fishbaseball.org
651-335-0030
contactus@fishbaseball.org
  • Home
  • 2023 Schedule
  • Fish Baseball
    • Roster
    • Play for the Fish
    • Home Field
    • Fish Magazine
    • Past Seasons
    • Contact Us
    • Links
  • Pro Shop
  • Grant's Travels
  • Bowling Tournament

The End of Grass is Nigh

7/24/2019

0 Comments

 
And here upon us are the Last Days of the Grass.
 
Sounds like a Steinbeck or Hemingway line, but really we’re just referring to the upcoming makeover of the playing surface of First National Bank of River Falls Field, set to start with excavation on August 5.
 
The most common question we get this summer from visitors is – “You mean they are going to tear up this? This is the nicest yard and grass around! Why would we they do that?” Understandable question, and I’m a purist too. Let me give forward a little background and list the reasons.
 
First, let me start here: A huge thank you to Mr. Gary Meyer, who has been the volunteer from the baseball council spearheading this turf since 2013. It looks immaculate, and that’s in large part thanks to Gary, along with his contingent of volunteer mowers who take care of it during the summer.
 
Second – we’re purists too. The amount of money and man-hours it takes to maintain turf like this – from the water bill to the fertilizer bill, mowing every other day – it’s a lot. If you’re Target Field…dudes get paid for that. If you’re CHS where the Saints play…dudes get paid for that. If you’re a city-operated ballpark…dudes get paid for that. So, if it wasn’t a tremendous effort to maintain the field by cash-strapped volunteers…maybe a different discussion.
 
Now some background: when we originally conceived of this park, it was meant to be turf. You can still find it on some of our original marketing materials when we first were knocking on doors around RF in 2011. We were not able to raise enough capital then, but when this MLB Grant opportunity fell in our lap – game on! Let me count some reasons…
 
1. Access. With a natural field, you can only play some many games during the day without beat it up – the mound, the plate, etc. You’ve also got to have a groundskeeper there to help outside users (youth baseball, for example) putting more stress on volunteers. Turnover time between games is ½ hour to 40 minutes for prep – with turf it will be however long it takes to clear the dugouts. We should be able to get much more access for our community than before.
 
2. Weather. Spring seasons are hard to get in for high school teams, not only in River Falls, but in the area. Our field will allow our teams to get more games in and sooner in the season, it should serve as a resource for all of Western Wisconsin. Also, have you ever sat through a Fish rain delay, had the rain stop, and then have to wait a whole 30 minutes more for us to fix the puddles? We’ll be done with that – rain stops, we go back to playing. That will be great…as well as no more of those “Is the field too wet for a game?” discussions. So again…more access.
 
3. Today’s turf is not the Metrodome. With today’s turf, it’s much more like playing on natural grass. In fact, anecdotally from Minnetonka Millers head coach, Kevin Hoy, (they have had turf from a long time there), “You’ll love it – guys get hurt less, uniforms stay cleaner, field maintenance is so much easier…it’s a no brainer. If you can get past the purist part of you, and I get it, it’s going to be great for your community.”
 
Will I shed a tear when the grass and dirt goes in a few weeks? You bet. I was here the day we laid that grass, I’ve even got to mow the field once, and helping to take care of the field has been a labor of love. But I know what’s coming in its place will be great for River Falls, and especially great for kids in and around River Falls, like the 90 of them who came out to our youth clinic last week – it will be a more sustainable ballpark that almost guarantees the next generation of Fighting Fish will have just as much fun as the current one.
 
Until next time, Go Fish!
 
Grant
​
0 Comments

River Falls Days Weekend!

7/10/2019

1 Comment

 
​River Falls Days is here! Quite possibly my favorite weekend of the year. There are many guides to festivals and insider tips - here is our guide to enjoying Fish Baseball to its fullest during this great weekend of the year!
 
Wednesday night – the Fish take on the New Richmond Millers. The Millers and Fish always seem to play a close game, so for this one make sure to grab two cold Leinie’s from the Lodge. You’ll have the first one as your opener to RF Days – sure, The Greatest Show on the Kinni doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, but you’ve got my permission to pregame! You’ll need that second one to calm your nerves when it’s inevitably a one-run game in the 9th.
 
Thursday – there’s no Fish Baseball this day. So go do all your RF Days things – garage sales, the carnival with the kiddos, and there is even a Yoga and Healthy Eating class so you can stretch out and figure out how not to have that Wednesday beer next time. The legion team has a game here at the Bank that evening, and then the fireworks (MOVED TO THURSDAY THIS YEAR, TELL YOUR FRIENDS!) will be at Hoffman Park at Dusk!
 
Friday – First, look for your local Fighting Fish team in the parade! They put our towards the front – we’re in the 30s somewhere – but make sure to set up early in the route because the team has to make an 8pm start. If the line moved too slow, the Fish Float will be pull off the route to make it to the park by 7:15pm. J Then, the Fish take on the St. Paul Hops at 8pm – insider information is that the starting pitcher for RF will  be none other than The Jaxin Larson. Why is this special? It’s very special tonight because Jaxin is being deployed with his unit to Afgahnistan next week, so that will make this his last appearance in Fish Orange for 2019 as he trades it in for Cammo. Not only come support the Fish, but come support Jaxin – a kid with a great attitude who is the epitome of what the Fish are about!
 
Saturday – Saturday night is more league action – the Fish take on their Highway 29 Rivals, the Spring Valley Hawks. This is another key SCVBL league game (see standings below) and it starts at 7:00pm. No insider info for this one – just should be a good baseball game!
 
During the day on Saturday – there is also an RF/UWRF alumni game at 3:00pm. They always need extra players, so just show up with your glove, tell them you played for UWRF, and make up a year. With no active baseball program at UWRF, no one will be able to verify you, or not, with Google.
 
Sunday – 1pm – another league game against the Ellsworth Hubbers. At this one bring your glove too, because we may be out of pitching at that point and taking volunteers from the crowd.
 
We sincerely hope you have a great River Falls Days weekend! Until next time, Go Fish!
1 Comment
    Picture

    Author

    Grant Miller has been general manager of the Fighting Fish since 2008.

    Archives

    July 2019
    June 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly