A baseball story runs through Cedar Rapids

Parts of this story are true. I won't lead you astray. Some parts run through Cedar Rapids.

In the early 1970s, I stood on the third base side at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were taking batting practice. Journalists were interviewing ballplayers. I, a small child, stood with others clamoring for autographs.

Ron Santo hit a foul ball that rolled near WGN radio broadcaster Vince Lloyd, who was interviewing some player. He scooped the ball, handing it to me.

That is the story, partly true.

(This anecdote is more colorful, however, with Santo and Lloyd inserted. It's plausible the truth involves the people I've named.)

That was the only foul ball I've ever scored at a game.

Until, anyway, May 3, 2022.

After a Kernels game, I noticed something out of place underneath the car. Inspection revealed a baseball; one hit foul out of the stadium by Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

Only part of that story is true.

On April 8, in the Kernels' first home game against the Beloit Sky Carp, Encarnacion-Strand (E-S) drove in nine RBIs. By series' end, he had 15. Most very good players don't get that many in a month.

I thought, this is the kind of player whose presence on PG Cares Field, the High-A Kernels will celebrate decades from now. He has to be seen. We piled into a car and took in a game. And this is how I got my second foul ball, hit by a Kernel or Quad Cities River Bandit.

I told you parts of this story were true.

A month later, the Minnesota Twins — the Kernels' parent club — promoted E-S to AA Wichita. Meanwhile in Minneapolis, the Twins were first in their division; salivating over a playoff appearance and coveting more starting pitching. A few weeks after his Kansas promotion, E-S was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for starting pitcher Tyler Mahle.

Mahle pitched in four games before bowing out with a season-ending injury. The Twins stumbled, finished third, and missed the playoffs. This season, Mahle pitched in five games before suffering injury, requiring Tommy John surgery. A free agent at season's end, he likely will pitch no more for Minnesota.

All that alone would give the Twins massive heartburn and buyer's remorse.

For 2023, E-S had already climbed to AAA Louisville. In late July, a few days ago, he got the call-up to Cincinnati — to play for the contending Reds — and promptly hit a 426-foot bomb of a homer on his second day.

It's unlikely the Twins-Reds trade will burn in Ernie Broglio-Lou Brock infamy. Perhaps, Mahle will return in 2025 and win the Cy Young. It's too early to tell if E-S will ever become an All-Star, MVP, or World Series champ. Who knows if the Kernels will one day frame and hang his poster in their merchandise store?

E-S's story started in California before moving to Oklahoma. There were stops in Fort Myers and Chattanooga. Maybe one day his story will arrive at Cooperstown.

All we can say now is the story seems kind of magical and it lived for a couple months in Cedar Rapids.

I told you I would not lead you astray.

Your story runs through Eastern Iowa as well. I'm not sure it includes the equivalents of nine-RBI games, massive home runs, and a meteoric ascent on an organizational chart. I'm confident, though, it is worthy — to someone — of a poster framed and hung on a wall.

Lean into that. Use it as ballast and inspiration. I told you, remember, this story is true.

Patrick Muller lives in Hills.