Hello and welcome to the latest episode of the
Dan Time podcast. I'm your host, Dan McCardle.
It's great to have you here. It's great to have
you back. Or if you're a first time listener,
thanks for getting here however you arrived.
In my quest to share with you the people and
the stories of the distinguished members of the
Daniverse and those in its orbit, I've highlighted
leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, creatives,
entertainers, you name it, and there will be
many more to come. But now, it is time to shine
the light on an organization and a community
with the Dan designation, if you will. Today,
I introduce to you Ms. Jeannie Cook. Jeannie
is presenting to us some of the history, the
significance, and the intrigue of the Danville
Dans Baseball Club. The Dans play in the Summer
Prospect League. Jeannie is the first of what
I hope will be many female guests on the DanTime
podcast. She has been the general manager and
co -owner of the Danville Dans in Danville, Illinois
since 1989. Jeannie is also the executive director
of the Danville Area Convention and Visitors
Bureau. Not only will you hear about the great
legacy of the Dans and Danville Stadium, which
was built in 1946, but you'll hear about the
culture, attractions, and charm the city of Danville
has to offer. Whether you're single, looking
for a fun town, which is just two and a half
hours south of Chicago, or if you've got young
kids, maybe looking to make a move, or maybe
you're nearing retirement age, whatever the case
may be, Danville, Illinois may just be the destination
for you. Along with her husband, JD, Jeannie
was inducted into the Danville Area Community
College Hall of Fame in 2015. The Cooks have
been longtime supporters of Danville Community
College Athletics and are very active in the
annual NJCAA National Basketball Tournament.
If you're a fan of baseball movies or John Goodman,
you might remember the movie The Babe, filmed
in 1992 at Danville Stadium. Please visit danvildanz
.org and to learn more about the city of Danville,
whether you just want to take a quick trip there,
a nice three -day weekend to Danville, Visit
cityofdanville .org. That's D -A -N -V -I -L
-L -E. I think you're going to thoroughly enjoy
this conversation with Jeannie Cook. I cannot
thank her enough for making time for Dan Time.
All right, without giving too much more away,
let's get to the conversation. Folks, it is Jeannie
Cook Time, presenting the Danville Dans and the
City of Danville. Jeannie, thank you so much
for making time today. for this conversation.
I'm happy to be here, Dan. Now the Danville Dans,
this is a collegiate summer baseball league.
They play in the Prospect League. And Janie,
am I correct in saying I know they're not one
of the flagship teams, but this is one of the
longest running franchises in the Prospect League.
Is that correct? Yes, by far it is the longest.
I would say longest living team because it's
alive and well. But we began in 1989. At that
time, we were the Central Illinois Collegiate
League. But through the years, we gained so many
other states that we had to change the name.
But for any old baseball historians, they would
certainly recognize the Central Illinois Collegiate
League. But it all came about, Dan, because of
Danville Stadium. I grew up in a baseball family,
so baseball was always near and dear to my heart.
And my business partner came to me one day and
said, hey, Jeannie, they're going to tear down
Danville Stadium. I think maybe we ought to think
about putting a team there, see if we can get
a lease on that and do something. Well, here
it is over 30 years later, and we're still there,
still doing things. But it's been a work of love.
Let me tell you just a little bit about the history
of the Danville Stadium. It was built in 1945
and how it got built is quite a historic story.
Baseball fans know about the Black Sox scandal.
There was cheating among players and that was
a really, really black eye on baseball. People
were leaving Major League Baseball in droves.
and there was great fear that baseball wasn't
gonna survive that. At that time, all the owners
got together and made rules, and they decided
they had to step away, which is where Major League
Baseball got their first commissioner. It was
a gentleman named Kinosaw Mountain Landis, an
attorney out of Ohio. He came in and said, well,
this is easy, I can fix this. If you play for
a specific major league team, they own you forever.
You can never play with anyone else. Along came
Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He said,
you can't do that. That's not fair to people.
And you just plain can't do it. Landis said,
it stands. So clever that he was, Mr. Rickey
started his own professional league, which is
what we know today as the minor leagues. And
he went around the country looking for places
to put a farm club and came upon a gentleman
from Danville. They came to an agreement. The
city of Danville citizens bought stock so that
the stadium could be built. So it was built in
45 to open in 46. The day they were supposed
to open, there was no outfield fence. That morning,
350 people from Danville came at 830, and by
1130, we had a fence. And so the next day, the
minor leagues that we know today began at Danville
Stadium. In 1947, Mr. Rickey was so happy with
the situation in Danville that when he sent the
schedule, there was something special on it.
And that was that the Brooklyn Dodger Major League
team was coming to play the Danville Dodgers
for an exhibition game. So they did come in 1947.
And on that team was Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee
Reese, Duke Snyder, and Carl Ferrello and all
those guys they called the boys of summer. So
that's what got us started. How can you throw
away something like that? What a remarkable piece
of history that Danville is able to lay claim
to and for a stadium built almost 80 years ago
to still be standing and I'm sure it's not just
accidentally still standing. A lot of maintenance
and upkeep goes on. But this must just be a very
integral piece of the city and the people and
the generations. I wanted to ask you, do you
see a lot of grandparents, parents and little
toddlers coming a bunch to the games or multi
-generation families that you see at the ballpark?
Absolutely. Absolutely. We see a lot of generations.
from little children, from babies on up to great
grandparents that come to the ballpark. On a
good weekend night or a Tuesday night, which
is our big weekend night, we'll have up to 5
,000 people in that little bitty town of Danville,
Illinois, and the small county of Vermillion
that come to the game. And they come from all
over. Our players come from all over the country.
They're in universities all over the United States
and even Hawaii. So it's become the thing to
do. You're nobody if you don't come to Danville
Stadium. And one of the things I was reading
about that I thought, hey, this really must be
something unique to the Danville Dans. And like
you said, keeps people coming, keeps the history
going. You do some special things there where
when the national anthem is being played, everything
basically comes to a stop as much as it can.
Even the vendors. And if you're in the middle
of getting a hot dog, you stop and And the autographs
of the players making themselves accessible to
give autographs, the kids being able to run the
bases and that sort of thing. I thought that
was really neat. And some people might think
that you see that everywhere. You don't. You
may see some version or a couple of those things.
You don't see all that stuff at every ballpark.
Well, you don't. And it starts with a live music,
someone singing a barbershop chorus, singing
an individual, singing someone from the area.
is in front of a mic in front of the crowd singing
the national anthem. It's hard to explain, but
if you're there, you understand how meaningful
that is. After the game, the players all stay
on the field. The gates are open. And anyone
who comes down, the children can all run the
bases. They can talk and touch and feel those
ballplayers. They can get autographs. So it's
not just about the game. It's about how people
feel when they're there. Many times I've had
someone say, well, I really like baseball, but
I come because I love the way I feel when I'm
here. That's a really powerful statement. And
it really, really touched me when you said that
too, because there's something very special about
baseball when it's also packaged well. And when
you create those memories, people usually go
back to places and events that are tied to a
special memory. Whether that vacation destinations,
people like to go to the mountains or they like
to go to the coast because it reminds them of
how they felt or some great experiences. They
probably come back to the stadium there again
and again because you all have been able to help
create those lasting memories for them. Well,
I have to say it wasn't really planned. It was
planned to save the stadium. So over the years,
we've been able to understand how family generation
after generation that have the same experiences
and love makes it very, very worthwhile. And
just to name Danville Danz, it's a real charming
name. And you're starting to see across the minor
leagues a wave of creative names outside the
box names. Pretty silly stuff in some cases.
I think like the Thrillville Thrillbillies is
one of the newest teams in the prospect league.
Yes. There's a lot of really quirky names, but
you look at the Danville Bands and it has something
really dignified to it. It's clever, it's charming,
but it's really a dignified name in minor league
baseball. And it really sounds timeless. Well,
we hope it does because Danville Stadium is timeless
and long after we're gone, we hope it's that
way forever. And I think with the love we see
generated for that ballpark. that goal has been
reached. And I just want to say real quickly
the current manager for the dance, Eric Coleman,
reached a major milestone with 300 wins. He did.
His teams have been real speedy teams. They've
led the league in stolen bases I think six out
of eight of the past eight seasons. Yes, if you're
going to play for Coach Coleman, you better be
ready to run because, you know, he's going to
put the pressure on the other guys. He's an outstanding
coach and outstanding person. And we're very
fortunate to have him. And we're also fortunate
for the last two years. And we're hoping this
year as well, we have a very famous coach as
an assistant. And that is Coach Ron Polk from
Mississippi State. Wow. That's a big name and
a big baseball program in its own right. I was
going to ask about the players they still have
some college eligibility is that correct and
they when they play for the Dans it is a summer
league and then they'll resume they'll go back
to their college or university in the fall. Yes
they do we are allowed to have a limited number
of incoming college players if they have proof
of graduate that they graduate from high school
and they have their acceptance and their admittance
into the university they're going to be going
to. So we may have a couple of young ones on
any given year that fit the physical ability
but also fit the rules of the prospect league.
Well I also before we get too far along and I
may return to some Danville Dan's questions but
Jeanne the city of Danville itself is rich in
history you have very unique murals, museums,
theaters, Abraham Lincoln historical markers,
and I just wanted to ask you a little bit about
the attractions in Danville. I'm a huge Abraham
Lincoln fan. I've got several books on him, and
I remember that he practiced law for a time in
Danville. He did, except for Springfield, Illinois.
He did more cases in Danville, Illinois than
he did anyplace. He did over 200 cases in court
in Danville. We are part of the Looking for Lincoln
National Heritage Area, which is under the auspice
of the National Park Service. Took a long time
for us to get there. Worked in cooperation with
Springfield and several other communities to
see that that happens. The museum you spoke of
is where Lincoln spent many nights at the home
of Dr. Fithian, who was a very good friend of
his when he was traveling the circuit. The bedroom
he slept in, the balcony he stepped out and spoke
to, the crowd below is all intact in good shape,
taken wonderful care of. So that's a great Lincoln
stop. You're right. We have signs all over town.
We also don't have a train there anymore, but
the tracks are still there. Dan was the last
place that Lincoln spoke in Illinois before he
went to Washington. The train stopped, he went
to the back of the train and said, if I have
blessings at my disposal, old million will be
in for a bountiful share. And of course, for
a million is our county. So we have a wonderful
war museum that is, they tell us, the state tells
us that it is the best war museum in the state,
military museum. It's absolutely fabulous. So
we have a lot of unique history, but I have to
mention, our parks, our surrounding parks in
Danville. We have over 15 ,000 acres of public
parkland, which is more per capita than any county
in Illinois. They may have more acreage, but
per capita we take that honor. We also have a
new rail trail that goes across our nationally
designated scenic river. 88 feet above the forest
and the treetops, which is absolutely wonderful.
It's a great, great new asset for our area. So
there's a lot to do. And there's, besides baseball,
there's a lot of sports there. We host the NJCAA
Division II Men's National Basketball Championships
every year. We host the American Legion State
Golf Tournament, two -day tournament here. So
you don't get bored in Danville, Illinois. And
if you want to volunteer, I can assure you that
we will take care of all of our volunteers because
most everything is volunteer run and that says
a lot for our community. Well, one thing that
I return to on this podcast is the idea that
it's never too late to make a change, to make
a move. And if people are considering leaving
their little nook that they've either been in
too long or it's time to do something different.
I like to open up my listeners' ears and minds
to exciting locales that are really moving in
the right direction. I think Danville's a great
example. Do you see a lot of young families in
Danville or let's say over the past 10 years?
How has the city grown as far as your young families
or young professionals? Oh, it has grown tremendously.
It's grown in young families. Some who grew up
here, others who did not that come from other
places. They come to work in some of our industries.
They come for a lot of reasons. Our downtown
has seen a wonderful growth and change and additions
cost me a lot of money, by the way. Wonderful
shops and places to eat. And it's a wonderful
time to be in Danville, Illinois. Now, if people
like music and music festivals. I was reading
a little bit about summer sounds and the symphony
concerts. Of course, there's the light opera.
Do you have various events going on throughout
the year? Oh my, yes. I would urge you to go
look at Danville Area Info, the website there.
We are every day. keeping up with the calendar
of events. We try to keep that current and all
the information and it's a pretty big job. We
could probably assign one person in our office
to do that. So there's a tremendous amount to
do and it's an artsy town. We have a wonderful
arts in the park event in our huge park, arts
and artists from all over the place. We have
a theater that was built in 1898. and it's been
renovated. It is absolutely stunning with perfect
sound and two giant balconies. It's absolutely
magnificently beautiful. We have music downtown
on a Friday or Saturday evening. It's a very
vibrant community. That's wonderful because I
think that it's... I don't know if the interest
has been sparked in the past generation or the
past 10 or 20 years in arts and culture. and
communities that take that seriously and have
a lot of neat and restored buildings and architecture.
It sure feels like that's where people are, they're
looking to move to communities that can boast
a lot of those attractions. Yeah, I think I would
call it real life. We have real life here. And
when you talk about the arts, it swings back
to our conversation about the national anthem
and how it helps the format. how you feel at
Danville Stadium. We have a men's barbershop
course. It actually started 90 years ago, maybe
a long, long time ago. And they not only sing
the national anthem for us, but every year they
go down and do a national anthem for the St.
Louis Cardinals. And it's hard for me to say
as a Cub fan, but... Oh, Cubs go. Oh boy, yes,
for sure. And so, and we, when you talk about
Cubs, we also have had a Dan Valdana or two on
the Cubs. We have over 30 major leaguers that
are or have played in the major leagues. Currently
we have Josh Smith, who's an infielder with Texas.
So we're very excited about him. Oh, Jeannie,
I was going to mention Chris Coughlin. I'm glad
you brought that up. He made a play that you
may never see again, at least not for many, many
years. As a big leaguer, I was a former Danville
Dan, that leaping, I guess you just call it a
leap into home plate. He jumped over Jan Molina
on just an incredible play. But I saw that posted
and he's a notable alumni for the Dan's. Oh,
he is. I remember that play and I was thinking
to myself, yeah, well, that's Chris. We had another
famous alumni. We have many, but another is John
Papelbon, who won the World Series for the Boston
Red Sox. But we also have school teachers and
coaches and dads, and it's wonderful that so
many kids keep up with us. I think part of the
reason is when they come here, they live with
the host family. So they get to know the ballpark.
They get to know the community. They get to know
the people that live here. So we make lifetime
friends with the Danville Danes. Yeah, and that's
right. These these are kids that are still in
school. So they're obviously they're not being
paid yet. And I imagine they're they're well
taken care of by their host families and and
well fed as much as they can. You know, the hospitality
that you can provide. I have to imagine that
they're they are in a good place. I always say
that on this podcast. You're in a good place.
And I feel like in Danville, that's probably
true. That's our biggest goal, I think, as one
of the team owners. We want our players to be
our best recruiters. We want them not only about
other kids coming, but about our community. So
when they leave, they're taking something with
them. And we really do our best to make sure
it's something positive. Well, Jeannie, I just
want to say, you know, that was a surprise. when
you mentioned you're a Cubs fan. I'm a huge Cubs
fan. So we will have to keep the connection open.
I may ask you back on for another episode during,
well, whenever it's a good time for you to just
talk some, some Cubs. But I got to say, I really
like, I'm not just saying this, I really like
the Dan Dildan's color scheme with the forest
green, the red and the white. Don't see that
combination all the time. No, you sure don't.
Our uniforms and our bats and everything we do
is from a company called Marucci. Marucci started,
it's in the garage of a friend and one of the
Danville Dan's alumni. His name's Kurt Ainsworth.
Kurt has an Olympic gold medal. He was a first
round draft choice, played until his arm gave
out. So we're very proud of what our alumni have
done with the rest of their lives. Marucci is
the number one bat company in the world. And
we're really proud of what our ballplayers do
when they go out in real life. And some of them
are involved in the game, true. Some of them
are not. But it's like watching your kids. What
happens to my kids when they grow up? And it's
very, very rewarding. Absolutely. For everyone
listening, if you go to danfielddans .org, you
can go to the merchandise shop. and there's a
really cool variety to choose from. If you can't
make it to a game next season or you're not sure
when you might get there, order a hat. You'll
be the only one around your community, your town
wearing this stuff. There's the logo. There's
a red and green t -shirts with the Danville Dan's
Stitch logo. There's the neon script shirt. Really
cool shirt there. Trucker hat, bucket hat. Check
that out. I'm going to be placing an order. Big
surprise there. But Janie, this has been just
spectacular. I really appreciate you joining
the show. I'm glad to give some exposure to the
Danville Dan's. There's got something really
special going on there. And I hope to take my
little ones to a game as soon as possible. Well,
we would absolutely love that. I might even entertain
the motion of you throwing out a first pitch.
How's your arm, Dan? Well, it wasn't that long
ago when I played some rec softball, so I could
probably still throw a strike. All right. Well,
I'll count on that. All right. Well, I won't
turn that down. So. But this has been wonderful.
Jeannie, I know talked about the city. We talked
about the team. I feel like we could talk another
30 minutes, but is there anything else that you'd
like to promote that we didn't cover today? No,
I think if you get me started again, I might
not stop, Dan. So I think a lot of things. Real
quick, here's some notable alumni, some names,
old and young that some of you may remember.
Devon White, Dick Schofield, Pedro Guerrero.
Definitely remember him as a kid. Carl Erskine,
Cecil Cooper, Darren Fletcher, and Darryl Porter.
Some big names in the past through Danville.
We have over 200 major league players or coaches
that have been rostered here. How about that?
We also have the Negro leagues that played through
here. So in our office at the stadium, there
are a couple of posters of when they barnstorm
through here. And beside one of the posters,
we have a black and white photo of when Satchel
Paige played here. You walk in, you just feel
its history and you just know it's there. I had
a chance to meet One of the Negro League players
from there's a few other Danville's around the
country. I think only one other with a baseball
team, but James Cowboy Atterbury. I ran it to
him at the Rickwood Classic in Birmingham a few
years ago. He's he's since passed away, but he
was from Danville, Virginia, or at least lived
there in his adult years. There are 27 Danville's,
I think, in the United States. I'd love to learn
the significance and, you know, we could dedicate
an entire episode. just unpacking everything
everything that there is to know about Danville
Illinois and then all the other Danvilles but
it would take a little more than one session
I'm sure okay well I'll also put some links in
the episode itself Jeannie this is wonderful
thank you so much for making the time I have
just thoroughly enjoyed our conversation well
I've enjoyed it as well whenever you can talk
to another baseball fan you've got to enjoy every
minute that's right I wish we were ending with
some talk about the Cubs maybe still being in
the playoffs but of course we know that wasn't
their fate this year. Well they gave us a pretty
exciting last few weeks though. Yeah they did.
It ended in true Cub fashion but that's okay.
I remember being, I was 10 years old in 1989
and that was the first year that I remember watching
them in the playoffs and then making the exit
that they lost the Giants that year. And my good
friend's mother, when the ball game was off,
we were turning the TV off. She said, well, boys,
just just wait till next year. I thought she
was being nice. I didn't know that was actually
the thing. Yeah. So I did a lot of waiting till
next year for another 10, 15 years. Yeah, I was
hugely excited, but also a little bit stunned.
it's almost like I didn't expect them to actually
do that and then they did so you know that's
being a cut man that's right that's right okay
folks well um that's it for this episode and
remember even though baseball season is winding
down it's never over in danville and if you're
I mean you know the schedule ends and then that
sort of thing but the spirit of the danville
dance is something truly special And if you've
got a chance to either take yourself out there
if you're single or take your family, go visit
that community and spend a long weekend, spend
a week there if you can and take in all that
they have to offer. And we will see you next
week. You guys have a great week and go and make
a difference in somebody else's life. All right.
Thank you, Jeannie. So great to talk to you today.
Back at you. Thanks, Dan. Hey, if you loved that
episode, tell a friend about it. I think every
show probably asks you to leave a review, leave
a rating, and I appreciate it if you do. But
if nothing else, just talk about Dantime. It
really helps the visibility of the program. You
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and you can also reach me at dantimepod at gmail
.com. Thanks so much for listening. I'll see
you next week.