Memories of seasons past fill up Johnson Park

NEW ULM -- One long-time baseball fan said that it was like the old Western Minny League days in amateur baseball.

Forty-five minutes prior to the start of the New Ulm Kaiserhoff-Victoria game Friday night, a crowd had already gathered outside Johnson Park waiting for the gates to open.

In fact, the crowd just kept on coming. Both ticket gates had to be opened as baseball fans, not only from New Ulm but from around the area, met at Johnson Park to watch two former New Ulm Kaiserhoff players, Brian Raabe and Terry Steinbach, return to their hometown.

And when both players were introduced, they received a loud ovation from the fans.

Neither player disappointed the locals as each made their presence felt, with Steinbach lining a home run over the left field fence that left the park like a vapor trail.

Raabe was in the middle of two 6-4-3 double plays.

Today, weather permitting, Raabe will play again for the "K" when they host Dassel-Cokato in a 1:30 p.m. contest at Johnson Park.

AMATEUR BASEBALL II: For 11 years, Myron Seidl has been president of the Tomahawk East League.

And in those 11 years, Seidl has seen baseball go from defense and pitching to more of an offensive show.

"Nobody plays defense like they should," said Seidl. "That (defense) does not mean much. Most of the teams now work on offense. Defense is not the strong point of anything."

While defense is not the strong point of most teams, the strength of the Tomahawk East League, and any amateur baseball program, is the volunteers.

Volunteers are the difference between a solid amateur program and one that falls by the wayside.

"In our case (Stark), we still have a lot of volunteers; that is what is takes," Seidl said. "I was talking to (Leavenworth manager) Jeff Cook and he said that there is a little drop-off in volunteers. The people who have been around baseball for 20-30 years know the situation as far as keeping things going -- how the field should look,etc., how to bring people to games and keep the coming.

"There are a lot of small things that volunteers do. Redwood Falls has a strong team this year ,but I don't think that the have the backing of the city. If they did, they would bring a lot of people to the games."

And in most programs, it is the volunteers. In Essig, it is people like Terry Helget and Ron Domeier. In Stark it is Seidl and in Leavenworth, it is the Goblirsch and Cook families. Winthrop has the Melius family and Sleepy Eye has folks like Ralph Zwaschka and Jon Hansen.

"We (Stark) do all the work on the field ourselves as do most teams in the league. That is what keeps the league going."

Zwaschka, who has been involved in amateur baseball in Sleepy Eye for 17 years, with 12 years prior to that in Leavenworth, said that volunteers in the Tomahawk East League, "has the word commitment from the volunteers. They have the people that are dedicated to the game. This league shows a lot of respect for the game."

But Zwaschka also said that the number of volunteers is eroding. "People nowadays have a greater number of interests away from baseball. Twenty-five years ago, we did not have people going away to cabins on weekends, people water ski more. Because of that, it takes people away from the game."

While the Tomahawk East League remains strong, there are other leagues in the area and that state that are folding.

If Zwaschka had a wish to keep amateur baseball strong in all areas, what would he do?

"First of all, people who are state board representatives should have regions represented by someone who lives the that area. The northern part of the state is highly represented state board members. The southern half is poorly represented. When it comes to voting, the leagues get to cast votes for state board members and there are more leagues per say in the north than the south. Here in the last month, three teams in southern Minnesota -- Butterfield, Adrian and Welcome -- folded. Why? Because of the population swing. That area (southwestern Minnesota) is on a decrease."

That decrease means less volunteers to keep programs going.

TWO FORMER MVP'S ON FIELD: If you were in attendance at the Kaiserhoff-Victoria baseball game Friday night, you saw history made. There were two former MVP's of the Minnesota State Legion Tournament on the field for New Ulm at the same time.

Terry Steinbach won the award in 1978 and Brady Ranweiler won in it 1995.

DITTRICH TO EUROPE: Adam Dittrich, a 1995 graduate of Minnesota Valley Lutheran and a senior at Augsburg College, has been selected to play baseball in Belgium and the Netherlands this summer from July 6-17.

This is the same program that Landon Rathmann of New Ulm was selected to participate in a few years ago.

Dittrich said that in the last six games for Augsburg, he was hitting "around .600"

"I know that we go over and play international teams from all over Europe. There is one minor and one major tournament, with teams from pretty much from every country in Western Europe."

He said that this is the first time that he has been over to Europe, "and it will be interesting to see what kind of ball is played there."

Until then, Dittrich will suit up for the Kaiserhoff.

"If I play well enough, there is a chance that I can be drafted to a league in Germany for summer ball. But that will be interesting."

Dittrich, a senior, is majoring in business with a specialization in management.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer