Sitting around talking baseball and news

In my world of newsing this week, it was pretty busy. New Rchland held its annual night out and had record attendance. I spoke with the Waseca mayor for a while Tuesday night and came away with a nice story. Chatting with Randy, he made the comment that he probably shouldn’t be suggesting stories to the press. I should have stopped him, but a valuable lesson I’ve learned in the newspaper and regular world is this, “If someone is talking, let them talk.” 

He shared the story about how Waseca is set to get $4 million in infrastructure funds and although interesting, that isn’t the direction I’m taking this. Here’s what I would have said if I had interrupted him. “Our readers should always tell me what they want us to write about.”

I can safely say that each week over the past two months, we’ve written at least one, usually more, stories requested by readers. I think it helps that I’m out and about all the time. It might also help that I tell every subscriber to let me know if they want something in the paper. Regardless, I’m grateful for the feedback. Please keep the suggestions coming. 

The Braves season came to an end Monday night in Jordan. Kelvin pitched a good game, but WEM threw better. Our only hit came in the ninth inning when Kelvin notched a base hit.

I remember last year's final game, a loss to Minnesota Lake. I sat around for a long time after the game, so did Kelvin, Blake, and Tink. Finally Tink walked over and said, “It’s always hard to go home after the last game. But it’s time to go.” 

I didn’t play a whole lot this season and missed many games for many reasons. (Mainly I work a lot.) So even though it’s the first time I’ve had a season end as a player since 2017, it wasn’t as difficult. 

In 2017 I played my last summer of legion ball for New Richland. I remember my final game well. Drew Paukert was our coach and we knew we weren’t going to play in the playoffs because we weren’t sure we would have enough players. So I knew that this final regular season game would be my last. 

We won 8-0. I went 3-3 with some RBIs and pitched the final two innings. 

I remember walking up for my final at bat. I didn’t really think about it, if I had, it probably wouldn’t have ended so well. On the first pitch I laced a triple over the right fielder’s head to the wall. (I’m a left handed hitter.) 

I then went out and pitched the final inning, the last time I have ever pitched. That was tough. I still remember trying to take my time and stretch that final inning out as long as I could. I allowed two runners before Drew came out to ask me if I was tired. No, I just wanted to keep pitching. 

I don’t remember my last pitch or the last out, but I do remember that feeling on the mound and the thought that went through my mind. “Enjoy this.” 

I don’t know how long I stuck around after that final game, but whatever the length of time, it wasn’t enough. 

I’ve shared in a previous column how my high school career ended a year prior, so I’ll share it in abbreviated fashion. 

In my final high school game Jack Schultz threw a no-hitter, but we still lost 2-1 to St. James. I went 0-2 with a walk and my only regret was swinging at the first pitch when I came up with the bases loaded. I never chased, but our assistant coach came up to me before the at-bat and told me to look for a good pitch to hit on the first pitch. And I chased a pitch low and outside. 

I remember sitting in a circle with all of our teammates. Everyone was crying when that same coach told us something I will never forget. “If today is the worst day of your life, think about how blessed your life is.” 

If I can be sad about a baseball season ending, think about how blessed my life is.

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” – Camille Pissarro