My brother Chad is going to very disappointed with me regarding this post, he is expecting me to do my finest work today! I went to an Eau Claire Express baseball game with my Dad last night, it was his 71st birthday, he treated me! Well my brother called and basically said that I need to write a profile on our father that was one of the best I have ever written or this trip would be a waste of time. He was kidding of course and I am going to write a profile on my Dad, however it is not going to be today. I drove over to Mankato, Minnesota from Eau Claire, Wisconsin this morning. I am going to a Mankato MoonDogs game tonight and then I will head to Duluth, Minnesota to catch a Huskies game in the morning.
I am excited to write a profile about my dad, he inspired me and is a big reason I am on this trip. I need more time than I have, I have been struggling with writers block for a little while and I think I will be coming out of it soon, I know how I want to construct and write up the profile on my father so that is half the battle. I have been through Wisconsin the last week and will be in my hometown of Ashland in a couple of days, so I have seen a lot of my family and my mind and body has relaxed a little bit from all the traveling so I think that has also contributed to my writers block.
I am comparing a lot of it to the “grind” a baseball player faces when he goes through an entire season, there are moments in the season when everything just works and it seems so easy and effortless, then there are the times like I am going through right now that it seems impossible. I have a lot to say about the people and places I have seen but when I sit do to write about it, my mind seems to go blank! But what I like about blogging everyday is that I am forced to write something! As far as the games are going I have seen a bunch of teams in the Northwoods League, which is a college summer league.
There are a lot of these leagues for college players, I will attend quite a few Northwoods League games, I personally think it is one of the better leagues out of them all. The most famous college summer league is the Cape Cod League, which is out east and has been around the longest. I will be attending some of those games in July or August. I have run into people that have said that baseball is in the decline and that football is/should be our National Pastime. Well attendance may be declining at the Major and Minor League level but the interest and participation in the game at all other levels seems to be getting stronger. I included links to the different summer college baseball leagues, check them out, there is a lot of baseball being played all around the U.S. at this level. It is great baseball to watch!
National Alliance of College Summer Baseball
- Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League – Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern New Jersey, Staten Island NY
- Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League – DC, Central Maryland, and Suburban Virginia
- Cape Cod Baseball League – Cape Cod area of Massachusetts
- Florida Collegiate Summer League – Orlando area
- Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League – Western Ohio and neighboring Michigan and Kentucky
- Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League – Eastern Long Island in New York
- New England Collegiate Baseball League – Mainland New England plus eastern New York state
- New York Collegiate Baseball League – Northwestern New York state
- Southern Collegiate Baseball League – Western North Carolina and Northwestern South Carolina
- Sunbelt Baseball League – Northern Georgia
- Valley Baseball League – Northwestern Virginia
National Amateur Baseball Federation
- Continental Collegiate Wood Bat League
- Florida Collegiate Summer League (see NACSB section above)
- Metropolitan Collegiate Summer Baseball League of Illinois
- Midwest Collegiate League[8]
- New York Collegiate Baseball League (see NACSB section above)
- St. Louis Metro Collegiate Baseball League
- Tri-State Collegiate League
- Livonia Collegiate League (MI)
National Baseball Congress[edit]
- Alaska Baseball League (BA)[9]
- California Collegiate League (BA)[10]
- CenTex Collegiate League[11]
- Coastal Collegiate League[12]
- Colorado Collegiate Baseball League[13]
- Jayhawk Collegiate League (BA)[14]
- M.I.N.K. Collegiate Summer Baseball League (BA, BD)[15]
- Pacific International League[16]
- Rocky Mountain Baseball League[17]
- Sooner Collegiate League[18]
- Walter Johnson League[19]
- Western Baseball Association[20]
Other leagues
- Arizona Collegiate Wood Bat League[21]
- Atlantic Baseball Confederation – New Jersey
- Ban Johnson Amateur Baseball League[22]
- Boise Collegiate Summer League[23]
- Carolina-Virginia Collegiate League[24]
- Coastal Plain League (BA, BD, OSC)[25]
- Collegiate Baseball League Europe[26]
- Connecticut Collegiate Baseball Leaguewww.ctcollegebaseballleague.org
- Futures Collegiate Baseball League (BA, BD, OSC)[28]
- Golden State Collegiate Baseball League[29]
- Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League (BA)[30]
- Horizon Air Summer Series (BD)[31]
- Lewis & Clark Baseball League[32]
- Mountain Collegiate Baseball League[33]
- Myrtle Beach Collegiate Summer Baseball League[34]
- New England Collegiate Baseball League (BA, BD, OSC)[35]
- Northwoods League (BA, BD, OSC)[36]
- Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League[37]
- Orange County Collegiate Wood Bat League[38]
- Pacific West Baseball League[39]
- Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (BA, OSC)[40]
- Prospect League (BA, BD, OSC)[41]
- Rockingham County Baseball League[42]
- Southern California League[43]
- Texas Collegiate League (BA, BD, OSC)[44]
- The Beach League[45]
- Upper Deck League[46]
- West Coast League (BA, BD, OSC)[47]
- Western Major Baseball League[48] (BD)
- West Michigan Baseball League[49]
That is it for now, I have my dads profile in the works and Front Row Amy of the Brewers has also agreed to be profiled sometime this summer, we need to get our schedules to work. Anyway, I will come out of this slump I am in!
If you enjoy this story and you would like to help me complete the “Baseball in America Tour 2014”, which is roughly 265 days, please click on the following link to see how you can help at www.baseballbuddha.com. Follow me on Twitter and like my Facebook page! Please share this on your Facebook page and Twitter. I appreciate all the help I can get!
[…] MINK league, I did a blog about the summer college baseball and all the leagues a few weeks back, click here to read about them. These leagues are all over the US and are a great way for college players to […]
John you are living the dream my friend what I would love to do. You get to write, you get to watch baseball everyday for an experience and this week you are back in your home state enjoying familiar territory. Sure you’ll get writers block, but you write your way out in the experience to great success. Take care and best wishes. Paul.