August 12, 2021 at 10:31 a.m.
Rebels' Bixby: Playing in Legion All-Star Game 'felt like a dream'
Rebels' Bixby: Playing in Legion All-Star Game 'felt like a dream'
Bixby pitched two scoreless innings, while striking out four, this past Sunday in the 49th annual Wisconsin American Legion All-Star Game at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Bixby was one of 48 players selected to take part in the event - the only state Legion all-star game to be held at a Major League facility. He came on in the seventh and allowed only one hit in relief for Team Stripes, which ended up playing to a 3-3 tie with Team Stars.
"I don't even know how to explain it," Bixby told the River News. "It felt like I was dreaming, but one of those dreams where you're in compete control and everything just goes your way."
That was the highlight of a long weekend for Bixby and the rest of the Legion All-Stars, that began with a banquet on Saturday night, and then carried over to the stadium on Sunday. The All-Stars were introduced prior to the Milwaukee Brewers' game against the San Francisco Giants and then took the field for their own contest roughly 90 minutes following the Brewers' 5-4 defeat.
"It was definitely the best day of baseball in my life, the best experience in my life ever," Bixby said.
Bixby was the second Rhinelander player in the last three years to play in the game, joining Martin Hoger in 2019. Last year's game, and the entire American Legion season, were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bixby was nominated for the contest by Rhinelander Post 7 baseball manager Dan Huhnstock.
Though they wouldn't play until roughly eight hours later, the All-Stars were at the field by 10 o'clock Sunday morning, and in uniform prior to the Brewers' game. All 48 players, plus the game's coaches, lined up on the concourse beneath the press box as they were introduced to the roughly 38,000 fans in attendance. The majority of the players just did a quick wave to the camera when their names were called. Bixby wanted to do a little something extra.
"I was sitting there with the other players and I'm thinking, 'What do I want to do? I don't really want to be the guy who just waves like everyone else,'" he said. "So I did a little clap and fist pump at the camera. That was pretty cool."
Bixby enjoyed the game from the second level, joined by much of his immediate and extended family including his mother, Wendi, who was also celebrating her birthday.
After the game, once the field cleared from the Brewers' Sunday tradition of allowing kids to run the bases, the Legion All-Stars got to take the field. Bixby said he had so much adrenaline during pregame warmups that he accidentally threw one ball over the outfield fence.
"The anticipation was through the roof. I finally walked onto the field and looked into the stands and it felt like I was in a dream. It was crazy," he said.
Bixby spent the much of the first six innings on the bench before heading down to the bullpen to get ready for his pitching appearance. He spent of the time from that moment until actually taking the mound soaking in his surroundings.
"I stood in place and just looked up in the stands and did a complete 360 and just slowly looked at everything. I took in all the sights and the experience," he said. "It is so massive. At first I was kind of upset that like 95% of the fans had left but, at the same time, it was cool to see all the green bleachers and the foundation of everything that went into building that stadium. It was pretty cool."
After posting a 7-1 record for the Rhinelander High School baseball team this spring, Bixby was only able to pitch nine innings this summer for the Rebels due to an elbow injury. He went 25 days between appearances before throwing four innings in the Class AA regional tournament at the end of July and had another week and a half to get his arm ready for Sunday's outing.
"It was the perfect way to end it," he said. "I think I was extremely excited for that for sure, being that I hadn't pitched for an entire month, due to my injury. It was definitely the best way possible I could have wrapped up my high school career."
Bixby, who will play baseball at UW-Platteville next spring, said the weekend's experience helped prepare him for life on the college diamond.
"I learned pretty quickly that about half of the guys there, if not more, have already had one year of experience in college," he said. "They're all 19 and came back from their freshman year of college. I was one of they younger guys there. It was definitely never-wracking having that thought in my head, but seeing that I performed pretty well against them, it definitely boosted my confidence and has made me more motivated to want to go out, work hard and want to compete at a higher level. I'm very excited to go compete for UW-Platteville."
Bixby thanked Huhnstock for the nomination, his family for all of its dedication to his baseball endeavors and all the coaches he has had coming up through the Rhinelander baseball program.
"It was nice to represent everybody who's been the backbone of my baseball career. I'm really thankful for everyone who's been helpful along the way," he said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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