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TOPIC: 2007 State Tournament |
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| MLoskota
July 27, 2007
3:27:13 PM
Entry #: 2286189
| Greetings,
The forum here is some of the best entertainment around. Good stuff to everyone who writes and reads here.
On behalf of the Park National League, I wanted to clear up a couple minor things. The four league commissioners communicate on a regular basis – through the season and throughout the off-season. The posts from Chris have been accurate as new information has become available this summer – thanks to him for his hard work and help.
Shawn Vellek deserves all of our thanks for the countless hours he commits to putting on a respectable baseball tournament. Thank you to Kevin Hoy and Minnetonka for putting together the first weekend at a new beautiful park on very short notice.
Class A baseball is grateful to St. Paul’s ongoing relationship with the Saints and the use of Midway for the State Tourney. My understanding is that we would schedule more games there if the Saints would guarantee availability – which they don’t. We enjoy playing there the games we can. Thanks to Bill McGuire for stepping up with his field in the eleventh hour.
Finally, thank you to every Class A league for doing their share to help finance this year’s tournament. This year, we needed everyone’s help, and truly appreciate all of it.
Parade Stadium: The City of Minneapolis has nothing to do with it. The Minneapolis Park and Rec Board (MPRB) is a separate and independent entity from the City. Across the city, the MPRB doesn’t discriminate – they “FrUstrate” everyone – athletes, coaches, homeowners, politicians and business people. During the off-season, we may consider a campaign to address our frustrations by petitioning our elected officials (stay tuned). Until then, we all need to get over it.
Parade sits on valuable land, and as the owners of the land, the MPRB management has chosen alienate their biggest user/customer. My hope and the hope of many others is that they will work with us in the future.
The simple fact is that baseball has become an expensive sport to play. Balls, wood, uniforms, umpires, lights and grass all cost more money than they used to. As we continue the tradition of Minnesota Amateur Baseball, we’ll all continue to pay more for the privilege. In the Metro, it is even more difficult because land is more valuable and there is more to do than go to a town ball game.
If you’d like to make a positive contribution, post this Class A Baseball web site address everywhere you can, on every web site you can. Whether or not your team is playing, call people and bring them out to the yard. Help us get fans out to the games in ALL locations. Bring a couple bucks to throw in the hat – and ask your friends & family to do the same.
Sponsorship of the tournament is an option – if anyone would like to bring a marquee sponsor to the table, we’d love to talk to them.
The idea of initial rounds at different fields – to benefit a particular field or team is interesting and should be considered. In the past, teams have told us they’d rather play at Parade because of the ambiance and the tradition, so other fields haven’t been considered.
This year’s State Tournament will be different than previous years – but the important part of it all, the baseball, will still be the best in the state. I’ve been fortunate enough to play and manage in a few Tournaments over the years, and I’m looking forward to this year as much as any. It’s still the best ten days of the summer.
Matt Loskota
Park National Commissioner
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| WTF
July 29, 2007
9:33:36 AM
Entry #: 2288064
| Lorraine is a great place to play a ball game, always has been. Throwing up a set of lights doesnt make it "his" field...
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| files
July 29, 2007
12:14:50 PM
Entry #: 2288228
| Last time I was there, I saw a big sign that said "McGuire Field." Hard to argue with that...
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| TinyArch
July 29, 2007
3:45:32 PM
Entry #: 2288416
| I believe the city owns the property, but Bill has helped donate a number of things to make McGuire Field a nice place to play and watch a game. You have to have a brick up your a$$ to complain about Bill working to help out the Class A tourney. WTF you read that whole post just to complain about Loskota giving some props... stop being a moron.
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| Mike
July 30, 2007
10:52:30 AM
Entry #: 2289680
| Correct. The city of SSP "owns" the field but it's actually named after Bill's brother, not Bill himself. If it weren't for Bill, that field would be a frisbee golf course, a parking lot, or even a dog park by now.
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| dailyfbo
July 30, 2007
10:58:45 AM
Entry #: 2289701
| WTF must be an old-schooler. He called it Lorraine.
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| ihaveaboner
July 30, 2007
12:06:03 PM
Entry #: 2289887
| Take everything Loskota says with a grain of salt. I know for a fact that one time he took his Edina Realty skeleton key and stole an entire house. He lives there now.
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| SharkBite
July 30, 2007
12:23:26 PM
Entry #: 2289932
| Is the state tournament bracket out? Obviously the teams haven't been set, but what about what seed plays what seed from the different leagues.
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| Chris
July 30, 2007
1:40:12 PM
Entry #: 2290179
| The brackets just went out and your commissioners should be forwarding them shortly if you haven't received them.
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| strike1
August 1, 2007
12:18:12 AM
Entry #: 2293601
| If you want to help with the State Tourney, when I am not on the diamond. Who should I contact? Matt or Little Buddy, a.k.a. Shawn...Thanks for your hard work Shawn! Thanks to Matt L., Billy M. and a cast of tens!
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