Jacobs graduate Doug Feldmann finds baseball home as official scorer for Cincinnati Reds. ‘Kind of got hooked.'
Costner, of course, starred in baseball movies 'Bull Durham' and 'Field of Dreams' before playing the role of fictional Detroit Tigers pitcher Billy Chapel in 'For Love of the Game,' a 1999 film.
Feldmann graduated from Jacobs in 1988, the year that 'Bull Durham' was released. He's parlayed his passion for the sport to build a resume filled with baseball connections while pursuing his career in education that started at Northern Illinois and includes a doctorate from Indiana.
'I kind of got hooked,' said Feldmann, who is in his first season as an official scorer for the Cincinnati Reds.
It's a job he shares with legendary Ron Roth, who's been at it for 45 years and has coached amateur baseball for 60 years. Both are employed by Major League Baseball.
Feldmann, who has taught in the College of Education at Northern Kentucky for the past 20 years, has played and coached baseball, written about it and scouted for several professional teams.
His extensive writing on baseball history and the sport's sociological impact on urban and small-town America include articles for Society of American Baseball Research and several books.
He previously worked 15 seasons at Reds games for MLB as a data caster.
'Staring at a laptop, he sits next to the P.A. announcer and official scorer putting in all kinds of data that includes scoring and play-by-play,' Feldmann said of the role. 'At the end of the night, I'd check with the scorer to make sure we matched up, then sent a report to New York. It was fun.'
With the new job comes more responsibility.
Hit or error?
It's an age-old question for anyone who has ever kept score at a baseball game and is still one of the most challenging decisions to make, although with all the information that MLB records and compiles, there's more help.
Feldmann has 24 hours to change any call he's made and players have three days to appeal.
'Five to six years ago, they were still faxing information to New York each night, but now it's done electronically,' Feldmann. 'In my training I was told the guiding principal is, should (or) could an average major leaguer make the play?
'If someone like Elly De La Cruz ranges far to his left and dives but can't come up with the ball, how many players would even get to the ball? I'm told to trust my eyes.'
Players do appeal, especially with decisions possibly impacting bonuses outlined in their contracts based on performance.
'It's dizzying,' Feldmann said of all the information that's now available in the age of analytics.
How hard the ball was hit can be gauged by its speed off the bat.
'I'm kind of older school,' Feldmann said. 'I hope the beauty of the game is not lost.'
His love for baseball came naturally.
His father, John, played minor league baseball for both the Chicago Cubs and White Sox in a professional career interrupted by service in the Navy.
Feldmann's late brother, Chuck, taught and coached football at Dundee-Crown. His sister, Julie Edwards, still lives in Algonquin.
Feldmann played the sport in high school as well as basketball and football. He walked on to the football team at Northern Illinois.
'I had played fullback and linebacker at Jacobs but was the backup punter at NIU,' he said with a chuckle. 'Not a very critical position.'
So, when the school reinstated baseball in the spring of 1991, Feldmann asked coach Jerry Pettibone if he could skip spring practice to try out.
He was given the OK and made the team, playing mostly third base and some outfield for coach Joe McFarland.
'We were kind of a ragtag operation,' Feldmann said. 'We took some lumps but we had fun.'
Feldmann taught high school for several years and coached lower-level baseball in DeKalb, Libertyville and Rockford before moving on to college teaching. There he tried scouting as a side job, assisting full-time scouts and feeding them information in a freelancer role.
'I'd love to stick with scoring,' Feldmann said. 'I don't know for how long, but I'm really enjoying being at the ballpark and going to the games.'
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