BaseballMilwaukee.com

August 10, 2004

A Hard Habit to Break

Revived rec-league baseball to hold first playoff games.

Author: DAVID BOEHLER
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Article discussing the re-emergence of the Milwaukee County Minor and Open Baseball Leagues into the Milwaukee Baseball League.

Kirk Spano and friends won't admit they saved rec-league baseball in Milwaukee, but it wouldn't be around today if it weren't for them.

There's a lot of satisfaction in being able to keep the league going," Spano said. "It's important to know that Milwaukee County baseball, which has been going on since 1935, didn't die because of budgetary reasons. Local people were able to keep it going.

"Maybe my son will be able to play someday."

It looked as if no one would be able to play baseball in Milwaukee after 2002. That was supposed to be the last season for the county open and minor hardball leagues, thanks to budget problems in Milwaukee County.

"I've got records here in my filing cabinet 20 feet from my desk that go back to 1935," said Tom Kloza, the public services manager for Milwaukee County Parks. "But we just did not have the staff and couldn't do it any longer. It all related to the county budgets."

Now, the 2-year-old Milwaukee Men's Adult Baseball League is getting ready for its first playoff games this weekend.

First-round games and the semifinals will be played from noon until 9 p.m. Saturday and from noon until 5 p.m. Sunday at Zablocki Park. The championship game will be played at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at McCarty Park.

"The first year was mainly to get the league running," said Tom Eckert, who was the league president last season before stepping aside because of work issues. "It was kind of baby steps, more or less. Now, I'm just happy guys are getting a chance to continue playing baseball. Most play just to play it.

"So it's very satisfying."

It wasn't as fun after the 2002 season, when 24 open and minor teams were told the county decided to take away funding for the leagues.

"We were disappointed," said Spano, who plays and manages Long Wong's. "We knew it was possible, though, and we'd have to do this by ourselves someday. We're a recreational baseball league so we're relatively low on the list for priority items."

So a group of managers got together to form the league, including Spano, Eckert, Jim Rinelli and Mike Galwitta. Kloza also helped the group become what he calls "a permit league."

"They basically rent the fields from us and we send them a permit," Kloza said. "Before, we ran the leagues, which meant we took in the teams, scheduled the games, hired the umpires, kept track of the statistics and standings. We did all that."

The major hurdles, according to Spano, were finding people with the time to run the league and raise sponsorship money. In fact, he said the league almost folded before Eckert agreed to be its first-year president.

"You see a lot of money cuts, the 'You can't do this, you can't do that,' " Eckert said. "It's satisfying to know there's other organizations out there that can keep things running with a little bit of hard work."

The league included several teams with lineage going back more than 30 years, including the Milwaukee Police Department team. Despite having a "shoe-string budget" last year, according to Spano, the league expanded from eight to 12 teams this season.

Adding playoffs to the mix is just the icing on the cake, thanks to sponsors like Annex Wealth Management, Burghardt Sporting Goods and Long Wong's Bar and Restaurant.

The league isn't resting on its laurels, either.

Spano and others are trying to restore about 12 fields that have deteriorated under the county's budgetary cutbacks. The field fund is seeking major local corporate sponsors to help pay for the restoration.

According to Spano, the county has even given preliminary permission for sponsors to have minor-league style signs at the diamonds. More information can be found at the league Web site, [www.baseballmilwaukee.com].

"We want to see baseball go on in Milwaukee," Spano said. "It's a sport we all love."

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Record Number: 2004081007190035