Ball and Glove at Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, IA
Monday, September 30, 2002
Major League Baseball, who cares?
Love to play: Eastern Iowa baseball is what the game is all about
by DALE KLEIN
I realize MLB averted another strike, but I couldn't have cared less if it did strike. They cut it too close and again have taken it too far.
One reason I would not have missed it is because I get my baseball fix via the Telegraph Herald Web site sports section. There is nothing like the baseball that is played back in eastern Iowa. Whether it be semi-pro, college or high school baseball, it's played in its purest form.
These people play the game because they love to play the game. It's that simple.
These are people you work with and can relate to as our parents could with the baseball players of the past.
To relate to today's player, average salary of $2.4 million, we would have to be lucky enough to win the lottery and, when cashing in the ticket, utter, "It's not about the money."
I remember growing up, with the Balltown baseball field in my back yard. Thinking back, I can't remember a day we didn't play ball. We didn't call each other to get a game together, we just naturally all went to the field knowing that others would be there to play. When it rained, we would take the game to our basement and use anything we could that wouldn't break the windows, with the exception of one time. The ball might be a sock, a newspaper wrapped with tape, or that softball-shaped thing that mom used to scrub the baked-on food in the bottom of pans before there were non-stick surfaces. The bat could be a stick, broom handle, pool cue or our hands if nothing else was available. One way or another, we were going to play baseball or something that resembled it based on what we had and where we were.
There is nothing like the semi-pro league in eastern Iowa around the Dubuque area. After playing for Balltown, I played several years in a semi-pro league for the Waterloo Merchants while attending the University of Northern Iowa. Don't get me wrong, it was very competitive, but not every little town had a team like they do near Dubuque.
I just want to thank the TH for putting all the semi-pro scores on the Web site because it is still very fun to follow from a distance. Seeing the names I used to play against and the new names from the high schools and colleges finding a roster spot to play when their season ends is what it's all about.
About 10 years ago, I moved out of Iowa to Colorado. I wasn't able to find a similar league out here either, and after several years, softball didn't seem to provide enough of a challenge. So I traded my spikes for hiking boots, as did my younger brother, Jeff ("Coop"), now living in San Dimas, Calif. It's not baseball, but hiking to the top of a 14,000 foot peak (I've completed 11 of Colorado's 54) has its challenges and can be equally as satisfying as winning the Dyersville tournament (I was on the 1983 Balltown team that beat the Dubuque Merchants, 12-9, for the championship).
On a recent trip this summer, Jeff and I hiked to the summit of Colorado's highest peak, Mount Elbert. At 14,440 feet, Mount Elbert also is the second-highest peak in the lower 48 states. The hike was 7.6 miles round trip, with 4,000 feet of elevation gain (very steep). We made it up to the summit in about four hours. We refueled our bodies with Cliff bars and Gatorade, took in the incredible views and rested a bit.
Dale and Jeff on the summit of Colorado's highest peak, Mount Elbert
Then I looked at my brother and in my best Kevin Costner voice said, "Hey, you wanna have a catch."
He replied, "Of course."
With that we opened our backpacks, pulled out our gloves and had a catch at 14,440 feet. We received a few crazy looks, but most of the people nodded in approval as if to be swept back to their childhood playing days - wishing they had brought their gloves to the summit, too.
Baseball is something that will always be with me no matter where I am because of the love I had for playing the game growing up - not because of any MLB player of the past, present or uncertain future.
The reason we played catch on the summit was to thank the fans that followed and supported us, the coaches that coached us, the people we competed against, the teammates we played with, Mom and Dad, who made it all possible, and to remember the incredible amount of fun we had playing the game.
If you're from eastern Iowa, don't ever worry about losing MLB to a strike, just focus on the wonderful, competitive game of semi-pro baseball you will always have, played by the people you really know.
When's the next old-timers game?
Klein, 36, was born in Balltown, Iowa, and is a former left-handed pitcher and centerfielder for the 1984 Fall State runner-up Leo High Rockets and Balltown semi-pro baseball teams. Currently, he is an inside-sales rep for SpectraLink Corp. in Boulder, Colo.
1983 Balltown Dyersville Tournament Champions
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