This article is part of Minor League Baseball's ‘Celebrating Our Heroes’ content series, presented by T-Mobile.
Robinson Cancel strutted out from under the batting practice cage at Avista Stadium to a chorus of excitement. The High-A Spokane manager spun his bat to the ground as the ball he’d just launched landed over the left-field fence.
Cancel had just won a friendly BP competition with visitors from the Fairchild Tankers -- a competitive travel softball team made up of servicemen from the nearby Fairchild Air Force Base. In this competition, Cancel, a former big league catcher, bested Air Force Master Sgt. Matthew Gaines, his Tankers counterpart.
Gaines took the loss in stride and went on to pick the brains of the Indians’ coaching staff in hopes that he could impart some wisdom on the freshman baseball team he manages at Ridgeline High School in Liberty Lake, Washington.
As part of the Indians’ military appreciation night, members of the Tankers were able to take batting practice, shag fly balls and mingle with players and coaches prior to the Indians’ game against the Dust Devils on Aug. 29.
“They’re just regular guys and they love the game. We just got to talk some baseball with them,” said Spokane bench coach Tom Sutaris. “One of them was talking to me, and he couldn’t stop -- he just wanted to shag [fly balls]. And I was like, ‘Go ahead, man, have fun.’”
The batting practice visit was just a small part of the club’s military appreciation efforts in 2025.
“It feels really good to be appreciated and be a part of the community and to show support for them the way they show support for us,” said Fairchild-based Master Sgt. James Balkcom.
Since 2021, Spokane has celebrated military heroes through the Operation Fly Together campaign. While the platform is mostly a fundraising effort, the club’s years of extensive military appreciation efforts have created the types of memorable moments like the one with Cancel and Gaines.
For longstanding members of the front office, the memory that stands out the most is credited as a foundational moment for Operation Fly Together. On Aug. 8, 2011, Sgt. Chris Weichman returned home from his third tour in Afghanistan and surprised his family on the field at Avista Stadium. He dropped to his knees in front of the pitcher’s mound as his then-4-year-old twin daughters, Gracie and Ruby, rushed to hug him.
“There was not a dry eye in the place,” said Indians general manager Kyle Day, who’s been with the club since 2010.
Weichman eventually retired as a Colonel and stayed in Spokane. This year, his daughters took jobs with the Indians as gameday team members.
“It all came full circle and it really made this a magical moment,” said Indians senior vice president Otto Klein.
The Indians hosted another military homecoming last month. Airman Sierra Burke surprised her two children with an on-field reunion after spending six months away from home for basic training in the Air National Guard.
The club plans to continue doing more of these on-field reunions in the future.
“When we lean into something like this, we go all-in,” Klein said.
Games at Avista Stadium regularly feature military flyovers, jerseys modeled after the U.S. Air Force service dress uniforms and hats featuring the KC-135 Stratotanker, a refueling plane used around the world by the U.S. Air Force. The club even has an alternate mascot named KC, modeled after the Stratotanker, that greets fans before every home game.
On Aug. 29, Spokane amplified those efforts for this year’s military appreciation celebration. The ballpark concourse featured a display of military vehicles from Fairchild AFB and information tents manned by local military support groups like the Spokane Veterans Forum and the Spokane County Regional Veterans Support Center.
Service members from Fairchild AFB were featured throughout the pregame festivities. The base’s honor guard led the national anthem as some members sang the anthem and others held a large American flag in the outfield. Colonel Robert Lamore and Lt. Col. Thomas Hammerle threw out ceremonial first pitches and the Tankers softball team was recognized on the field.
During the game, Klein was able to present a $2,000 donation check in the name of Operation Fly Together to Heroes Homestead, a day-use farm for military families in eastern Washington.
“We’ve helped so many veterans in our community by raising funds for housing or electrical … it doesn’t matter what the project is, the goal to raise as much money as possible,” Klein said. “Let’s do it in a fun way, let’s do it in an honoring way and a respectful way and we think that we’ve got a good thing doing here.”