Reactions to the Class C Proposal

Last week I wrote a story about the proposed new format for the Class C State tournament.  Here are the replies that I have received so far:

From Brent Schloe:

As a 15-year veteran of Minnesota amateur baseball as both a player and manager, I couldn’t disagree more with the proposal that regions with strong attendance numbers should be awarded more teams to the Class C state tournament.  This proposal clearly implies to me that making money at the gate is more important than the quality of competition.  The reality, though is that each region tournament has little or no control over their attendance for various reasons, so rewarding some regions and not others based on attendance is completely unfair.  This proposal also not only diminishes the overall integrity and gamesmanship of the state tournament, but each region tournament as well because it takes away any pride from the teams that actually earned their way to state by winning on the field.  One can only imagine how many teams will try to change leagues and/or regions just to increase their chances of going to state under this new proposal, not to mention all the ways attendance numbers can be easily manipulated, so there are already major flaws in the system before it’s even implemented. There’s no doubt that playing in front of a large crowd is always more fun, but teams care more that they’re actually still playing in August than how many people are watching them.  I also understand there are many expenses in organizing and hosting a state tournament and more fans would help cover these costs, but declining attendance numbers should in no way be the responsibility of the participating teams, and their fans shouldn’t have to feel obligated to attend every game either.  Maybe the problem with attendance lies in the overall planning process of the state tournament and needs to be re-evaluated instead of changing who gets to participate?  Regardless, the state tournament shouldn’t be an entitlement program just because certain regions have strong attendance numbers; it should be the teams from each reagion that played and earned their way in on the baseball field, period. Rather than a reward system based on region attendance, why not consider other options like lowering ticket prices or going back to a full double elimination format?  Lower ticket prices might naturally attract more local fans as well as those already paying high gas prices from farther away.  My personal opinion, though, is to go back to a full 32-team, double elimination format, even if it means more games, starting earlier in August, and/or involving another host site.  This not only ensures that the top two teams from each region are in the tournament, but also gives teams with strong fan support and/or talent the opportunity to play more than just one game if they happen to lose in the first round.  This format is also consistent with most league and region playoff formats and allows for better all around competition, which may lead to better attendance numbers as well.  After the first round now, 16 teams plus their fans likely won’t be coming back to watch any more games, and 8 more teams follow after round two.  However, by guaranteeing all teams a second game, those with strong fan support will come back through the ticket gate a second time at a minimum, which translates to higher attendance overall. The bottom line is that amateur teams play for the love of the game and to have fun, not to make money or make sure attendance quotas are met.  We also compete against each other on the baseball field, not at the ticket gates.  The reality in all of this is that we live in a world of 4G smartphones, internet streaming with live updates, and more players and fans going back to college, playing fall sports, or having other social activities to choose from, so attending amateur baseball games in person isn’t what it used to be, especially in larger cities and towns with other sports teams and programs at all age levels to follow.  Therefore, certain regions will always tend to benefit from this new proposal while others will not, which basically penalizes the latter regions just because their fans don’t make going to a region or state tournament game a top priority.  Changing who participates in the state tournament because of declining attendance and without considering any other factors or options doesn’t seem right or fair to me in any way.  I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in ten state tournaments and each one was a unique and exciting experience.  However, each time our team had to earn our way there by winning on the field.  Under this new proposal, though, teams can back their way into the tournament through their fans without really winning anything.  For the integrity and gamesmanship of amateur baseball, I sincerely hope this proposal is not implemented because it’s an unfair and subjective way to determine a state champion each year. Brent SchloeUltimate Sports Grillers (Class B – Lakewood League) – 1997-2005Saint Joseph Saints (Class C – Lakewood League) – 2006-Present

From Jon Rademacher:

I know there are a lot of out-state teams in the class ‘C’ level and sure if you add more teams of course the attendance will be greater. Isn’t the obvious answer to more attendance to the State Tournament moving the Tournaments closer to where most people live? This year the weather was perfect to attend ball games but nobody wants to drive down to Brownton or Glencoe… Even the players… Nothing against those places because they put on a great event but it’s just the facts… Another way is to spend a little extra money advertising, we need to get people interested. If you make the State Tournament a “Big Deal”, people will treat it as that. The allure of small town ball in beautiful parks during beautiful summer days is enough for us who romanticize about baseball but in the suburbs people are losing touch with what “Town ball” can offer for its quality of play and entertainment value. You will get more people to the State Tournament simply if more people follow their local teams. If I knew the answer to getting people interested I would be happy to share but something needs to be done on a State and local team level to get fans interested in Amateur baseball again.

From Andy Johnson:

The new 48-team Class C State Tournament proposal should be thrown out.  When we start sending extra teams to the State Tournament based on their Region's attendance and not because they were #1 or #2 in their Region, then the integrity of the State Tournament is ruined and it's not as meaningful just to get there.

It's also impossible to have a straight 48-team state tournament (48-24-12-6-3).  You would have to give a bye to the 16 teams and have the remaining 32 play in the initial round.  Assuming there is just 1 round played the 1st weekend, then the 16 teams with a bye now have to wait a whole week.  The current 32-team tournament works.  All 32 teams start the same weekend and all can throw their top pitchers.

If there still is a draft, the #1 and #2 teams from the Regions sending extra teams might have to settle for weaker draftees if the best draftees are on the extra teams that are now advancing.

This seems like a bad idea and it will upset many leagues if it happens.  Keep it at 32 teams.  Andy Johnson, Stewartville-Racine Sharks.

First Weekend,of B & C, Ken Sargent, Class A Final

The first weekend of the State Tournament is over.  It was a good experience.  All three parks, Glencoe, Brownton and Hutchinson were in great shape.  With the perfect weather all went well. 

It was amazing to see how close every game was in Class B.  With the exception of Mankato beating up on Savage 11-0, no B team scored more than five runs.  Burnsville beat Moorhead 2-1, Sauk Rapids beat Austin 2-1 and Chaska beat Austin 2-0 rounding out the first round of games.  In the second round it was Savage 3-2 over Moorhead, Mankato 1-0 over Burnsville, Sauk Rapids 5-2 over Chaska and Miesville 5-4 over Austin.  There isn’t much difference in these eight teams and that makes for great games.

In the 16 games played in Class C, eight champions won and eight runners-up won.  Regions 1, 5, 11, and 14 all won both games (champions and runner-up) and regions 2, 6, 15, 16 all lost both games.  Some of the favorites—in my mind—that lost were Winsted, St. Patrick, Blue Earth, Dassel-Cokato, Hanska, Belle Plaine, Freeport and Sobieski.  That was half the field.  It is very hard to predict the winners in C.  The thing that shows most is that every team has at least one good pitcher.  

Sargent takes a licking, keeps on umping

I was at the Prior Lake Mudcats-Freeport game in Brownton on Saturday night.  In the eighth inning umpire Ken Sargent took a vicious foul ball off his right arm.  He spun around and gave out a little howl but after a minute or so, everything seemed to be OK and the game continued.  I noticed that he wasn’t raising his right arm when he called strikes like he usually did.  In fact when I looked again, he was protecting the arm and keeping it behind his back.  The game ended in the ninth with Freeport scoring one and making the final out on a grounder to short with a runner on third. Prior Lake won 5-4. 

“If it had gone extra innings, I wouldn’t have been able to umpire,” stated Sargent when I talked to him Wednesday morning.  He had in fact broken the radius bone in his right arm.  He asid that he was in pain, but decided to finish the game.  The Brownton Fire Department gave him a cold press and wrapped the arm along with a sling immediately after the game.  His partner, Henry Hentges drove his car to Henry’s home in Lonsdale and then Ken drove to the Northfield ER from there.  The ER doctor confirmed that the arm was broken. 

Ken will have surgery on Thursday, August 25^th.  The doctor will put in a plate and screws to help it heal.  Ken said that the doctor told him it was a clean break but too big to heal with just a cast.  He also noted that the doctor and ER people told him that the Brownton Fire Department did and exceptional job in helping with the initial treatment. 

Class A Championship

On Sunday I attended the Class A Championship game.  Stockmen’s defeated Lyon’s Pub 9-5 to claim the championship.  The game (and most of the tournament) was held at Haddox Field in Bloomington.   They have done a lot of work on the field and added a very nice grandstand with a pressbox.  There were about 250 people in attendance and it was a very spirited crowd.  The Class A people talked of having found a home in Bloomington and suggested that future tournaments would very likely be held at Haddox.  You can read a write-up of the game and view pictures by clicking on the story right above my blog.   

Here is the all-tournament team for Class A: 

Nick Bjerken  Stockmen’s

Zack Goodwin  Stockmen’s

Dan Miller   Stockmen’s

Chad Ogden  Stockmen’s

Nick Wineke  Stockmen’s

Jon Hurt  Lyon’s Pub

Billy Meister  Lyon’s Pub

Tim Mettert  Lyon’s Pub

Brandon Royce-Diop  Lyon’s Pub

Rob Schildgen  Lyon’s Pub

Dave Follmer  North End

Bud Lovas  North End

Tijl Vanderwege  North End

Joe Shallenberger  Minnetonka

Chris Urbain  Minnetonka

Nick Bellmont Shamrocks

Brett Olson  Shamrocks

Pat Fix  St.

Louis Park

Sam Gotham Lakers

MVP  Zack Goodwin….. Stockmen’s Irish Pitcher…..2 wins; 12 1/3 IP  4 ER  10 H  10 SO

Dan Carey Research Fund

I received an email from Mike Hartung today and think it is important enough to let all of the people associated with the MBA know about it.  It deals with Dan Carey a former State Tournament MVP from the Miesville Mudhens.  Dan passed away on March 19 of this year and his friends are setting up an endowed research fund in his name.  Here is the information:

Dear friends & family members,
We are trying to raise $25,000 in an effort to establish an endowed research fund in memory of Dan Carey (aka "Moose") in hopes of finding a cure for glioblastoma multiforme. On March 19, 2011, Dan, our brother, friend, mentor, teacher, colleague, and teammate died at the young age of 61 after a 1-year battle with this extremely aggressive form of brain cancer. He was a world-class athlete and world-class person, but was not able to win his fight against this deadly opponent. The research fund is entitled the Dr. Daniel G. Carey Brain Cancer Research Fund and although donations may ultimately be used to support any type of brain cancer research, our intention is that the monies will initally be targeted to finding a cure to glioblastoma multiforme. The fund will be under the auspices of the Children's Cancer Research Fund, but the research will potentially benefit brain cancer patients of all ages.
In an effort to kick start the fund-raising campaign, we have secured donations of $12,500 and with your help, hope to raise the remainder in the coming weeks. When we reach our goal of $25,000, the monies will be invested and researchers will have access to 4.75% of the total each year. The remainder of the fund will then accrue interest and support brain cancer research for years to come in Dan's name. You will also have the option of making annual donations to the fund, and we hope you will support this worthy cause for many years. 
To make a secure credit card donation, please follow the link below:
http://bit.ly/dancarey
Your name will appear on a donation list on the fund website, but the amount of your donation will remain private. All donations are tax deductible.
Sincerely,
Dr. Barbara Butcher and Mike & Mary Hartung

B Ranking--Who might come out of each Section

These are the rankings for Class B—July 29, 2011

	Buesgens	Wiesner	Bnbaseballguy
1	Sauk Rapids	Sauk Rapids	Sauk Rapids
2	Savage	Cold Spring	Coon Rapids
3	Chaska	Dundas	Chaska
4	Dundas	Austin Greyhounds	Austin Greyhounds
5	Rochester	Mankato	Red Wing
6	Mankato	Red Wing	Savage
7	Blaine	Blaine	Cold Spring
8	Marshall	Marshall	Shakopee
9	Red Wing	Coon Rapids	Miesville
10	Coon Rapids	Chaska	Mankato

Now for who I think will come out of each Section.

1.  Red Wing, Hastings

2. Austin Grey hounds, Rochester

3.  Chaska Shakopee

4.  Savage, Prior Lake

5.  Elko, Burnsville

6. Bemidji, Hibbing

7. Moorhead Brewers, Cold Spring

8. Coon Rapids, Blaine

Class C Rankings--July 17, 2011

Class C Rankings—July 17, 2011

	Buesgens	Johnson	Bnbaseballguy
1	Fort Ripley	Fort Ripley	Blue Earth
2	Dassel-Cokato	Fairmont	Fort Ripley
3	Blue Earth	Blue Earth	Sacred Heart
4	Loretto	Sacred Heart	Dassell-Cokato
5	Milroy	Loretto	Loretto
6	Sacred Heart	Isanti	Howard Lake
7	Midway	Howard Lake	Fairmont
8	Howard Lake	Sobieski	Midway
9	Raymond	Dassel-Cokato	Raymond
10	Nisswa	St. Cloud Snappers	Northfield

Buesgen’s notes:

1.)Fort Ripley - Many good reports

2.)DC- Concerned about poor GI Tourney but know they are better than that

3.)Blue Earth- Won the GI Tourney with numerous top 10 teams in it

4.)Loretto- Have had a couple of losses they shouldn't have the last 2 weeks

6.)Sacred Heart- Sources say they looked very good at GI tourney

Johnson’s notes:

New to my rankings: Howard Lake, Sobieski, St. Cloud Snappers

Dropped from my rankings: Milroy, Nisswa, Midway, Belle Plaine

Fairmont and Blue Earth have a big rematch on the 19th.  Playoffs will be starting soon.  Then we'll see how good some of these teams really are.

Bnbaseballguy’s notes:

Fort Ripley was second in Arlington/Gaylord tourney and has been playing great.  I just don’t think they are as tested as Blue Earth.  Nisswa has been getting beat up a little lately and has dropped out of my top ten.  Northfield has beaten every C team in their league and is playing very well.  Last week of ball before the playoffs start. 

4th of July Class B Rankings

4^th of July Class B Rankings

	Buesgens	Wiesner	Bnbaseballguy
1	Sauk Rapids	Sauk Rapids	Sauk Rapids
2	Dundas	Dundas	Coon Rapids
3	Rochester	Cold Spring	Rochester
4	Coon  Rapids	Coon Rapids	Shakopee
5	Blaine	Mankato	Red Wing
6	Savage	Blaine	Blaine
7	Mankato	Marshall	Savage
8	Chaska	Savage	Mankato
9	Shakopee	Red Wing	Austin Greyhounds
10	Red Wing	Austin Greyhounds	Chaska

If Jordan had beaten Chaska the last week, I thought that they would have to be in the top ten.  Chaska ended up beating them.  Austin and Rochester both were in the semi-finals of the SpamTown tournament and are starting to jell and play good ball.  Red Wing has had a great year so far and beat Miesville yesterday 4-3.  Miesville can still play with anyone.  Coon Rapids and Blaine keep chugging along and will be a force come playoffs.  Don’t let Shakopee lull you to sleep…They have an excellent team and will be right in the thick of things.  The only thing that worries me about Sauk Rapids is that they haven’t played enough games.  They can go with their whole team and best pitchers most of the time and that is a good scenario to win games, but not necessarily to win tournaments. 

Class C Rankings--June 27, 2011

Class C Rankings—June 27, 2011

	Johnson	Buesgens	bnbaseballguy
1	Fort Ripley	Dassel-Cokato	Dassel-Cokato
2	Milroy	Loretto	Fort Ripley
3	Sacred Heart	Fort Ripley	Loretto
4	Fairmont	Milroy	Nisswa
5	Blue Earth	Midway	Sacred Heart
6	Nisswa	Howard Lake	Blue Earth
7	Dassel-Cokato	Sacred Heart	Howard Lake
8	Loretto	Raymond	Fairmont
9	Isanti	Nisswa	Midway
10	Midway	St. Cloud Snappers	St. Cloud Snappers

           Belle Plaine

Buesgens’ notes:

1.)DC- The report is that they are deep in pitching and that’s a key to the tourney

2.)Loretto- Only 1 loss to DC

4.)Milroy - Beat some good class C and B teams

Johnson’s notes:

New to my rankings: Isanti, Belle Plaine

Dropped from my rankings: Howard Lake

I hope everyone realizes we can only go off the information we have.  If a team doesn't have a website or doesn't update their website, it is hard to know how they're doing.

Bnbaseballguy’s notes:

Teams that could also be in the top ten:  Green Isle, Winsted, Milroy, Raymond and Northfield.  Belle Plaine has lost a couple lately and has dropped out of my top ten.