Opinion: Could Iowa's diamonds bring together more than just ballplayers?
On the third day of the three hottest days on record (average global temperatures of 17.01 C, 17.18 C, and 17.18 C), a welcome rain blew through, erasing the mugginess and lowering the game-time temperature to a refreshing 75 degrees. For this, a Durant baseball ridesharing bus could have picked up players in Wilton and then West Liberty, on a Highways 927 and 6 zigzag, as the teams headed to Highway 22 and postseason games in Wellman hosted by Mid-Prairie.
Because all teams play at least one game in postseason Iowa high school baseball and softball, late June and early July days are such a celebration of our state's map. Eagle Grove thumps Manson 6-2. Mount Ayr sneaks by Coon Rapids-Bayard 3-2. New Hampton outlasts Osage 7-6 in extra innings. Collins-Maxwell sends Madrid home 5-4. When else do all these towns flicker momentarily in our neurons?
Mid-Prairie's Bailey Field seems a dream. Past the outfield fence, the view resembles a painted backdrop of rolling, wooded hills. Homers launched into the gloaming surely would make it to those treetops, though a mile away, and float into eternity.
Mid-Prairie and nearby Hillcrest Academy ballgames are great. Kalona Bars (square-shaped ice cream sticks dipped in chocolate and coated in graham cracker dust) are always available — until they sell out. Shaded grass slopes offer some informal seating down the baselines. The crowd feels like a family reunion.
For someone used to professional baseball, high school baseball has some curiosities and groans. Foul balls are retrieved and returned to the game's supply. Grandparents toss bottles of sports drinks to players in the dugout. Courtesy runners can be used whenever a pitcher or catcher reaches base. The right fielder can relieve the pitcher as the pitcher moves to shortstop. A good pitcher can strike out nine in six innings of one-run ball and also go 3-for-4 at the plate. A routine grounder can turn into an error allowing a baserunner to score from first. And fans are often asked to endure this: A pitch lands 3 feet in front of home plate. The batter, of course, does not swing. Yet, invariably, a parent feels compelled to scream, "Good eye. Good eye."
On this beautiful summer evening, four teams (Durant, Mid-Prairie, West Liberty, Wilton) representing four counties (Cedar, Muscatine, Scott, Washington) and six communities (Bennett, Durant, Kalona, Wellman, West Liberty, Wilton) coalesced into an ephemeral regional, athletic confab. One has to wonder if we could derive something more tangible, enduring, and enriching in terms of community building from these enthusiastic couple hours of collaboration. What if such tournament activities became moveable, popup feasts of innovation and idea sharing? What if all communities present could come out larger winners from the contests?
We don't have many histories of cultural practice facilitating these tournaments as vectors of cooperation and improvement for communities We do, though, have small precedents. Over the course of a season, fans routinely are encouraged to bring canned goods to a game to stock a food bank or bid on donated cakes to raise funds for cancer research. Those collaborative seeds could be nurtured into robust harvests of more substantial community building projects.
When six communities come together, for even a fraction of a day, we could cultivate and tap synergies more expansive than sports. We could ignite community imagination. We could come away from this event with more than two box scores.
This isn't on the teams; core fans; or ushers, grounds crew, and hot dog sellers at the ballfield. They already do their part. It's an opportunity for the rest of us.
On a surprisingly delightful evening in early July, minds, talents, perspectives, and experiences from six towns came together to watch some baseball games. The players knew how to hit round-trippers. As communities, at these events, we should learn how to hit some home runs of our own.
Patrick Muller is a visual artist living in Hills.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Opinion: Could diamonds bring together more than just ballplayers?
