national baseball congress

Only in 2020 is it a blog-worthy announcement to say, “I went to a baseball game this week.” This past week I proudly wore one of the masks I’ve made, and attended the championship game of the long-running annual National Baseball Congress World Series tournament. I’ve written about the NBC World Series in prior years, here in 2016, and here in 2018. This month they managed to plan and carry out a 2020 pandemic version of the tournament, in a borrowed stadium.

The COVID-19 rules for attendees: Masks were required to be worn by every person in the stadium. Every other row of seats was roped off, so attendees sat at least a row apart. We were also instructed to sit several seats away from other fans.

The championship game was between the Cheney (KS) Diamond Dawgs and the Santa Barbara Foresters.

My only 7th inning stretch of 2020.

The Foresters led from the start and continued to build on their lead as the game progressed. A rain and lightning delay was looming.

The Diamond Dawgs signaled with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th, that they weren’t going to be rushed out of the stadium. But then came the 3rd out, and congrats to the champions, the Santa Barbara Foresters.

The first gust from the storm hit as I left the seats. The first drops of rain fell as I was getting into my car.

More sports to come?

The last live sports event I’d attended before this was a Big XII basketball game on March 5. On the day of this baseball game, it was rumored that two of the Power-5 collegiate conferences were going to cancel football for the year. The Big 10 did in fact cancel 2020 football, and the Pac-12 postponed their football season to Spring 2021. At the time, I thought this NBC baseball game might be the last live sports event I’d be attending in 2020.

But maybe not. The Big XII has announced that it does not plan to cancel or postpone its 2020 football season. Teams want fans there, too. Wishful thinking on my part? We’ll see what surprises are out there for the final four months of 2020. Wear those masks and be distant and considerate of each other. It’s our only hope of having more chances to head to the stadiums to cheer our teams on this year.

It was early August, and the annual National Baseball Congress World Series was underway. The 81-year old tournament spans two weeks, and brings to town talented young adult players and teams from the far corners of North America. I look forward to it each year, and try to get to at least a few games. On weekends, they play round-the-clock. I managed to stay until morning once … back in 2009.

This year an amazing thing happened. A group of ex-MLB players formed a team and entered the tournament. They called their team the Kansas Stars.

We saw Roger Clemens pitch, with his son Koby Clemens as his catcher.

Roger also played catcher one night, to ceremonial first-pitch thrower, Toby Keith, who also suited up and helped manage the team.

The games were sold out; the stadium was packed, and people were watching through the outfield fence.

We saw KC Royals World Series pitcher Jeremy Guthrie pitch…

… and 1st Base/batter extraordinaire and super-dad Adam LaRoche play first base and hit home runs.

Drake LaRoche was on the field warming up with his dad and other Stars.

The team roster of former pros who came to town tells the story. Check it out. I can’t adequately express my appreciation and admiration to them for coming.

But the thing is, with all of this star power, it wasn’t seeing the Stars play as much as it was seeing them form a team together, and being competitive again for love of the game, and for their fans’ love of the game, and love for a historic tournament. The former MLB stars were personable and accessible; posing endlessly for selfies and signing autographs with complete generosity, taking their time with kids and adult fans alike.

autographs-and-selfies

On the field, they were competitors to the core. Each game was a good one. In the tournament semi-final game, the Stars fought for 17 innings against a young, uber-talented team from Hays, KS. The Stars went through pitcher after pitcher; ultimately drafting players from the field to pitch to keep the game going. Just after midnight, Hays sent the Stars packing, with a run that broke the 10-10 tie score. The next night in the tournament final, Hays fell to the Santa Barbara Foresters.

This special team and the tournament got a lot of attention in the press and in baseball blogs. The final game of the tournament was carried nationally by ESPNU and WatchESPN. Those writers and commentators have captured the magic of the moment so much better than me. But for me it was a privilege to have experienced those seven straight magical nights in the ballpark in August 2016. It was an emotional thing I won’t ever forget.

Summer is over, and we are well into a gorgeous Autumn. But the Summer of 2016 is one of those I will hold onto in my heart.

Pure Fun at the NBC World Series

Former White Sox 1B/DH Adam LaRoche returning to the field for the NBC World Series

Roger Clemens, Other Former MLB Players Scratching the Itch

Roger Clemens takes the mound again, in Kansas

Roger Clemens among former MLB players to play in NBC World Series

There’s something cool about big-league has beens still playing ball

Roger Clemens, Adam LaRoche headline NBC World Series team

Larks knock off stars in 17 innings; advance to NBC title game