Our creed of "any game, anywhere, anytime" was pushed to its limits once again as I attended an amateur town ball game in my wife's home town of Cold Spring, Minnesota this past weekend, which is bursting at the seams with just over 4,000 residents. Cold Spring is one of many small towns in Minnesota that is clinging to what is left of the "town ball" tradition in this country, in which fans and players alike can enjoy local baseball in its purest, non-commercialized form. With the amateur season being so short and the schedule being very "fluid" to put it nicely, I was happy to finally make it to a game on one of our visits.
I will admit that I am guilty of loosely defining the term "ballpark" just to pad my stats (I've been to 137 parks, but who's counting?). For example, just about every Wisconsin collegiate "ballpark" I've been to has been little more than some metal bleachers, a chain link fence, and a couple of dugouts - hardly more than a playing field in a park by any stretch of the imagination. However, despite what you may know or think of Town Ball, Cold Spring Baseball Park definitely earns the moniker of "ballpark." Cold Spring is certainly not your average dinky small town, as they feature several bars and restaurants, a bowling alley, a chain grocery store, a high school, a hotel, a golf course, and even a production brewery. So it's no surprise that there is a long history of baseball in the town and in particular on their current site for nearly a century. The current park has existed in some form since 1923, just in time for the formation of the statewide amateur league, which in its heyday around WWII fielded nearly 800 teams. A covered grandstand was added in 1949, lights were added in the 1980s, and an extensive fundraiser was held a few years ago to update the dugouts, replace the bleachers, and add a party deck and concession stand. I remember NFL star Eric Decker being at the unveiling of the ballpark renovation on our of our visits, who happens to be a Cold Spring native and major financier of the renovation (and also went to high school with my wife).
I was very impressed by the amount of labor and civic pride that went into a ballpark that probably very few people outside of Cold Spring will ever see or care about. The amount of volunteer hours that go into just day-to-day operation and maintaining the pristine field for a community this small was unbelievable to me. Besides the Springers who I saw that night, the park hosts at least 5 other permanent teams, including the local high school and a couple of Legion ball teams, so in the months of June and July there are multiple games here almost every day, which must require a tremendous amount of work. In fact, there was a Legion game wrapping up when we got to the park, so the Springers game didn't even start until 8:30. The covered grandstand, the ivy-covered outfield fence, and the tall bulky light towers give the ballpark that old charm that you just don't find anymore, while the 2015 renovations have helped keep it modern and enjoyable for the casual fan. If Cold Spring was just a little bit bigger, there's absolutely no reason that this ballpark could not logistically host a Northwoods League team - it's certainly at least as nice as half of the parks I've been to in that league, not to mention way nicer than Beloit. Town Ball is unabashedly no-frills, as baseball was originally intended and what many consider to be the only true form of the game. It was a treat to feel like a part of the local community for the evening.
I've spent most of this article romanticizing the town of Cold Spring and amateur baseball, but the reality is that the level of play is probably just above high school quality. Amateur baseball is even below independent league baseball on the spectrum of talent, often a combination of athletes from lower-tier colleges and residents just looking for a hobby after work. A typical roster will thus range in age from teenagers all the way into 40+. The clear star for the Springers was Jordan Barth, who recently helped Augustana College win the D3 Championship. I don't know his exact stats because the league does not offer box scores, but he had at least two run-scoring hits on the evening. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the balding middle-aged starting pitcher for the Springers literally threw only fastballs, and by "fastball" I mean he made Jamie Moyer look like Randy Johnson. His night basically amounted to him playing catch with the catcher as he took no signs or direction, but still managed to somehow scatter only 6 hits in 6 shutout innings. The Springers went on to complete the shutout 9-0 over the Richmond Royals in barely over 2 hours. With no ticket stub, no program, and no published recap of the game available in any form, the only proof I have that I was there is this post and the t-shirt I won from the local dumpster rental company at the annual "Merchant's Night" auction.park rankings and statistics:
aesthetics - 3
views from park - 4 (houses and ivy fence)
view to field - 3 (lots of netting and foul ground)
surrounding area - 2
food variety - 3
nachos - 3
beer - 8 (surprising large selection of Busch and Third Street, not surprisingly cheap)
vendor price - 10
ticket price - 10 (every game is free other than "Day at the Park" fundraiser game)
atmosphere - 7
walk to park - 5 (residential)
parking price/proximity - 9 (free on street)
concourses - 3
team shop - n/a
best food - I guess hot dog?
most unique stadium feature - ivy fence, Deck87 on top of dugout
best jumbotron feature - n/a
best between-inning feature - "Merchant's Night" raffle and watching teams take fielding practice
field dimensions - 325/385/345
starters - ??
opponent - Cold Spring Springers v. Richmond Royals
time of game - 2hrs-ish
attendance - 250-ish
score - 9-0 W
Brewers score that day - 12-4 W
STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 06.14:
Brewers 41-27, +1.5 (3 v. Phillies, 3 @ Pirates)
Reds 25-43, -16.0 (2 @ Royals, 3 @ Pirates, 2 v. Tigers)
Twins 29-35, -5.0 (3 @ Tigers, 3 @ Indians, 3 v. Red Sox)
2018 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 4 (+9 worked)
Peter - 8
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
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