The Corn Crib in Normal was quiet for much of 2020 because of the pandemic.
This summer, the baseball and entertainment venue will likely be busier than ever.
Normal CornBelters general manager Matt Durkin said the wood-bat summer league team is back after the Prospect League took a one-year hiatus, and the makeshift league the CornBelters helped create last year for local talent, the Kernels Collegiate League (KCL) will also return with four other teams that will call the Corn Crib home.
Durkin said the Corn Crib will feature baseball nearly every night this summer. The CornBelters will return to a full 60-game schedule in the Prospect League.
The KCL will feature four teams that will all play at the Corn Crib when the CornBelters are off or traveling. They include the Bobcats, a team with a long tradition in Bloomington;along with the BlueCaps, Howlers and Ground Sloths. Durkin said featuring all five teams in one venue will make for a hectic summer.
“We are bringing baseball pretty much every day to the Bloomington-Normal community. That’s one thing we are really excited to be able to do,” Durkin said.
The Prospect League where the CornBelters play, grew to 16 teams with the addition of two former Class A minor league teams in Burlington and Clinton, Iowa, along with clubs in Johnstown, Pa. and Alton. A team in O’Fallon, Mo. relocated from Hannibal.
The league has realigned to limit play within the Eastern and Western conferences to limit travel until the playoffs begin in August. The CornBelters’ longest trip will be to Cape Girardeau, Mo. That’s about a four-hour drive.
Durkin said amateur talent and less travel make for a better business model, especially when you can fill the stadium with the occasional concert.
“We understand there can be pretty small margins for error in certain parts of our ballpark, but we are just excited to be able to have the Corn Crib be an amusement park for fans,” Durkin said.
The CornBelters have announced three concerts this summer. Blues Traveler will perform on July 10, Blanco Brown will take the stage on July 17 as part of Negro League Tribute Night and Jason Isbell is scheduled for Aug. 21.
The pandemic curtailed baseball and most public events last summer, but Durkin is optimistic fans will be eager to come back to the ballpark, even with COVID protocols still in place.
“We are able to have a pretty safe, enjoyable experience for the fans that did come out during the COVID-19 pandemic last summer,” Durkin said. “We’re not too concerned about it. We understand there are still some challenges and people’s safety is at risk. We are trying to follow as many of the local and national safety protocols that are in place.
“We believe we are going to be able to put on a great show for all of our fans this summer and keep them as safe as possible.”
The CornBelters open at the season on May 27 at the Corn Crib against the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.
New leadership
Durkin recently was named the CornBelters’ general manager. He started with the club as an intern in 2018 while he attended Illinois State University. Durkin previously served as assistant general manager, where he oversaw ticketing, marketing and supervised the team’s interns.
The team also named a new field manager for the 2021 season. Calvin Peacock managed the Hoots of the KCL last season and is currently the pitching coach at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg.
