’s great for the city,” she said. “When we see all these fans out at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night in the city of Gary, it just tells you that we are doing the things to get us where we need to be. This is just one thing, it’s one big thing, but there are many other things that are going on to put Gary on the map in a positive way. I want to thank these guys for what they’ve done for the city of Gary.”

 Click here for more photos from Sunday night's celebration!