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J. Patrick Reilly
If you ever watched "The Natural", a baseball movie starring Robert Redford you might remember a line his character spoke from a hospital bed.
The line?
"God, I love baseball."
Redford's character, Roy Hobbs, said that but he has nothing on Dodgeville pitcher Danny Sullivan.
Sullivan has just completed a magical run with the Madison Mallards summer collegiate wood bat team. The team, owned by Steve Schmit of Shoe Box and Rookies fame, is made up of some of the top college players from throughout the United States. This was Sullivan's second year with the club.
He earned the coveted spot on the Mallard's roster though standout seasons at Hill College, a Texas Division 1 junior college; Madison College, a Wisconsin Division II junior college and Davenport College, an NAIA school in Michigan.
Sullivan is going into his senior season at Davenport so this was his last year with the Mallards.
And what a year it was.
The Mallards won the first half title which qualified them for the play-offs then finished 3 1/2 games out the second half to the Lakeshore Chinooks. They eventually beat the Chinooks twice to earn a berth in the Summer Collegiate World Series.
It was not an easy run.
The Chinooks slammed the Mallards 15-0 the first game and coach Donnie Scott knew it was time to put things in perspective.
"He told us a 15-0 loss is no different from a 1-0 loss," Danny said. "It is still a loss. He told us to put this behind us and go out and play our game."
The Mallards shook off the effects of the game which included Murphy's Law--whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. They got rid of the errors and got ready for the next two games.
With a new mindset, the Mallards beat the Chinooks 14-6 and 5-3 to win the series and move on to the Summer Collegiate World Series with the Duluth Huskies.
The Mallards then swept the Huskies, 10-7 and 12-3 for the World Series championship.
A change in midseason in his role provided a Danny with a new and worthwhile experience.
"We had some pitchers who had to leave the team so my role changed from late inning reliever to closer," Danny said. "I soon learned what a great feeling it is to be the last pitcher in a game and have the ball in your hand."
The role suited him very well.
Danny picked up his third win of the season in the final game of the divisional play-off. He had a little rocky start, hitting a batter to put the lead run at third. A sacrifice fly gave the Chinooks a one run lead heading into the ninth.
But Alex Bacon, a junior from North Florida, changed that with a three run blast to make it 5-3.
And, Danny knew he was right where he wanted to be.
After striking out the last batter in the eighth to end the threat, Danny pitched a scoreless ninth and ended the game on a strikeout.
After two straight appearances Danny had the first game of the World Series off. He watched another bomb by Bacon leave the stadium as the Mallards won 10-7 at home.
The series then moved to Duluth and a bus ride of a little less than six hours. The team got to Duluth about 3 p.m. and got a bite to eat. It was then off to the stadium for what they were hoping was the final game.
"The ride was long but we had the music pumped up and we could talk," Danny said. "Coach wanted to keep up loose because of the long trip so we focused on relaxing and having fun. We knew what we had to do when we got there."
The venue that is home to the Huskies is an old Minor League park that looks as if it was constructed in the 1950s or 1960s.
"It looked like a prison yard when we pulled in," Danny said. "It was an old brick stadium with deep fences. The lines were 330 and it was around 400 in center."
It was so deep in fact that the Huskies did not have a home run for the entire season and there were only six hit there all year.
The good thing is that the Mallards had two of them--round trippers by Joe McCarthy, a freshman from Virginia and Brock Stewart, a redshirt sophomore from Illinois State.
Danny got the ball in the ninth in an effort to put the Huskies away and he did not disappoint. He got former Madison College teammate Trey Vavra to fly out to right for the second out then ended the game and the Huskies season with a strikeout.
The win gave the Mallards their first title since 2004.
Danny said the mentality for the 2013 season was completely different from his first year with the club.
"Coach (Greg) Labbe ran more of a high school type program where we were on our own a lot," Danny said about the coach he had in 2012."
The Mallards took a different approach for the 2013 season and brought a proven mentor on board in Donnie Scott. Scott was an early round draft choice of the Texas Rangers and saw Major League action with the Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds. He then managed in the Minor Leagues and won four league titles at Billings, Montana. He also had the Class A Dayton Dragons in four post season appearances.
When he said "yes" to an offer by the Mallards it set wheels in motion for a new approach.
"Coach Scott made things much more professional," Danny said. "We approached every game like they would at the professional level. The professional level approach gave us a different atmosphere."
Danny said coach Scott told the team he would not be afraid to take this team into Double A competition.
"He said we would compete well there," he said.
The team knew the talent was there so they worked on team chemistry.
"Once we got that we were on our way," Danny said.
All the way to the top.
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Baseball has been a huge part of Danny's life. His grandfather, Gene Sullivan, was legendary when it came to pitching in the Home Talent Baseball League. His father, Bob, played as did all his uncles. Baseball was something the Sullivan family did.
Danny tried out for a traveling team based out of Oshkosh when he was 12 years old and made it. The only person he knew on the team was John Voelker from Verona and the two boys traveled to Oshkosh together for practices and games.
The highlight of the season was a trip to Cooperstown Dream Fields for an August tournament that included a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"We were there a day or two after Ozzie Smith was put into the Hall," Danny said. "It was a great time."
The team finished sixth out of 64 teams in the tournament and won the "Around the Horn" competition. There were five skills games held with the "Around the Horn" one of them.
"It was awesome to be part of it," Danny said.
He continued in travel ball while in high school, playing for the Midwest Stars under coach Jeff Jackson in the summer of his junior year and for the Midwest Blazers in the fall. The travel ball season was a mini-tour of the US as games were played as far away as Georgia and Florida along with on Big 10 fields at Illinois, Northwestern and Iowa.
"We were in a tournament every weekend," Danny said.
His fastball was gaining velocity and he was being clocked in the 90s when adversity struck. While throwing against Argyle in a Home Talent game for the Dodgeville Knights Danny delivered a pitch and felt his elbow pop. He was hoping for the best but the news was not great.
He would need Tommy John surgery.
Many players would give up their dream about that time but Danny did not give in.
"I looked at it as something that is happening more and more often and I knew with the surgery and proper rehab I would pitch again," he said.
It took almost two years but Danny returned to form and took the mound for Madison College. It was all uphill from there.
He now throws with no soreness and no pain. He also knows how to take care of his arm...the arm that he hopes lets him go further in the game.
He plans on returning to  Davenport this season where he expects to resume the roll of a starting pitcher.
He hopes the scouts continue to follow his progress.
"Coach Scott thinks I have the stuff to get signed," Danny said. "You just have to be in the right place at the right time."
If the pros do not come calling Danny is not opposed to joining an Independent Minor League team.
"Ryan Kussmaul did it and he is now in the high Minors with the White Sox," Danny said. "So you do get looked at with the Independents."
Danny also knows he could not have gotten to this level without the support of his family and the community.
"It is awesome to play in front of 6000 fans and have your family and friends there to watch," he said.
"I can't say enough about the support I have received the past two years while in a Mallards uniform."
THE DANNY SULLIVAN FILE
2013 Season
Appearances: 24
Record: 3-0
Saves: 6
ERA: 3.25
Innings Pitched: 38 2/3
Hits: 37
Runs: 18
Earned Runs: 14
Walks: 12
Strikeouts: 54
HBP: 8
Opponents Ave: .248
WHIP: 1.29
Sullivan has been a member of the Dodgeville Knights Home Talent Baseball Team since he was 16 years old. He also has a Western Section Most Valuable Player award to his credit.