Welcome everybody to midday magazine for this Monday, February 10th, 2025 have your host James here
And I am joined right now by our new best friends. We have the Wisconsin rabbits rafters front office and with us first up
Jake Adams assistant GM. Jake good to see you again
Good to see you James and we have with us Gwen Philippi
Community a community relations sales manager Gwen good to meet you. Hello nice to be here. Thanks for being here
You guys appreciate this. Did you feel that it got warmer? Just just even thinking about baseball talking about baseball
Got a little warmer around here. That feels good doesn't it?
Mm-hmm me that off my sweatshirt
What we like to do here is get to know our our new members when we have an opportunity to so if you don't mind
We're gonna do a little bit of an origin story to kick things off now Jake
We got to get to know you a little bit already last time you joined us and thank you for that
Just a recap though for the audience and may not got to hear that interview. Tell us a little about yourself
Yeah
Honestly, we've talked last time about who I am born and raised in Minnesota
Not a lot of people want to hear that especially with the rivalries there, but
Main goal has always been to work in baseball and now I'm here in Wisconsin rapids
I'm really excited to put on a great show for the fans out there and I felt like this was a fan base that
Is unmatched in the Northwoods league coming out here last July and people were going crazy up until the ninth inning in a blowout game
I've never seen a random Tuesday where people stick around the whole game and keep getting loud keep going crazy
So I'm excited to be in Wisconsin rap. It's excited to put on a good show for this fan base. Jake
Do you have any previous experience with the Northwoods league or with being a GM or being in the front office?
Yeah, so this will be my third season in the Northwoods league
I started as an intern for a small team in Wilmer, Minnesota
Came back to them as their marketing and promotions manager
I took a break from the Northwoods league and went to minor league baseball for a season
Worked for the Charleston River dogs the Tampa Bay raised single-lay affiliate
Always have to flex that Bill Murray was my boss, but that has to be in I think that's an NDA
I have to disclose that. Yeah, that will never get old
But I mean I disclose that to everyone. I meet that I know someone that knows Bill Murray
And then I spent one season working with a major league soccer team in Minnesota and
Realized soccer's not my sports because I was sitting at the scores table wondering what is going on here
So now I'm back in baseball back in the Northwoods league and I'm excited
I love what this league stands for and I love the towns like Wisconsin rapids are involved in it
Appreciate that Jake. Thank you for that. I appreciate it. Gwen can tell us a little bit about yourself
Yeah, so my sports knowledge and experience is definitely lacking compared to Jake
But I come from Minnesota as well. So I started to say that but my background is actually in weddings and hospitality and events and things like that
But I've always loved the atmosphere of sporting events and going to baseball games has always been you know the most fun time
So when posed with the opportunity of Gwen would you even want to get into sports? I was like heck yeah
Because the idea of making it more than just a baseball game of making it an experience and event that you want to go to is
Something super exciting to make it fun and different every single time
That's really cool. Yeah, that's in really unique your background
I know a little bit about this my brother works for the Ashkosh herd the Milwaukee Bucks affiliate
And he's in marketing and sales and a lot of that and it's a dream job for him
But he didn't come from that world and to get it's just such a hard job to get your foot in the door and into sports when you want to do that
Looking into the history of a lot of GM's and where they come from and now the most of them come from sports
A marketing or some kind of thing
There's a crossover there, but you don't always see it. It's interesting to go from the wedding game to this
I imagine that there there's some parallels and then there's some things that are very different
Yeah, for sure
There's a lot of things that are very similar and then sometimes you ask me about like how to order jerseys and things and I'm like
No clue
Yeah, but that part of it I think is such a and I really do admire this with a certainly the Raptors front ownership
But and just in general in sports when I see this when the the braveness to bring in people from outside of sports
We need more of that you know
We're kind of joking in our pregame and everything of reinventing the wheel and coming up a new promotions and stuff
That can be difficult especially when we're talking about a game that's older than all of us combined
And that to be able to bring in different angles from things and people that see differently or come from a different marketing background
That's how this industry survives. That's how these things get really you know
We we have a lot of fun as a fan base
But also it's the job is fun for you guys I would imagine too. It just keeps it fresh and interesting
As a side note one of these days jake you and I have to get together
And we're just going to spend in a half an hour talking about minor league baseball team names
There's nothing better than minor league baseball team names nothing better
You mentioned a couple of those there. I'm just like all those are so good those such good the best nicknames in sports are
Maybe minor league baseball logos and nicknames just minor league baseball's
Cream of the crop. Yeah trash panda's honorable mention
That's great. Well, yes
Um when it comes to baseball in general
As this of both of you you are in an industry with uh that you could take your talents to so many different things
And and as you mentioned there Gwen with going into wave a wedding and making that
Why baseball why why would why choose to go into this for a living go into this to do for every day day and a day out
Jake how about for you? I think my love for baseball started when I was really young going to
twins games at the metradome watching joe mower and Justin more know
Uh, I just fell in love with the sport and played it all the way through high school realized
I wasn't good at the playing side of it
So I wanted to find a career that would keep me close to that game that I love and I think the rewarding aspect of it is
You get to wake up every morning and go to a baseball field and say I'm in my office today. Yeah, that's insane like I
I feel like this game has done so much for me and how I was raised and what my hobbies were
What I was so interested in that I want to give back to this game
Every way I can so that's why I say baseball is the way to go
Oh
Gwen how about for you? I mean, I think baseball is one of my favorites words just because I feel it feels so much more interactive
Then you know football you're so far away. You're not a part of the game
But in baseball you can make a difference with how you're cheering and how you're getting into the game and it really is
All of us together
So it just feels so much more interactive than everything else that it pulls you in so much more
If you're not even a fan of sports that baseball is
America's past time for a reason
It's a perfect example of what I was referring to before about coming to this with a different angle of things
For you know, Jake and I we love baseball a whole lives
It will and with that we you know got a good passion for it
But I think we're we're almost
Normalized certain parts of it and everything especially sports in general just loving sports in general and taking them in
From a young age and that I hadn't thought about that with baseball and ages
That's such a good point about the game and how
I think part of the reason why you see such a popularity with minor leg baseball teams or with the Northwoods league or some of this in this
Loyalty that these communities have to these teams. They treat them like they're their high school all the monitors and everything
It's in part because of that connection we feel to the team to the players because we're so literally physically
Closer to them. I think that that doesn't play a big part of it. It's an interesting. No, that's interesting
Um, I do want to get into the host family event coming up and group tickets and so much of that
But I do I do want to apologize to you guys
I haven't had you in before and I've been distracted this whole time
I recently signed up for texts with Roscoe
And I don't want to brag or anything like that to the audience
But I have a straight connection to Roscoe where I am getting up the oh, it's it's the rafters
It isn't just straight up to Roscoe is it okay?
I do want to remind the audience about this. I think this is a really cool feature
And I don't know if if you single rafter fan out there has already signed up or anything
But in case we didn't I didn't want to remind everybody you were invited to opt in for free text service with your rafters
Where did this idea come from and what kind of information will people get through the text?
Honestly, it kind of came from a little brainstorm where we said how can we
Be one-to-one with our fans and give them the most up-to-date news up-to-date weather updates
We can give away tickets. We can give away prizes
We can just be connected with our fan base because we've seen other teams successfully use it other teams in the league
And we thought we want to make sure that our fan is getting the best experience out of it
A rainy day at the ballpark you're wondering do I come down? Is it going to be cancelled? What's going on?
We want to make sure we can be as up-to-date with it
But we can also do some fun stuff with it if you're sitting at the very last row the bleachers and there's an open
Table in the home playclub
You can text in and maybe you will upgrade you if there might be discounts in the merch shop
There might be a two-for-one special at the concession stand
There's so many possibilities with it and you're going to want to opt in because we're going to have some fun with it
You know
Baseball in general is one of those sports it because it's almost an everyday sport
We you know are going to just roll to the ballpark in that
But we also live in Wisconsin
And and and and the weather will change every five seconds
It's already changed in the time I've said this sentence the weather has changed up in doubt or what have you
Being able to social media is fantastic and and your guys's website is fantastic
Encourage people to bookmark if you haven't already north oats league calm
And keep up to date in the rafters that way like and subscribe to all other pages on all their social media accounts
You guys do a great job of keeping us up to date on those things
But this is right to you. This is direct right there and we got so many families in the community that you know
Build up and we're going to go to the game
We're going to go check out this game Wednesday or something like that and families get busy
Families have a lot going on and they don't always have a chance to check their social media or to check the website or something
There's there's no missing this. There's no going right directly to them
It's such a great idea and such a nice service and it's free everybody. It's free. It's completely free check it out
You can sign up you can find more out by going to northwoods league calm
But I can give you the number right now. You can text the word Roscoe to 833-461-0237
Text the word Roscoe and you just like me get signed up for it and keep up to date and all the cool things that are going on with your Wisconsin Rapids rafters
We're sitting back talking with Jake and Gwen front office of your rafters and let's talk a little bit about host families
Uh, you guys have a host family event coming up. Let's remind everybody about that
Yeah, so this Saturday at the Wood County YMCA. We're gonna have a little host family seminar
Talk with our host family coordinators Ryan and Andy about what it means to be a host family
How important it is to not only our players
But our interns who are coming from across the country to spend a summer in Wisconsin Rapids
And they they need that Wisconsin Rapids hospitality
We need to fill some beds get some kids into houses and make sure that you can make an impact on not only the team
But the players that you're working with
Yeah, oh, I was just gonna say and we've talked to a bunch of players and interns and they've talked about
You know, even as they move on to minor league and major league
They still remember their host families and talk to them and you know
How much of Wisconsin Rapids made a difference on them because of that hospitality
So it's super cool to see and to be a part of that and say oh, I had Bryson Stott live with me for a summer like how cool is that?
We've every year around this time we have a handful of listeners that will call it and share their stories of you know
Five 10 years ago. I had a kid in I'm still following his career
They still reach out and talk to each other and everything and are practically pen pals
They they're the way they keep up with all this. It's you're so right about this Gwen. It's such a cool
added part layer to this a loving this team is is taking it to another level of that
You know, there's there's certain key people in when it comes to an organization that help it run and help it flow
You guys are vital
the players you know coach all these things very vital doesn't happen without it
That you can make an argument that none of this happens without host families
You know that they're there's such they're one of the most integral parts of all of this to work for us to have a real fun summer
Bring these kids to town
Treat them like they're one of our own and all that
We need the host families to be able to do that and I am blown away by the way this community has stepped up every year that the rafters have been in town here
With being hosting and opening their doors to these kids and letting them have it stay and giving them a real home
Not just a room and a bed, but like a home like
I don't think that a lot of I grew up in an athletic family my dad
Traveled a lot for sports with hockey and boxing and everything and I know a little bit about this
But even I don't have a real glimpse of what it's like to hey
I'm letting my kid my son go to a completely different state that he's never been in before
And he's gonna be staying with the families never met before anything like that and and good luck
And know that you're in and know be able to do that and trust the process be able to trust that that's happening
The rafters have a long history of being able to do this and that that comes with a lot of comfort
There's so much of what it means to be a host family that I don't know we can really put in the words too though
Yeah, and that's what this event is all for so you're gonna hear from our coordinators from previous host families
And we've even collected quotes like I said from previous players and things like that
To really know what it means and what the benefit is for you not just the people that you're hosting
And just as an added benefit everyone that comes gets too free rafters tickets. So I'll see there you go. There you go right there
Um, we're when we're trying to when we're talking about encouraging people to be a host family
Are there things certain details you should know before you even get to going on this thought process
Like certain things that you have to have or anything like that
Honestly, all we ask is it's not just you lended out your couch to a kid for the summer
We do need a private bedroom for them both interns and players
But we do a good job of making sure to connect the best player to the best host family
We do surveys making sure that it's no pet allergies no food allergies nothing along those lines
But in general, we're just looking for loving families who are willing to open up their doors for a second kid for the summer
Like you said earlier, you can't imagine and sometimes letting in a random kid for the summer my brother used to play
junior hockey so his whole life after high school was
host families and bill of families, but he says he keeps in contact with them all the time and
I believe that we do a good job of making sure that that relationship isn't just a one summer and done
It's a lifelong bond
One of the things that I think is noteworthy and we talk about this with both of our teams our other river kings and rafters
We want to bring in talented kids. We want to win. We love winning around here
It feels great
Well, we got this banner over here from 16 that we just love and we look at it almost every day and stuff
Not all that is secondary to the character of these athletes the people that we bring to our community
Both organizations have an incredibly stellar record of bringing just good kids just good people
And and I think that's noteworthy not only you know something that we can take pride in with our local team and and feel good about
But to the host families and understanding that that these are gentleman you're bringing into your home
These are these are people that are coming in with a certain
Ethic to them and I think that's noteworthy just in today's day and age let alone opening your doors to it and stuff and
And keeping in mind it what Jake was saying there that that's really the parameter there
And if you could if you have that to offer we would love to have you and you are going to be building
Something that you can't even put into words to to go ends point about the connections and the relationship that you build here
Not just for a summer, but many summers going forward
What are the details of the event again and remind everybody about it?
So it's this Saturday over at the YMCA. It's at two o'clock
We'll have signage on the inside directing you to the right place
But we're gonna have all of our host families host family coordinators chatting about what it means to be a host family
And if you attend even if you don't sign up to be a host family
We have two rafters tickets waiting for him. It's pretty cool
Also want to remind everybody the group tickets are going on sale
It's mind everybody about that. So we do have them available right now for craft river rat trap party in the park
Anything that suits your fancy for getting your family friends employees out to the ballpark this summer for a great time
Everyone that's done it has said that they've just had a great time and a lot of them include food and beverage
So you know where else can you get three hours of entertainment with food and beverage in town?
so
If you are interested in that
Feel free to stop into the office or contact me at pr at rafters baseball.com and I can answer any questions
You have to make sure you get a good time this summer
We'll make sure to get that information out again before we let you guys go
But that's great and again. It's just getting warmer and warmer the more we talk about this
I am I pulled up the schedule. I'm looking at May 26th Monday
Green Bay Rockers. This is opening day. I cannot wait
I just want to hybrid eat until that to be honest
Really do. I really just I'm so excited about it
I would not be a journalist if I did not press you guys and try to get a promo ideas out of you or or Jersey things or something like that
Give me something give me a little bit of something so I can go back to Seth and everybody and say I did something
Journalistically
Well P is everyone to get a little bit of we can't give away the whole farm quite yet our promo schedule
We're still developing, but I feel like this is the timely
Aspect of it that we can announce one big thing we're doing this summer
Post super bowl. We made a decision as a front office and as a team
We are officially banning Travis Kelsey from historic Witterfield for the 2025 season
We felt that his performance was not up to our par for how he is as Taylor Swift's boyfriend
Feel like Taylor deserved a lot better
So you heard it here first. We are banning Travis Kelsey
We will commemorate the ban with our theme night anyone but Kelsey night
That it's going to be on Saturday June 7th, I believe you this June 7th or June 9th
We're going to be
Asking fans to wear their favorite jerseys as long as it's not a
Jarvis Kelsey 87 jersey
If you do have a Travis Kelsey jersey and you think man that was an embarrassing performance
We don't want to wear that again
Bring it to the ballpark. We will trade you a brand new rafters jersey for your Travis Kelsey jersey and
We're going to commemorate the night with Taylor Swift music because she didn't do anything wrong
But that's kind of the big one we wanted to talk about today because
Why not it's timely with the Super Bowl and I was just a pathetic performance from Travis Kelsey and the chiefs in general
Great idea you guys. That's a great idea. God. That's good
We we know we are going to have a fun summer
We know it is good to be a banger of a summer. It is going to be a good one
And that's just even just that right there already lets us know how much it's going to be and really
How how much fun this is going to be with some of the new faces whether it's on the diamond or it is in upstairs in the front office and everything
We have a long
Just appreciated the relationship that we have with the Wisconsin-Rabbit's rafters
We have been in the home of the rafters since it's inception and we always will be
We appreciate every pitch every hit every win being right here at WFHR
We're looking forward to hanging out with you guys more having the players join us on playmakers and things like that
And it's going to be a really fun summer
Thanks to that for joining us both of you appreciate the time if people have follow up questions
Want to get to talk with either one of you at all about anything we talked about today
When how can they reach you? Yeah, I am at PR as in public relations at rafters baseball calm
And Jay Cabo for you
AGM at rafters baseball calm
But honestly if you guys just want to stop into the front office always there love chatting with our fans
Talking baseball and getting ready for some rafters baseball
Get your tickets everybody at northwoodsleague.com be sure to
Be ready for opening day may 26 it's coming up and of course every hit every pitch every win or after baseball right here at WFHR
Looking forward to a great season ahead
Be sure to follow them on social media as well and sign up for that text chain
So you can get up to date on all those things. Thanks again you too. We'll talking in real soon
Yeah, thanks for having us. Well a more midday magazine coming up for you right here at 97 5 FM 13 20 AM WFHR. We are locally grown radio
