The Board Does Some Things Right

The latest minutes of the Minnesota Baseball Board of Directors are up and on the website at www.MNbaseball.org.  There were a few things that got my attention.  Number one, the agenda was on the website before the meeting and according to Dave Hartmann, the agenda will be posted a week before each meeting.  Hopefully, it will be updated right up to the day before the meeting.  Number two, the minutes were posted within two days of the meeting.  This is a great benefit to all that are interested in Minnesota amateur baseball.  Hartmann assured everyone that the minutes will be up within two days of every future board meeting. 

Hartmann also ranted about the Blogs and message boards around the state that "misrepresent" things in dealing with the Board.  The biggest thing that he spoke about was "secret meetings".  He mentioned meetings that were closed in preparation of pending litigation and also because the Board always met in private to choose State Tournament sites.  "If those are secret meetings, then so be it," he said. 

He is right.  Those aren't secret meetings and I have no problem with them.  What this blogger is concerned about is the wrong times and places that have been posted in the past for Board meetings, meeting and talking over things in an informal setting with no notification and being asked several times by Board members not to attend certain parts of meetings because it tends to inhibit some of the Board members in discussions. 

My view and I've said it over and over is:  All meetings should be open.  That is not to say that meetings are open discussions.  If you attend a meeting there should be no talking unless asked by a Board member.  If you want to discuss something at the meeting, you should be on the Agenda.  There is nothing that is discussed at a Board meeting that anyone involved in Minnesota Amateur Baseball should or could not hear.  If you are not comfortable expressing your opinion for all to hear, you should not be an elected Board member.

Hartmann also stated that he felt that "individuals should not put their personal agendas ahead of what is best for baseball in Minnesota."  I totally agree with that sentiment.  I have been an advocate for the Dundas Dukes since I started playing for them in 1975.  But my overall philosophy has always been: what is good for the State of Minnesota Baseball is also good for Dundas.  The State comes first. 

I don't think that the Board has paid enough attention to Class B in the past.  Then two years ago, the Class B teams got together, put in a lot of work and the result was a very successful year and tournament.  Last year the Board assumed all of the Class B duties.  I don't think things were thought out as well as they should have been.  Now the Board has a chance to add teams to Class B and work with the Class B group again.  Let's hope personal agendas don't get in the way. 

Why Change Should Come

At their annual meeting in October, 2010, the Minnesota Baseball Association Board of Directors was pressed to find a solution to re-classify teams.  They appointed approximately 13 section and region commissioners and other interested baseball people to attend a meeting on Friday night before their meeting on Saturday, November 20.  This meeting was supposed to be a workshop dealing only with re-classification. 

When the time came there were about 25 people that came to the meeting.  We were expecting to have a vigorous discussion on how the state should be divided.  I thought there would be maps of the state, breaking out into groups and really getting into the task of who should be class B and who should be class C.  The 25 were ready....the Board wasn't.

First, President Richter announced that the meeting would only be a little over an hour long.  That was changed.  Next they had everyone introduce themselves and tell the group what concerned them.  We had heard this before.  We spent the next hour and a half covering old ground and not really accomplishing anything.  Never took marker to paper, never came to any conclusion, just another feel-good, thanks for coming, meeting with the Board.

I should have known better than to expect groundbreaking area.  I came expecting to have maps all over the walls, groups of interested baseball people making good points on re-classifying teams and finally people working together to actually better baseball in the state of Minnesota.  This group wasn't just any group getting together, it was an expoerienced group that had all been at the annual meeting and really knew something about Amateur Baseball in Minnesota! 

Instead everyone travelled to St. Cloud, paid to spend the night and got nothing out of it.  The next day the Board made their own changes letting 11 or 12 teams go from class B to class C and dropping class B to under 35 teams.  There was no mention of this happening that Friday night.

This led to the B group meeting and trying to control their own destiny.  It worked pretty well in 2011 and even though the State Tournament was excellent, things have already begun to fall apart again in 2012.  These things take planning and the Board just doesn't spend the time working at it. 

This is the same Board of Directors that ran the MBA in 2010.  It is the same Board that refuses to enter the 21^st century by not posting meeting agendas, have email as a form of communication, and clings to the principle that secrecy is good.  It is time to change.  Let's elect people that want to work for amateur baseball and will include everyone.  The election is Saturday--Make sure your league officers and Region and Section Commissioners go to the meeting and vote for change.