| Baseball Minnesota |
| A new paper has hit the stands in Minnesota. It?s called Baseball Minnesota, a monthly issue covering baseball in only the state of Minnesota. The favorite slogan of the newspaper, ?Land of 10,000 Lakes? Perhaps. The Land of 10,000 Ball Players? Definitely. They just came out with their premiere issue which included the 2003 college preview. They took a look at all the college conferences and teams, complete with player stats and pre-season conference rankings. April will be the Minnesota high school preview and in May we should see the amateur baseball preview for the upcoming 2003 road to Dundas and Northfield, sites of the 2003 amateur state tournaments. |
| If you are a baseball fan in Minnesota this is a dream come true. This paper is all about Minnesota baseball, nothing more. For more details on how to subscribe to this awesome monthly paper email them at baseballminnesota@yahoo.com or call 612-203-0116. It?s $10 per year for 12 issues. |
| To give you all a taste of what this paper is all about here is an article by Baseball Minnesota publisher Bryan Zollman in the March premiere issue. One of the many great stories. |
| Top of the First |
| by Bryan Zollman |
| Before putting this publication together, I had a conversation with a person who knows the publishing business. That person said baseball wasn?t what it used to be in Minnesota. ?Nobody plays baseball anymore,? he said. |
| Obviously this person hadn?t attended the amateur state tournament in St. Cloud & Cold Spring last year, which drew more than 12,000 fans. He sure hadn?t seen New Ulm?s Jim Senske win his first state title after countless appearances at the Minnesota High School state tournament. And he probably was oblivious to the fact that the Minnesota Twins went from possible elimination to Central Division champions. |
| There are close to 300 amateur teams and 300 high school teams in this state. That means there is more than 10,000 young men who love to play baseball. The land of 10,000 lakes? How about the land of 10,000 4-6-3 double plays. |
| The only problem is that there isn?t a consistent resource relaying the many stories that take place year in and year out. Sure, there are small town newspapers that cover local teams, but there is nothing that gives a wide angel view of the state of baseball in Minnesota as a whole. That is one reason why this publication was created. The other is that I have the same infatuation with the game as you. I don?t know if there is anything better than traveling from small town to small town playing baseball with your buddies. Other than having children, I am certain there is nothing better on earth. |
| The best part is that while this is being written, college teams are preparing for their annual spring trips down south. High schoolers are winding down their basketball and hockey seasons, and getting ready for baseball. And somewhere there is a 9-year-old boy who looks out his window every morning, praying the snow has vanished, leaving stretches of green as far as the eye can see. |
| This little boy sits at his window, rubbing oil into the mitt his father gave him for Christmas. He?s dreaming of summer, like we all are, yet he has bigger plans than the rest of us. He?s going to be a star some day. And as soon as the at snow thaws, he?ll bring his newly oiled mitt outside where he will bounce a tennis ball off the garage door for hours everyday until it?s time to eat dinner. After dinner he?ll practice some more. But to him it isn?t practice. To him it?s fun. To him, it?s spring. To him? it?s always baseball season. |
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