Woodchucks Legends<\/p>\n
Ben Zobrist.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ben Zobrist is a winner.\u00a0 He demonstrated his winning skills in 2015 when he led the Kansas City Royals to a World Series title.\u00a0 He proved that he knew how to win, again, in 2016 when he led the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years, earning World Series MVP along the way.\u00a0 Did you know, though, that one of the first times his winning skills emerged was in 2003 with the Woodchucks?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Coming out of high school, after no college recruiters had made him an offer to play college baseball, Zobrist considered his baseball career over.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t planning to give college baseball a try until his high school baseball coach encourage him to spend $50 to attend a college showcase event in Peoria, Illinois.\u00a0 He signed to play for Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois.\u00a0 Eventually that $50 would prove to be the best investment of Zobrist\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At Olivet, an NAIA baseball school, Zobrist was originally cast as a pitcher.\u00a0 It was only after several other middle infielders failed, that Zobrist was given a chance to play shortstop.\u00a0 He embraced that opportunity and never gave up the position leading Olivet to three conference titles and two NAIA World Series appearances.\u00a0 He finished his time at Olivet with a career batting average of .376 and still holds the record for the school\u2019s longest hitting streak at 25.\u00a0 As an example of his versatility, Zobrist also ranks third in saves at Olivet with six during the 2002 season.\u00a0 When it came to summer baseball, though, Zobrist was still an unknown and it was only after he was seen on a scouting trip by Coach Steve Foster and former Woodchucks owner Clark Eckhoff that he was signed to play in the summer of 2003.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 2003 Woodchuck team was loaded with talent.\u00a0 They led the league in hitting with a .280 average, 377 runs, 605 hits and 54 home runs.\u00a0 The pitching staff was also strong with four pitchers eventually reaching the major leagues.\u00a0 Ben Zobrist wasn\u2019t even the best player on the team.\u00a0 That would have been Mike Pankratz who was voted Northwoods League MVP after posting a .699 slugging percentage with 12 home runs.\u00a0 In an interesting twist, Ben Zobrist was voted the Woodchuck MVP.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The team headed to the playoffs in 2003 without their top two pitchers.\u00a0 That implied that the Woodchucks would need to hit their way to a championship.\u00a0 In the semi-finals against the Madison Mallards, the Woodchucks lost the first game 8-1, but then came back to win the next two games.\u00a0 In the championship series against St. Cloud, the Woodchucks again lost the first game (6-1) but came back to win the final two games.\u00a0 Ben Zobrist didn\u2019t stand out during the playoffs, but he did everything he could to help the team win.\u00a0 He went 3-5 in the second game in Madison and closed out the second game against St. Cloud with a scoreless inning.\u00a0 In the final game, Zobrist went 0-2 but scored an important run by hustling around from second base on an error.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Coach of the 2003 team, Steve Foster, called Ben Zobrist a \u201cversatile athlete that could play anywhere on the field.\u201d\u00a0 During the 2003 season he played shortstop, second base, third base and pitched.\u00a0 The versatility would show through years later.\u00a0 On the Kansas City Royals World Series Championship team, Zobrist played second base and batted second.\u00a0 With the Chicago Cubs he played right field and batted fourth.\u00a0 Wherever he played, Ben Zobrist was known as a leader.\u00a0 Coach Foster called him \u201ca tremendous team guy and selfless.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Upon receiving the team\u2019s MVP award, Ben Zobrist reflected; \u201cThe Woodchucks have been good to me and given me so many opportunities.\u00a0 I\u2019m excited to accept this award, not on behalf of my own achievement, but on behalf of everyone on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After leaving the Woodchucks in the summer of 2003, Ben Zobrist transferred to Dallas Baptist for an opportunity to play Division I baseball.\u00a0 He was drafted in the 6th<\/sup>\u00a0round by the Houston Astros and later traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays where he made his MLB debut.\u00a0 Zobrist played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 2006 to 2013 earning team MVP honors in 2009 and two All Star berths.\u00a0 In 2013 he was traded to the Oakland A\u2019s and again traded to Kansas City in mid-season.\u00a0 In the post season with Kansas City he hit .303 with 15 runs, 20 hits, 2 home runs and 6 RBIs.\u00a0 After the season he signed a four year contract with the Chicago Cubs.\u00a0 He earned the 2016 World Series MVP by hitting. 357 with 5 runs and 2 RBIs that included the game winning RBI in game seven.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben Zobrist would retire in early 2022 but said he would be open to returning to the Cubs in a non-player capacity down the road.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Woodchucks start their 30th season of Northwoods League Baseball in Madison, WI on Monday, May 29th. The team returns home for the 2023 home opener at Athletic Park on Tuesday, May 30th. Group tickets and ticket packages are on sale now by calling 715.845.5055. Single game tickets will go on sale Monday, April 24th at 10am.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Woodchucks Legends Ben Zobrist. Ben Zobrist is a winner.\u00a0 He demonstrated his winning skills in 2015 when he led […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":16029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,28,1509],"tags":[99,178,58,48,194,282,1511,1514,195,1510,77,59,196,49,1111,312,1512,313,258,1513,1046,305,67,134,68,50,55],"class_list":["post-16027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news","category-update-ticker","category-woodchucks-legends","tag-all-star-game","tag-all-star","tag-athletic-park","tag-baseball","tag-ben-zobrist","tag-central-wisconsin","tag-chamipionship","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-cubs","tag-madison-mallards","tag-mlb","tag-mvp","tag-northwoods-league","tag-nwl","tag-pitcher","tag-rays","tag-roster","tag-summer","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-things-to-do","tag-tickets","tag-wausau","tag-wausau-woodchucks","tag-wisconsin","tag-wisconsin-woodchucks","tag-woodchucks"],"yoast_head":"\n