In the final weekend of the 2018 American Association season, the Gary SouthShore RailCats tangled in a tough three-game series with the Kansas City T-Bones at the U.S. Steel Yard. The RailCats had already clinched a playoff berth the previous road trip, while the T-Bones locked up their first playoff bid in their eight years in the AA with a 16-inning victory in game two of the series.

On the final day of the season, the RailCats came from behind to win 3-2, and with it, clinch the North Division title in a tiebreaker over St. Paul. It was their franchise-record 59th win and the ‘Cats had their first division title since finishing atop the six-team Northern League in 2009. After three lean years following their 2013 AA crown, Gary SouthShore was also returning to the playoffs for the second year in a row. Vibes were good on this side of the toll road

…Then everything went to hell.

Rusted-out RailCats

The RailCats lost the North Division Series to St. Paul in four games to close 2018, then had to rebuild the entire pitching staff and the some in ’19. The bottom fell out. Longtime skipper Greg Tagert had the worst season of his career and the club sank to 40-59, barely edging out a first-year Milwaukee club to stay out of the cellar in the North. Gary SouthShore then sat out the 2020 season due to COVID, the only North Division club to do so.

Returning in ’21, the RailCats were even worse, finishing 39-61 and finishing last in the North for the first time since 2004. After that year, Tagert departed after 17 years in Gary, with his touch apparently gone (his two playoff appearances in the last two years in Tri-City suggesting apparently not).

Then Gary made a tremendous mistake: the hiring of Lamarr Rogers.

Rogers had a legitimate Indy ball pedigree, serving 15 years on the coaching staff for St. Paul, including a decade under George Tsamis. However, his last year in Indy ball was in 2013 and his only managerial experience was one year in short-season ball in 2015 (ironically with the Tri-City ValleyCats; Greg Tagert’s current employer).

It did not go well.

Nearly identical 42-58 and 41-58 seasons followed in ’22 and ’23, then a horror show unfolded: a 30-70 basketcase in 2024. The RailCats were outscored 668-397, finishing last in most offensive categories, and not to be outdone also finished last in most pitching categories.

The most infamous contest was a June 6 game at Cleburne where the RailCats lost 23-4, allowing a league-record 14 runs in the second inning and a league-record 22 walks in the contest. An unfathomable 12 of those walks came in the second. An 18-3 loss followed the next day.

Things improved somewhat afterwards, but they crashed to a 5-29 finish, which impressively featured two ten-game losing streaks and a nine-gamer that was only halted by the end of the season. Before 2024, only the truly sorry excuse of an organization that was 2015 and ’18-19 Texas AirHogs and the AA’s two travel teams (2017 Salina and 2021 Houston) were the only other teams to lose 70 games. It’s a pretty pathetic club to be part of.

Inexplicably, Lamarr Rogers was somehow invited back for a fourth season in 2025. After a 19-44 start, the plug was finally pulled. Rogers finished 98 games below .500 in his tenure with a .364 winning percentage.

In Comes the I-Beam

In a unique case, when Rogers was (belatedly) handed his walking papers, the RailCats skipped the interim skipper routine and immediately announced his permanent replacement: veteran Indy ball boss Jeff Isom. Isom had managed Chicago to a 55-45 record in 2024, while bringing in AA Most Valuable Player Jacob Teter and Reliever of the Year Joey Marciano. He had won nearly 700 games (and the 2018 Frontier League title) over 14 years managing.

A funny thing happened: the RailCats, who started 19-44, finished 19-18 under Isom. But there was no roster shakeup. Whether it was different utilization of existing pieces or just better vibes (or a combination of both), Gary SouthShore immediately became a respectable team with essentially the same roster. They still finished last for the fourth time in five years, but the 37 games under Isom constituted their best extended stretch of baseball in years.

A New Era Begins

Isom is now back with a full offseason under his belt. There’s still no full-scale overhaul with 13 returners coming back, but that group includes star second baseman Elvis Peralta, who slashed .314/.392/.416 with 31 steals, more solid infielders in Joe Suozzi and Cooper Weiss, two effective, durable starters in Peyton Long and Deyni Olivero, and a salty bullpen in Nate Alexander and All-Star Jacob Coats, plus lefty Dawson Lane returning in a recent trade.

While there are some head-scratching names on the spring training roster, there’s also some legitimate star power not seen in Gary since Colin Willis left after 2019. Northwest Indiana native Nick Podkul (whose brother Frank is also in camp) has shown both power and plate discipline in the upper minors, plus helped Schaumburg to the cusp of a Frontier League title last September. He’s a legitimate impact acquisition. Justin O’Connor is a surprise, a 34-year-old veteran who was an AA Postseason All-Star (and the Defensive Player of the Year) in 2018 and held his own in the Atlantic League last season.

Most recently, Kevin Watson arrived, a 26-year-old outfielder who hit just .230 in the Atlantic League last year, but boasted a .353 OBP with 17 homers and 46 steals. That followed up a 2024 when he slashed .302/.402/.476 with 13 homers and 40 steals. Him and Peralta give the RailCats a pair of players that I could realistically see being Postseason All-Stars when it’s all said and done.

Pitching depth is a little concerning to me and none of the imports on that side of the ball really raise my eyebrow, but on the flip side, Gary SouthShore is probably going to field their best lineup in several years this season (depending on how everyone adjusts to the notoriously pitcher-friendly U.S. Steel Yard).

Nonetheless, this is shaping up to be a much-improved roster for Isom and the RailCats. Will it lead to their first winning season and playoff berth since 2018? That might be a bit of a tall task (they only won 38 games last year), but at the same time, 45 wins was enough to reach the postseason in the East Division last season. Now, I do think the division will be a little deeper this year, but the RailCats don’t have as much ground to make up as their record alone would suggest.

Whether or not they’re playing postseason ball this September, an organization that was the class of the Northern League in the late 00’s and competed regularly in their early years in the AA needed a shove in the right direction, and it appears that they are headed that way.