4 Mercury Stevens

Olivia, MN BOLD Warriors Favorite foods: Bananas Favorite animal: Fish. All, and any kind. Patronus:  Charizard. Andy “Mercury” Stevens first turned up at a Sea Kittens game August 16, 2015- a gung-ho youngster showing up at the diamond with glove in hand and ready to play in the Cats’ second-round Harmony Tournament game. Alas, the Cats had bungled away their first-round game and lost 10-8 to Relics, so there was no Game 2. Instead, Stevens made his first cameo with Sea Kittens August 19, 2015, going 2-3 in a tough 7-6 Harmony loss to Illegal Bats, but he also hit a foul ball during the game that was rather impressive.  Stevens was back three weeks later and made an even bigger impression, cranking two home runs over the 275′ fence on Olbrich 1 and driving in four runs in a thrilling 13-8 Sea Kitten win over South Side Badgers- the Mama Cat O’Brien 45th birthday game and the same contest in which Heidibadger Nelson was crowned in the head by a throw from left field as she came home to score in the first inning.

The Kittens’ front office had seen pretty much all it needed to see and signed Stevens to a contract for the Summer 2016 season, and he turned in a stat line for the ages, batting a then team-record 0.829 as part of an 829/829/1.486 triple-slash. He swatted a team-record 12 doubles and three home runs among his record 29 hits, and if it weren’t for the pesky Infield Flies backing up and catching all of the Kittens’ long fly balls on fence-less Warner Park diamonds, Mercury would’ve led a dynamic Harmony team to the playoffs. Darn you, Flies!!!  Mercury cracked nine more doubles and three homers during the fall season, helping the Cats’ reach an unresolved three-way tie for first, and then he took a job in Ashland, WI and started playing in the northern Wisconsin pinecone leagues. He left the Cats, but also left behind a little panache that made the Cats believe they could be in every game they played, and would have fun doing so. 2019 outlook: Mercury returned to Madison gainfully employed and ready to don the Sea Kit kit for the Fall 2018 campaign, but liquified his knee playing Ultimate before he could step onto the softball diamond. A surgery and grueling winter of rehab followed, and Stevens made himself ready to play softball be Opening Day. he is playing fulltime with Bottomfeeders SC and will serve as the Kittens’ go-to male substitute as management navigates roster balance challenges. The Cats are committed to keeping Stevens in the fold.

FUN FACT: pretty sure Mercury was the first Sea Kitten born in the 1990s

As thrilling as his hitting exploits is Stevens’ propensity to eschew his cut-off and uncork deadly throws from left field to any base and any recipient- his trust in teammates keeps everyone on their toes. Next to watching cicada hawks in the dugout, his favorite Sea Kitten memory is one such double-play throw from left to Dan DynamOele at third. He has clearly shaken off the early memories of being afraid of being beaned by throws from big mean 4th graders.  For everyone’s safety, Stevens is generally prohibited from infield play.  The short throws are the hardest to make accurately.