GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – It’s a different kind of season at the home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
“The guys are here pretty much 6 to 7 times a week, so it’s pretty much every day that we’re having players come to the ballpark,” said Timber Rattlers president Rob Zerjav.
20 to 24 players on the Milwaukee Brewers taxi squad are practicing and staying ready at Fox Cities Stadium as the Major League season continues.
“They realize to get through this season, it’s going to take everybody’s part,” said Zerjav. “The guys that are here, the guys that are in Milwaukee, the guys that are here are going to be going back and forth so often and guys get called up so you have to be safe here as well.”
After practice, Zerjav tells FOX 11 it’s back to the hotel.
“There’s no hard and fast ‘you have to right to your hotel room and sit there’. They don’t want them eating in restaurants. They can pick up food or take out, but it’s pretty strict on what the expectations are and what their job is for the rest of this year and it’s to stay healthy and safe as they possibly can.”
The Timber Rattlers say players and coaches are tested for COVID-19 multiple times a week. So far, nobody has tested positive since coming to Grand Chute.
“The guys have been really good about wearing their masks at the ballpark. When they come in to eat, they’re sitting individually at a table. They’re not sitting with the rest of the guys. Their lockers are more than six feet apart. They only go into the locker rooms to basically put their uniforms on and then go right to the field.”
The team says Major League Baseball is in charge of the COVID-19 testing of players on the taxi squad. They don’t use any local testing supplies.
The tests at Fox Cities Stadium are also not rapid. The samples are sent to a lab in Utah where they are processed.
The Timber Rattlers say they’re still hopeful some fans will be allowed to catch a practice sometime in the middle of August.
“We’re starting up the intrasquads already internally so we’re excited to hopefully let some fans in and see what goes on,” said Zerjav.
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