The BSA: St. Charles Sheens July PR

Monday, April 24, 2028 was a very special date. That day the St. Charles Sheens -- formerly the Denver Dynasty -- had an off day. However, that did not make it special.

Pearl Swando passed away on April 24, 2028, at the age of 61.

Who was Pearl, you may ask. She was truly special. She's the only person to attend every single home game for the St. Charles Sheens since the team premiered in 2014 in St. Charles, just 40 miles west of Chicago, Illinois. That's 1,171 regular season home games and additional home playoff games from 2022 through 2025 (our stat team noted they're not getting paid enough to research those games and we should be happy they calculated the regular season games).

When the Dynasty moved to St. Charles and was renamed the Sheens, Pearl was the first person to buy season tickets for 2014, and she was the first customer to pass through the stadium's tunstiles on opening day. She attended each home game, never missing a single game. That streak continued year after year, with Pearl even enduring the team being sub-mediocre years from 2016 to 2019, when the team never won more than 68 games. And she was there in 2022, when the Sheens won 101 games (the previous season high for wins by St. Charles was 85 wins in 2020) and finished in first place.

Although the Sheens didn't reach the World Series in 2022, she didn't give up hope. And when the team won the CL West in 2023 but once again failed to reach the World Series, she maintained a positive attitude. Her dedication paid off in 2024, as she was in her favorite seat when the Sheens defeated the Beavers to win the 2024 BSA title.

But did she decide to finally take a home game off? Nope, she continued to attend every game. When the Sheens won their fourth consecutive CL West title, Pearl could always be counted on to be in the stands for the St. Charles playoff games at Crown Royal Stadium. Sadly, the Sheens could not reach the World Series for a second consecutive season.

And the team's failure to return to the World Series in 2025 led to a rebuild plan starting in 2026. Yet, that plan did not deter Pearl from attending St Charles home games. You see, Pear's love for baseball dates back to when she was a toddler and she started attending minor league games. When she was photographed after catching a foul ball during a game in 2015, a reporter asked her about her streak. She allegedly told the reporter "My mother suffered a stroke in the parking lot, she's waiting for the game to finish so I can drive her to the hospital. I think this baseball will cheer her up, don't you?" The reporter thought she was kidding, but it was later discovered Pearl was telling the truth.

Pearl was popular with the players. "I'd get mail from players who passed through St. Charles, and even got a few interesting text pics," she reminisced earlier this season. Did she sleep with any players? "Oh, of course. To me, that's half the fun. Sometimes it's better than the game."

Although the cause of death has not been officially announced, many calls to local sports radio stations in the St Charles area have hinted that Pearl may have suffered a heart attack when she learned that the Sheens had traded SP Ben Moody, 3B Gene Cooper and C Bill Little to Nassau for a bag of balls.

So, to honor Pearl, the St. Charles Sheens family will hold a moment of silence before the team's home game versus Kalamazoo on July 25 ... and they might give a bag of balls to the first 100 fans.

We end this PR with some photos of Pearl and her St. Charles fandom.