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The end of an era

Lack of players, interest led to demise of County League baseball

News File Photo The Wagon Wheel of Ossineke wins the 1999 Northern Michigan Baseball League Shaughnessy Champions. Pictured left to right are: Paul LaBell, Bob LaBell, Steve Wisniewski, Scott Bays and Nate Barden; back: Ben Krebs, Joe Pokerzynski, Brad Ballentine, Jason Barbeau, Ray Medore, Tim Hoes, Luke Momrick, Tim Alexander, Eric MacKenzie, Brian Glennie, Steve Otsby and Dave Kennedy.

Like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and over time, the once cherished jewel of County League baseball slowly faded in Northeast Michigan.

“You have to give Jerry (LaFave) a lot of credit. He put together meetings, ran the league well and dedicated a lot of his own time and energy to make County League baseball as successful as what it was. Somewhere along the line, the structure fell off, ball players fell off and eventually the league fell off,” Gary Dodd said. “We were fortunate to always have one of the best teams because of some of the college players we brought in. We set the bar and most importantly it was fun. I’ll never forget the great group of guys we had. We all grew up together playing ball and built special friendships that still last to this day.”

Over time, leagues began to disappear and there were less of the small towns and villages participating. Despite a handful of leagues diminishing, the Northern Michigan Baseball League continued, changing its name from the North-Eastern Michigan Baseball League in 1981. This was the last of all the county leagues in northern Michigan.

In the late 90s, the league regularly consisted of roughly 10 teams which still made for a fun and competitive County League.

Those numbers quickly began to drop however. By 2003, only four County League baseball teams remained in one northern Michigan league. Hubbard Lake and Model Printing combined, as did with Lincoln and Mikado in order to have enough players to field a team. Barton City and Ossineke made up the other two teams.

News File Photo Mikado’s Steve Otsby receives a home run greeting from his teammates after his second inning two-run shot that gave Mikado a 11-0 lead.

Over the next few years, some teams dropped and others joined, but the league never had more than five teams again.

Five teams remained in 2012 before the number dropped to four teams in 2013 and 2014. The County League reached an all time low of just three teams in 2015.

It was those three teams–Barton City, Ossineke and Rogers City–who competed in the final year of County League baseball in 2016.

“What made County League baseball so special was just the competitiveness. You had so many teams with so many good players that it really just made for really competitive baseball. That’s really what I remember most about the league was how competitive it was,” former player Chuck Stevens said. “I think over time there was a lack of players and a lack of interest. Numbers dropped because people were moving away and a new generation of kids came in and technology has taken away from kids going outside and wanting to play ball.”

Times changed quickly and despite some younger players joining the County League in hopes of keeping the longstanding tradition alive, it wasn’t enough. The County League wasn’t as competitive as it was once was and Northeast Michigan was no longer a place for competitive summer baseball.

Young players who had aspirations of playing collegiate baseball joined travel teams and traveled downstate to play in summer leagues rather than playing in the County League. Those who did play college ball often stayed close to their schools during the summer and played in larger downstate leagues.

“County League baseball was the beginning of my love for the game. I started as a 7-year-old bat boy for the Wagon Wheel of Ossineke, chasing my big brother around northern Michigan to watch him and the guys play. The league at that time was full of college players and a professional player or two,” former player Jason Barbeau said. “As a 13-year-old, I was thrown into the fire against some great players in that county league. They put it to me, but they also came to me after the games with some advice as well. This is what that league was all about for me as a young kid watching and a young man playing. Sunday afternoons were always a special time for me growing up.”

It is unknown if northern Michigan will ever have a County League baseball resurgence. The trends point to that being unlikely, but the memories of Northeast Michigan’s County League baseball tradition will be passed down for years to come.

LaFave, who passed away in 2012 was responsible for recording many of those County League memories and he kept meticulous records year after year to preserve the history of local County League baseball. LaFave kept track of the records for all the teams in the local leagues and filed game reports for many teams as well.

LaFave was also an avid collector of local memorabilia and hung on to jerseys, gloves, bats and balls as well as newspaper clippings and his books of County League records. Many of his pieces were put on display in 2011 at Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan in an exhibit called “For Love of the Game” and this allowed vistors to get a sense of the rich tradition of local County League baseball.

“My dad just enjoyed giving back. Whether it was announcing or recording stats and information, as long as he was willing and able, he dedicated much of his time giving back to the kids and adults. Growing up, Sunday’s we knew were going to be spent at the ball field,” Jerry’s son Garret LaFave said. “He spent countless hours at the news, the library or wherever he needed to go to get memorabilia and information. He started the County League baseball project and he was determined to keep up with it and he dedicated a lot of time to make sure the history of County League baseball would always be remembered.”

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.

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