Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Monday January 13th 2025 have your host James J. Mailoff here and
Welcomeing in the studio our new friends. We have Jake Adams assistant general manager with us. Jake say hi to everybody
Please how we doing out there Wisconsin rapids and we have Connor Philippi. I say they're right
That's right. All right Conner is with this marketing and media manager with about thanks for being here Conner
That's right. Thanks for listening and we are talking Wisconsin rapids rafters everybody
Oh, did you feel that it got warmer? It just got warmer. Just mentioning baseball
I should with this being midday magazine and everything I should go ahead and get out of the way right away
There is no journalistic integrity with this interview. We love our rafters. We love baseball
We're just gonna have some fun with this interview and get to know the guys here a little bit
I say that jokingly, but I'm not kidding
I mean this community and we're talking about it in our pregame a little bit guys
This community the way that they root for their local teams the way they support their teams is like nothing that I've ever seen
I've lived all around this country and I have never seen anything the way that they love this team the way that they support their rafters
It's gonna be a lot of fun
The 2025 season we'll get into the hot stove event some of the new faces the schedule
But before we do all of that guys
I love to ask people their origin stories. I like to get to know people Jake. Let's start with you
Let us let us know a little bit about yourself. Well pretty easy going guy
I I've been working in baseball for my short sports career. I started off with a team in Minnesota
Small town Wilmer, Minnesota same league as the rafters just on the other side
Started as an intern very small role had to do a lot
Connor and I actually interned for the same team. That's kind of where we got to meet
But I was hired back as their head of marketing and promotions had a lot of fun doing that
Decided to try something new. I moved out to Charleston, South Carolina and worked for the single a affiliate of the Tampa Bay
Raise as their manager of promotions and director of fun kind of thing
Side note, I got to work for Bill Murray for a couple of months
Honestly, one of those things I bragged to friends. Yeah, Bill Murray signed my paychecks. He really didn't but
I got to put that in there. Yeah, and
Loved that experience came back to the Midwest because this is my home. I love this area
I love the people out here. I worked for the Minnesota
MLS team the major league soccer team go loons
Decided soccer is not really my sport. I felt like Ted Lasso out there didn't really know what I was doing
Didn't know what I was watching and baseball is kind of where I
grew up my favorite sport growing up. So I decided baseball's where I'm gonna try and continue the career
I saw the opportunity in Wisconsin rapids and
Once I came out here. I saw how special this place was like you were mentioning
I came on a random Tuesday to a game and
We were winning by a lot the crowd didn't go home
Everyone stayed they were loud. It was the ninth inning. They're making a lot of noise
I have never seen that in my 25 years alive never seen a dominant win where the crowd stays in it the whole time
And I felt like Wisconsin rapids was special
So I wanted to be here and I wanted to be a part of this Raptors organization and I'm excited to be here
You mentioned thanks for all them and appreciate it
You mentioned getting the chance to work in other sports that that working in those other sports
I imagine it was good experience that you can take to this
But also it seems like let you know. No, I want to be in baseball like it helped you see the path that you wanted to take
Exactly, I mean, I kind of wanted to
Check out all the options. I grew up playing baseball hockey and football
So those are my three kind of main areas. I played college football and after I had to hang it up because injuries
I decided sports was the career that was the path and I started in baseball
Really enjoyed it, but coming back from Charleston
I kind of wanted to see all the options and that's why I went into soccer
Absolutely loved what I did loved the staff that I worked with but it just felt like baseball was a sport
I knew I knew how to work in it and I just love working in baseball that
Experience you had on the other side of things when the with this in the same division
But a different side of things you mentioned with another team that information as well and that experience is probably going to be really helpful going into this job
Oh, absolutely. I mean, I got to attend the Northwoods league meetings this past October and
Seeing all the people I knew from across the league are old bosses are old in terms that we worked with that are with other teams
I kind of reminded me where I started my career why I loved this job why I love this league and it's bringing a lot of
The past into the future and the good news about the different areas I've been in my career
I'm trying to bring as much from these different teams to Wisconsin rapids, especially the fan experience side and
I think another noteworthy thing about this too is the position that you're in not only because of what it entails, but
Locals will know that position has been a springboard from many people and the Raptors community and in baseball community
And so it's a great spot to have and we have got a great person in there
Look up forward to hanging out with you and getting to know you more Jake and thanks so much for joining us, man
That's great. I'm excited to be here, man Conner marketing media manager with our Wisconsin rapids rafters
Can you tell us a little bit about you man? Yeah, so I
Went to the University of Northwestern in Minnesota. So we're both Minnesota guys a little bit in enemy territory here
But that's okay. I can relate to that
So I went to when I believe is a fantastic broadcasting school
I actually went there to be in radio initially and
You know eventually ended up falling in love more the production side of things
And so I went to like Jake said went to Wilmer. I learned a lot there in that internship
Made a lot of fantastic people and you talk about relationships and how you grow in the grind of baseball
You're a year and a half later me and Jake ended up being in a wedding together. He was my best man
And my wedding so like that just kind of shows if you
Dedicate yourself to a team and work you know in close quarters in long hours with people you develop those relationships so quickly
And that's one of the things I love about this industry
But I graduated college and I kind of just did everything for a while
Started out doing production assistant work with a new station
And that eventually jumped over to a video editing internship where I learned a lot about the
Production side that way and then I was kind of freelancer for a while
I worked for concerts. I worked for a broadcast team in Egan doing their high school sports
Did play by play for a few sports and I kind of did that for a while realized I wanted kind of a more
You know full-time opportunity and then Jake
Let me know that there was an opportunity here and it was a position that
Wasn't a full-time position here had hadn't been for a while and so I loved the the challenge of it
And I wanted to come here and and make our broadcast hopefully best in the league
So I came here and and that's where we are now
Thank you for that kind of appreciate that I second so much of what you've said throughout all that and one thing that really
Stands out to me and it kind of stands out really with both of you guys
But it's something that I've been acting since I was a kid and I teach acting
I've been one of the main things I tell my students is work behind the scenes work behind the scenes take a job
Work in props taking a job, you know doing some of these other things because it'll make you that much better on the stage
You really don't know how
How to do a job I think until you see all the jobs around it almost whatever we're talking about in life
If you're a clerk getting behind the scenes and and stocking shelves a little bit like all of these jobs
They they really do help you get better at what you're doing in front
So the idea of pulling from these different worlds and having an experience and some other things
I feel like can only make you stronger at what you're doing here creatively also
Well, it's just also just as far as your brain and the tech knowing it better
Absolutely. Yeah, it's gonna be really beneficial for me because we've got a lot of interns coming in that we're really excited for
A lot of guys and girls that are here ready to work hard for us
I think that'll be beneficial because pretty much every job that they're coming and doing that
I'm going to be kind of in charge of an overseeing I've done before and so you know
It's easy to overlook one side when you haven't done it before or don't really understand their perspective of it
And so you know, and that's kind of something that we want to preach to these interns as well as like hey
I want you to look at what this person's doing
Watch what they're doing understand what they're doing and ask questions
So that you can be on the same page with those people and and work kind of as a cohesive machine
Throughout the season and we're going to be making sure everyone's doing everything because I mean that's what we're going to be doing too
You know, this is not a kind of league where you stick to your one lane and just do that for an entire summer you
Are there to jump in when someone needs help and I think that's something that's so great about this league
Well said and somebody who used to sit in that chair over there in that position
Anti-Francis him and I used to talk about this a lot well
So much of us and I need and I do that I grew up in a sports family my dad was a mind league athlete and hockey and boxing and I know
That grind pretty well from seeing it from his perspective quite a bit
We get caught up including myself in the wins and losses so much
But the the whole one thing that stands out to me about a rafters just like our river kings
We can't lose this team cannot lose
The whole such a major point of all this is building people up and building these young athletes up giving them an opportunity
To have scouts or somebody else see them that may not have otherwise and they move on to the next level whatever that might be
While we're looking we just got you guys when I look into lose you anytime soon
It's a very similar thing with these interns as you guys know better than most being former interns
So so much of the Northwoods league and the rafters is building people up and giving and powering people and
Given them a hand up they stand up and so many of those things
It's such a cool thing to be a part of and to see along with of course the wins and all that and all the excitement of baseball and everything and
Manage is talking about this. I'm getting excited now. I want to grab my mitt
Let's go ahead and dive right into the season and start and to talk things really to kick things off is our hot stove event
Which is back? This is fantastic hot stove event going to be at the hotel me January 18th guys
What is standing up to you about this your your first real hot stove with us?
I mean, I'm very excited to just be able to talk with our fan base talk with all our partners and get them as excited for
2025 as we are
We have some great guests that are joining us. We have our new manager Thomas Ziglowski
You'll know him as Ziggy coach Ziggy will be at the helm this year
We have hitting coach from the 2016 Northwoods league champion team Devin D Young coming out
He's very excited to get back to Wisconsin rapids see some familiar faces and talk about the team
But overall we're excited to be able to build this hype because
2025 feels different in the front office. There's an excitement
It's palpable between the ownership between our front office our fans our partners
Everyone's excited and we're excited to kind of push this season the hype what we're planning on doing to you guys
That's kind of the main idea behind this event and I'm just excited to talk with some people about baseball
That's the biggest thing a kind of what are you looking forward to?
You know, I like what you were talking about earlier
I was blown away by this fan base. You know, I I've only been here for a couple months now
But just everyone that I walk that walks into that office is
Excited about the season for more reasons than just I want to watch a winning team and we we do feel good that it's gonna be a winning team this year
Diggy's put together a great squad, but I mean we've got people come in
I mean we have multiple people that came in and just gave the front office gifts for Christmas and just like
How much this team cares about everything involved in the organization? How excited they got
commenting on the intern you know introduction posts and player posts and
Working on the social media side. It's great to see the interaction
And so being able to meet everyone face to face and put on a cool show for them show everything we have in store for the season is gonna be really fun
It's it's it's not every day too that a team that's been so established a one-a-championship and a familiar story for our community for a long time
Can look and feel so new and and we have that going for us in this 20 25 season
I talk to listeners all the time
I talk to people in the community all the time about this and especially as we get closer to spring and the raptors come up more and more
And they're so excited about that and then you talk about some of these new faces and new family members that we're gonna have here with the raptors and everything and the
Excitement just gets palpable. It's just contagious
And it's nothing with anything in the past because I talk about this a lot on our so playmakers and everything one of the greatest coaches
I've ever seen Joe Quinnville for the Chicago Black Hawks one three Stanley cups with them
At some point that voice just it got old to them
They heard it the same thing over and over again. It doesn't matter how great you are at a job
Every once in a while you need new blood you need new life into that need to breathe something new into it and everything and I feel like
We're very fortunate that we have that going into the 25 season
We've got a lot of new fun things going on with our raptors
Which is pretty exciting for a team that's been so established in this community for so long
Along with some of that new we will have of course some familiar faces with some of the players and the diamond and all of that
We're looking forward to but I didn't want to touch I real quickly on the new field manager and Thomas being brought in and everything and
Hopefully get a chance to have him on the air with us and get to drill him like I did you guys and everything and get to know
I have I don't feel come because I come from a sports family
I'm not there yet to calling Ziggy. I got to know him. Yeah, I got to meet him a little bit everything
But everything I've done and read about him really awesome guy and and what we've been seeing on social media and
Encourage everybody to follow the raptors on social media. You'll see some of what I'm talking about here
This is a guy who's ready to go he wants to play today forget about there being snow on the diamond
He wants to get out there right now. Yeah, absolutely. I mean I can speak for you know
I've I haven't met him in person yet and yet like I already love him like just texting back and forth with him
He's been giving me so much information on the guys and what you'll see throughout the course of the season is that
He selected these guys not just because of what they can do on the field because they're gonna be fantastic on the field
but they care about
developing themselves and
He also wants to focus on getting players here that are willing to do all the work and as well as
You're gonna see a lot of fan interaction
A lot of exciting stuff Ziggy wants to put these players out in the community
You know have them get to know people
There's just gonna be a lot more
Of that than we've seen in previous years. He's so pumped about this team and it's really cool because I he's been tagging us on social media
And he has just been posting
Story after story highlights of all these players every single one with like
Uplifting and and hyped up comments about how they're gonna make this team better
He loves these guys already even guys he hasn't necessarily you know coached before
And so we'll see that out of the returning players like
Jake Bouchain is gonna be back
Tristan Cruz and Barry is gonna be back Matthew heard I think there's seven total that are gonna be coming back and so
He's so pumped about these players. You're gonna be pumped about the players and you're gonna love him at the helm this season
Go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna kind of follow up on that because I'm also big sports guy too
So when I heard
Our GM and our owners calling him Ziggy. I'm like, I can't do that
Well, I haven't met the guy. I got to sit into his interview for the field manager position
He immediately became Ziggy to me and I wanted to start the season that day because
He had such a way of talking to us about what he was gonna deliver on the field as well as off the field like Conner said
We have an amazing roster coming in
But he's not just picking guys based off stats based off what they can do
He wants good people on this team too and his big thing is
The community of Wisconsin rapids needs a team to rally around
Especially we got the River Kings during the winter, but we need a good team in the summer and we need to be out in that community
Giving back because you guys give so much to us
He's gonna be focusing on getting players out to talk with fans talk with the host family's talk with sponsors
We're gonna be doing a lot more in the community this summer and we're excited to kind of talk about that as we get rolling
But he is very excited to be at the helm and to just be in this environment
He called us and told us he wants to come to hot stove because he can't wait to be in Wisconsin rapids
It really says something not only about him as a person, but the kind of
Team that we can look forward to you know every year the Northwoods League like our like divisions like ours and everything
It changes and in these players come and go and some have college some don't some and all that
But one thing that's as state-consistent with our rafters is the type of player that is brought in and yeah
They got a good batting average or a good ERA and in those things, but it's their character their character of these guys player after player after player
We just have such good character people being brought into the community and
Thomas is one of those and in being that himself
I can only see him bringing in great players
So yes are gonna be talented and have a good fielding percentage or what have you but they're gonna be character people too
And that's something that you can get behind win or lose
Yeah, I really can't enjoy exactly. I mean that's kind of the big thing we look at as a front office too when we're talking to these players about
reposting on social media what we what they need for most what we need from them
We're kind of feeling that kind of vibe that these are good people coming to Wisconsin rapids to give a good environment and
Also on the intern staff side we're trying to get the same thing of good people coming to do good work for these people
And we're very excited about everyone we're bringing in this summer
We're speaking with Jake and Connor from your Wisconsin rapids rafters and guys
Let's touch on the schedule a little bit before we let you go home opener May 26th market on your calendars right now May 26th
Green Bay Rockers at 6.35
I mean a team that we played many many times over the years and always had good series against that's a great way to kick off the season
Oh, absolutely. I mean green Bay always gives us a little fun run
But we're excited to have the home opener on northwoods league opening day
We were very excited getting the schedule back seeing that as a part of it
But more importantly, we just want to see as many people there to kind of hone in the 2025 season and get us started on a good note
We got a 4th of July game
Just goes so hand in hand with baseball for the 4th of July baseball does
We're going to take on Lake Shore Shenooks at 305 on that game
I imagine there will be some fireworks involved in some things
Oh, hopefully there's a lot of fireworks on the field
But we're hoping to make a big event of that day and kind of work with the city to try and
Co-op all of the events going on that day so we can start it off with a good baseball game and end it off with a good firework show
And it was certainly you know going to have plenty of
Not only great games this season, but different things that are going to be associated with these games and special events
I'll be having Jake and Connor on throughout the season talk about those as we get closer to them and everything
But really looking forward to it one thing you can do right now though is check out this schedule and get those tickets guys
And get those tickets right now. Yeah, we are right in the middle of season ticket packages and group packages right now
You give us a call stop into the front office
We love chatting with our fans about the season about ticket packages about anything rafters baseball or Wisconsin rapids in general
Make sure to stop buying get your packages now. It'll be cheaper to get these ones then getting those single game tickets
But stop on down. We love talking with everyone. Yeah, and I would also say
That's another reason to attend hot stove speaking on those promotions. We're going to be giving some sneak peaks
Some exciting looks at things we're doing this season as well as introducing the players and interns a little more in a more personal way
So another reason to attend hot stuff
We will meet you there get your tickets and more at northwoodsleague.com and again the 2025 hot stove with your Wisconsin rapids rafters coming up
January 18th at hotel mead from six to nine
Guys, thank you so much great first run here. This was great. Now get used to it because you're gonna be coming in a lot
So we're excited to be back. Thanks for having us on. Thank you guys. Thank you again
Northwoodsleague.com is where you can find out more information to be sure to follow your Wisconsin rapids rafters all over social media
It's a great way to keep up today and all the things the team is doing and a fun season ahead everybody got warmer already
Looking forward to talking baseball with these guys and more throughout the whole season
Well be covering of course your Wisconsin rapids rafters throughout the whole season is every home game every pitch every win every
Raptor baseball game right here at WF HR
We'll have more midday magazine coming up for you throughout the week right here at 97 5 FM 1328 WF HR. We are locally grown radio