The mayor of Toledo—no, not the one in Spain—is a glutton for punishment.
How do I know this?
Because he is the mayor of Toledo. And a writer.
Wade Kapszukiewicz is his name—we’ve never had the chance to meet, something I’m certain is not near the top of his list to change.
But heroes in this day and age can be found on the screen. For some, that means television and TikTok. In my case, it involves Wikipedia and The Athletic.
Take a look at the bio, and you’ll understand the fascination.
The man was born in 1972, making him solidly Gen X, a birth window I can claim as well.
He grew up in Toledo and got a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University, located in Milwaukee, the site of my earthly entry.
From there, he landed in Ann Arbor, obtaining a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan.
But this was not some sort of hoity-toity academic looking to wall himself off from reality. This was a man looking to get his hands dirty, otherwise known as a bona fide Rust Belt guy.
He returned home and took on thankless roles, among them being stints with city council, the county board of education, and the county treasury.
Eventually, in 2018, he landed the role of mayor of Toledo, taking the reins of a shrinking city in a shrinking metro area. In other words, he made the decision to give the prime of his life to the impossible, the belief that Toledo—yes, the one in Ohio—could be the popular girl.
Under his watch, the city has seen glimmers of hope:
- A regional water system, ensuring safety and affordability.
- A bolstered police force and a reduction in crime. (Not bad for a Democrat.)
- A plan for blighted properties.
- A revitalized riverfront.
- Increased fiscal transparency.
All along, the mayor has had to deal with naysayers, including yours truly, who for some reason decided to take down a brother with this scathing travel piece. (Perhaps it’s the piece that should be taken down.)
But despite a competent mayorship, it’s still something Kapszukiewicz did before he became mayor that inspires the hero worship.
Back in 2016, the rising politician found time to pen an article for the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) and its Baseball Research Journal.
The topic: the so-called Golden Pitch.
Aside from proving that he was extremely comfortable in his geekiness, Kapszukiewicz provided other nerds with an important education on the term he had coined.
The Golden Pitch refers to the remarkably rare and dramatic scenario in Major League Baseball (MLB) when either team could win the World Series on a single pitch. By definition, such a pitch can only be thrown in game seven of the World Series in the bottom of the ninth inning (or an extra inning) when the road team has the lead.
In the history of the World Series, first played in 1903, there have been only 49 such pitches thrown.
It just so happens that in the bottom of the 11th inning in game seven of the 2025 Fall Classic, one of the greatest baseball games of all time, there were seven of them! (The other 42 occurred in 1912, 1926, 1962, 1972, 1997, 2001, 2014, and 2016.)
Of course, as Canadians know all too well, the seventh Golden Pitch resulted in a double play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, relegating the Toronto Blue Jays to runner-up status. A double or home run on the same pitch would have placed the Blue Jays in the winner’s circle.
The bottom line is that Kapszukiewicz has proven himself to be capable of obsessing about a city losing tax-paying citizens and inventing terminology about a sport losing cultural relevance.
He is, as I said, a glutton for punishment.
But he’s made it normal for Rust Belt mayors to blog about baseball and Rust Belt doctors to blog about Rust Belt mayors who blog about baseball.
And if that ain’t heroic, then nothing is.
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