Kourage Kundahl grew up around baseball, enhancing a love that has led into a career, so Father’s Day weekends were always spent around watching a game.
But 10 years had passed since he last visited Blue Wahoos Stadium, a place where he once worked as often as he could as a teenager.
He figured it was long overdue to spring a surprise on his dad. And his mother, too.
Kundahl, a 2014 Pensacola High graduate, now director of digital content at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, made it happen.
He showed up to stun his parents at the Blue Wahoos game on June 19, then stuck through the longest delayed game in the ballclub’s history – more than four hours on Saturday (June 20) to see a game the Blue Wahoos eventually won against the Birmingham Barons.
“I had this all planned out Friday night where I would walk down Section 100 where their seats are, then do that sneak up-and-tap on-back shoulder routine,” he said, laughing. “I get there, and they’re not in their seats. But then I found them up at the HWC (Hancock Whitney Club overlooking field), so it was still good.”
His father, Keith, works in the charter fishing business. His mother, Juliet de Campos, is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist and connected with Andrews Institute. She was the Blue Wahoos team doctor during their affiliation the Cincinnati Reds from their inaugural 2012 season through 2018.
The Reds were Kourage’s favorite team as a kid. His youth baseball team was named the Reds. Then he became further attached when a former Reds’ star oufielder, Bernie Carbo, was the Pensacola Pelicans manager of the former Independent League team in 2004 when Kourage was an 8-year-old bat boy.
“The beauty of Independent League baseball is you can have that 8-year old working a job like that in the company of some PG-13 language… let’s just say… and it would be okay,” he said laughing.
Carbo, who had rediscovered his faith and founded the Diamond Club Ministry, left a lasting memory with Kundahl.
“During (Pelicans) games, he would open the dugout to kids,” he said. “It was amazing. It would happen in the later innings. So, my first impression of Bernie Carbo, former member of the Big Red Machine, was that moment in the dugout with all those kids and not big leaguing anybody.
“One of the autograph baseballs I brought to Cooperstown was the autograph ball I received from Bernie. And so he has a little bit of Cooperstown because of his kindness.”
When Kundahl was in high school, Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer suggested a part-time role as the Blue Wahoos original social media content producer. He shined in that role, which led to him landing jobs with the Reds, the San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers, before joining the National Baseball Hall of Fame staff.
He’s grateful for Studer helping him attain a dream.
“The way Quint set up the Pelicans is that he made the game feel accessible and smaller in a way that brought people together who otherwise would not have that opportunity,” Kundahl said.
“I looked at it like not everybody has the ability to go to Atlanta to catch a Braves game, or go to Tampa, the next closest MLB city to see the Rays, or go see a game in spring training.
“For me, the Pelicans turned something that was just on TV every night into something I could see, touch, feel and experience. I still look at that with a lot of fond memories.”
Kundahl is working his third season at the Hall of Fame. Returning to Pensacola during baseball season has been problematic since Cooperstown is host to national youth baseball tournaments every weekend and the busiest time to see the famed museum coincides with baseball season.
“There’s about 1,800 residents in Cooperstown and the Hall averages about 2,000 visitors each day during the peak times,” Kundahl said. “I have the opportunity to walk down main street in town and realize I am playing a small part in someone’s greatest day as a fan.
“For many people visiting, this is something that someone plans a lifetime to do. The reactions are special. And you can see it when they visit. All over the museum you have moments like that. It really comes alive for these people.”
His parents visited the Hall of Fame in 2024 on their wedding anniversary. Kourage remembers his previous time at Blue Wahoos Stadium occurred on June 19, 2016. Just so happened his most recent time will be memorable for the weather issues.
“As you grow up, you realize what it means coming from a place like Pensacola,” he said. “The sense of pride you get as fan here is the same I have now when seeing something in our museum that has a connection, like the pair of cleats Billy Hamilton wore on Aug. 21, 2012 (when the former Blue Wahoos outfielder set the Minor League Baseball stolen base record). There is always something that brings you back.”