Joes play for the love of the game

by Dave DeMars

news@thenewsleaders.com

Central Minnesota is known as a baseball hot spot. Nearly every small town has its own baseball team. At one time, some of the towns’ identities were wrapped up in their baseball teams and bragging rights went along with how well a particular town’s team played. St. Joseph was and is one of those towns.

This year the team is off to a 7-4 start, but all of the losses are in non-league play, so those losses don’t really count. All the wins are in league play, and that means the St. Joseph Joes are in first place in the Sauk Valley League.

In spite of the good start, being a baseball player on a town team really requires a love of the game, commitment and Sunday dedication. While major-league players (the Bigs) get paid millions, players on small-town teams play for the love of the game and making that one big play – that one catch, that one stolen base, that one sizzling line drive to score the game-winning run. And they play for one another. That is why they call it town-team baseball. It’s hard to find that kind of commitment in this busy iphone society. Coach Pat Schneider will tell you the hardest part of baseball is not hitting the ball or pitching. It’s something else.

“Keeping the guys playing together – because of the economy,” Schneider said. “A lot of guys end up graduating from college, and then they get jobs, and jobs sometimes take them too far away – you know – into the Metro. And once that happens, it becomes too difficult for them to play here because of the commute.”

The league has its own set of rules as well, Schneider explained. Players can’t play for a team that is more than 30 miles distance from their home field and their permanent residences. That kind of keeps a balance among the town teams. And more than one team has lost a key player whose job made it necessary to move to a town 50 miles away.

Half mental

When the great catcher Yogi Berra said “90 percent of the game is half mental,” he may well have been thinking about the number of games a team would play and under what conditions they play. During the baseball season, players play two to three games a week. The season runs from May until the end of August, winding up with the state tournament at that time. It’s usually Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday with some rain-outs and open spots in the schedule. Coupled with work and family obligations, it can get to be a grind.

“We have a 25-man roster, so we pretty much have somebody gone every game,” Schneider said. “It helps to have enough guys. And if a kid wants to play ball, he can find a team.”

Still, it’s an expensive proposition. While uniforms are furnished, they pay a fee to play the game. That, along with a fundraiser, provides the money for bats, balls and the umpires that call balls and strikes.

“Umpires cost $115 per game. Balls are $6 apiece,” Schneider said.

While the city cuts the outfield grass, the team is responsible for maintaining the infield and the rest of the field.

“We built the dugouts and the building back here [referring to the equipment and concession stand],” Schneider said.  “The bases and batting cage belong to the team and we raised funds for the scoreboard.”

In spite of the dedication and commitment Schneider and his team have to the game, they don’t get the turnout that would lift the spirits.

“Not many people show up to watch baseball,” Schneider said. “People don’t care to watch baseball today unless there is something on the line like a tournament game. Everybody is busy at the lake or doing whatever.”

Before TV, computers and iphones, baseball was the American pastime. Town teams had the seats full. Sunday afternoons had fathers and sons watching local heroes play America’s game in a shared experience. Today, even major-league attendance has dropped.

As Yogi Berra once observed, “If people don’t want to come to the ballparks, how are you gonna stop them?” If you want to watch a game and don’t know the dates and times, check the Joes website: http://saintjosephjoes.teams.mnbaseball.org. Then go to schedule. The next games are at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 8 at home against the Sartell Muskies and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 9 at Clear Lake against the Lakers.