Local baseball in other places

Having just completed a major undertaking, publishing When Towns Had Teams, I fully understand the nature of what’s involved in piecing together the past in creating a cohesive manuscript and a book that’s worth reading.

Curious about other aspects of town team baseball that might be available in the United States, I stumbled across this project by two gentlemen in Minnesota. They are writing a book about amateur baseball and town league ball in Minnesota from 1945-1960.

Doing a Yahoo search for “town team baseball”, I found the website of the Shakopee Indians town team in Shakopee, Minnesota. It appears that the league they play in, the Carver Central League, is a league similar to our local Twilight League. The Shakopee team has a mix of players similar to the Roberts 88’er teams that I grew up with in Lisbon Falls. From the Shakopee site, I found the Minnesota Baseball Association site, where I then was able to access the site for Minnesota Glory Days and the project of Armand Peterson and Tom Tomashek.

I was aware of similar forms of baseball similar to what was being played in Maine in other regions of the United States. I know that the South had mill ball teams and the Midwest had industrial leagues. It appears that Minnesota had a very vibrant network of town team baseball and it appears quite healthy today, at least evidenced by their statewide tournaments.

While local baseball hangs by a thread here in Maine, there are still places like Minnesota, where it appears somewhat more healthy and vibrant.