The Two Rivers Polar Bears have as deep a historical bond with the Cool City as the ice cream sundae.
After a six-year hiatus, a third iteration of this Shoreland Baseball team will play their first game on May 28th at Walsh Field against The Manitowoc Bandits.
General Manager and Two Rivers native A.J. Lorrigan the timing of the Polar Bears return couldn’t be better.
“I was disappointed when the team left (in 2018). I’ve been looking for an opportunity for the last year or so to bring the team back,” he told SeehaferNews.com. “As I’ve been getting more involved in the community, I felt that things were pointing in this direction, and it was time to o ahead and put this thing back together.”
Baseball in Two Rivers goes back as early as the early 1900’s.
The Polar Bears were born in 1939 and under the direction of Shoreland League manager Howie Timm, won four Shoreland League titles. with their first run ending in 1984.
The team was brought back in 2001 and played in Two Rivers until 2018 when they left for Manitowoc and became the current-day Manitowoc Bandits.
Lorrigan said that people felt a void with no Polar Bear baseball.
“In speaking with people that have lived here their whole lives, you got the sense that they really enjoyed and missed the team,” he explained. “They are really excited now that the Polar Bears are coming back.”
Part of the reason The Polar Bears disbanded in 2018 was the condition of Walsh Field.
Lorrigan says safter being somewhat dormant for the last few years, activity at Walsh has picked up.
“I know that before last summer that the city put a lot of work into improving the field. Activity has picked up there since being dormant for a few years,” he noted. “They (the city) have intentions of doing even more work and improvements, so I think the field will be perfectly fine to play on.”
The Polar Bears General Manager adds that he hopes this third version of the team sticks around for a while.
“I hope that this younger generation really appreciates the history of the Polar Bears and the city of Two Rivers,” he said. “Wherever I go I hear the older generations constantly speak about the great times they’ve had living in the Cool City. It’d be great if these genres could come together and share their memories about being from and living in this great city. The Polar Bears have been gone to long and I know we all want them to stick around for a while this time around.”
The team will be comprised of area high school and college students, along with other young players who will compete against the likes of the Bandits, Algoma Guins, Kewaunee Chiefs, and Casco A’s.
Lorrigan says that engagement and involvement in the community will be their top priority with plenty of promotions planned throughout the season.
For more information and to view the 2025 schedule, visit TRPolarBears.com.
You can also follow the team at facebook.com/TRPolarBears.
