Northwoods League Question

[TheCrew07]

This is mostly for Colby, but anyone is welcome to chime in, I'm pretty uneducated in regards to this.

 

I attended the home opener for the Green Bay Bullfrogs tonight, mostly because a very good friend of mine is hosting 4 players and gets free season tickets. The Bullfrogs won in extras, it was a pretty sloppy game, lots of errors and wild throws and such.

 

I had always got the impression from various people who post on the minor league forum that the NWL was pretty much a joke, and considering Weaver and Pierre are the 2 best players to come through the league I can see that point of view.

 

However, tonight I was looking through the media guide/program and every single team in the NWL set attendance records last year, and they are trending positively again early this year. I won't go through the names, as browsing the players on the rosters (Battle Creek and Green Bay) I didn't see a single name that I recognized other than the local kid from Pulaski.

 

I guess my question is this, if attendance continues to rise and the ball parks improve, is there ever any hope of the NWL competing with the Cape Cod league for the best prospects, or is that a pipe dream of sorts? We had a lengthly debate about it at the game tonight and I'm curious as to what people more educated than myself think about the subject? After witnessing a game that really reminded me of high school baseball in the area, I was of the opinion that the quality would never match the Cape Cod league. The other side had some valid points, this is a starting point, things should only get better and so on. I'm really curious what other people think about the subject.

[JJ Hardy Har Har]

Quote:

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I had always got the impression from various people who post on the minor league forum that the NWL was pretty much a joke, and considering Weaver and Pierre are the 2 best players to come through the league I can see that point of view.

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The quality of baseball is not a "joke" (I have called Warner Park a "joke" though - which it is). I'm not a fan of the league, as I prefer a professional brand of baseball, but for a league that's been around since just 1994, and based in and around Wisconsin (of all places), this is a long list of big leaguers:

 

* Jeremy Accardo, Alexandria Beetles, 2001

* Clint Barmes, Kenosha Kroakers, 1998, Waterloo Bucks, 1999

* Joe Bisenius, Duluth Huskies, 2003

* T.J. Bohn, Brainerd Mighty Gulls, 2001

* Mike Burns, Brainerd Mighty Gulls, 1998-1999

* Matt Cepicky, Waterloo Bucks, 1997

* Jermaine Clark, Kenosha Kroakers, 1995

* Chris Demaria, St. Cloud River Bats, 2000-2001

* Andy Dominique, Kenosha Kroakers, 1995

* Jeff Duncan, Waterloo Bucks, 1998

* Andre Ethier, Rochester Honkers, 2002

* Dave Gassner, Wausau Woodchucks, 1998

* Jay Gibbons, Manitowoc Skunks, 1996-1997

* Tom Gorzelanny, St. Cloud River Bats, 2001

* Tim Gradoville, Waterloo Bucks, 2001

* Curtis Granderson, Mankato Mashers, 2001

* Jack Hannahan, Mankato Mashers, 1999

* Justin Huisman, St. Cloud River Bats, 1998

* Casey Janssen, Wisconsin Woodchucks, 2001

* Jimmy Journell, Waterloo Bucks, 1997, 1999

* Bobby Kielty, Kenosha Kroakers, 1996

* Ian Kinsler, Madison Mallards, 2002

* Mark Lowe, Wisconsin Woodchucks, 2002-2003

* Jay Marshall, Rochester Honkers, 2002

* Paul McAnulty, Mankato Mashers, 2001

* Pat Neshek, Wisconsin Woodchucks, 2000

* Wes Obermueller, Wausau Woodchucks, 1995, Waterloo Bucks, 1996-1997

* Val Pascucci, Rochester Honkers, 1998

* Juan Pierre, Manitowoc Skunks, 1996

* Robb Quinlan, Dubuque Mud Puppies, 1996, St. Cloud River Bats, 1998

* Erasmo Ramirez, Kenosha Kroakers, 1995

* Mike Rouse, Brainerd Mighty Gulls, 1999

* Shawn Sedlacek, Dubuque Mud Puppies, 1996

* George Sherrill, Kenosha Kroakers, 1997

* Ryan Spilborghs, Madison Mallards, 2001

* Jeff Weaver, Dubuque Mud Puppies, 1995

* Josh Willingham, Austin Southern Minny Stars, 1998-1999

* Robb Quinlan, Dubuque Mud Puppies, 1996, St. Cloud River Bats, 1998

* Ben Zobrist, Wisconsin Woodchucks, 2003

[jschris]

You also should see some better ball as the season progresses. Most of the teams only have one or two practices together before the season starts, so they haven't had time to work with each other. It's also possible the teams have some short term "filler" just to get through the first couple of weeks. I think I mentioned this in another thread that Eau Claire only had 12 players in uniform for the opening series because several of the players they signed were still with their college teams.

 

The league is solid and I know their goal is to be better than Cape Cod. It's a difficult goal, but perhaps not unattainable. The list of major leaguers is impressive, but there are also quite a few decent prospects making their way through the minors as well. I'm looking forward to seeing where Jordan Zimmerman (UW-SP, Eau Claire Express) gets drafted on Thursday.

 

And Warner Park really is a joke!

[colbyjack]

jchris nailed it about the quality of play. It will improve as the season progresses and as more players report. The draft always plays a part on who shows up and who doesn't.

 

Obviously the talent on the Cape is king, and then there is Team USA as well, both of which typically grab the best college players in the nation.

 

The NWL talent is often considered second best among the summer college leagues. The Alaskan League may have something to say about that, and the Texas Collegiate League is getting better. Again as jchris noted, the NWL wants to be the best of them all, but I just don't know how they would ever overthrow the Cape. There is just too much tradition that they would be going up against. Plus, the teams are all within an hour of themselves I believe, which is a huge drawback for the NWL, which has teams in WI, MN, Canada and I believe Michigan also has a team that is new this year. That's an awful lot of travel, although that does prepare the players for life in the minor leagues (which isn't exactly a selling point).

[Mass Haas]

Not sure about the state of Northwoods League ballfields, but I'm about 20 miles from Wareham on the Cape. Spillane Field is nice, not tremendous, basically just bleachers down each line and a bit in the outfield.

 

They did lay new sod in the infield (last fall) and outfield (this spring):

 

www.gatemen.org/spillanef...ield14.jpg

 

www.gatemen.org/spillaneo...kypic2.jpg

 

Yes, there are lights:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/and...211490931/

[Postseason2006]

We had Ben S here in LaCrosse.

[burniebrewer]

You also should see some better ball as the season progresses. Most of the teams only have one or two practices together before the season starts, so they haven't had time to work with each other.

 

Not to mention the transition to using wood bats. These guys had just been swinging aluminum for the past 6 months.

 

Also, Ian Kinsler played in Madison? I did not know that. Nice list, JJ.

[jschris]

I was going to mention LaCrosse's Stanczyk and Ned Yost IV, who played with the Wisconsin Woodchucks, as two of Milwaukee's prospects. I wasn't sure if there were more, so I just deleted the idea entirely.

 

Last year, Eau Claire had a catcher named Nevin Ashley. He really looked sharp, even though he admitted he was only up here until the draft. He was drafted on 6-6-06. In the 6th round. By the DEVIL Rays. Frightening.

 

Mass: I haven't been to all the parks in the NWL, but they seem to be fairly nice with a few exceptions. Warner, well, I'll let the Madison folks take care of that one. There are a handful of "historic" parks that aesthetically maybe aren't the best but they are cool nonetheless. I love the neighborhood feel of the park in Wausau. Kevin at nwlfan has reviews of most of the stadiums in the league, in case you are interested.

[jjfanec]

Carson Park in Eau Claire is a pretty nice field in my mind. it isnt great but it does have the "Hank Aaron played here" factor going for it. I remember it being a big deal getting to play there in high school' I like going there more than the dome.

I hope to get to a couple more of Eau Claire's games this year especially if Zimmerman is there. I was just wondering how long he was going to be there since he will most likely get drafted fairly high.

[jschris]

jjfan-

Sorry to say, but Zimmerman will not be with the Express at all this season. Hopefully he'll be a high pick, sign quickly, and begin his professional career this summer.

 

A group of folks (myself included) are raising money to refurbish the area around the Aaron statue. We'll have a wall showing our own "Hall of Famers", a plaque listing all EC natives that played professionally, and (my favorite) awesome bricks that will be inlaid in the cement around the statue that give information on every major leaguer that also played in Eau Claire. I've found over 100 and there may be a few more.

 

See you at the park sometime!

[TheCrew07]

I'm sorry I poorly worded my original post, I was a little tipsy after a long night of drinking, I didn't mean to suggest that the kids that are playing are not talented. In fact, the ones I've met have been very gracious and first class kids, I'm very impressed with them personally.

 

My point was supposed to be that whenever I read Colby's reviews on the top college prospects, it seems like they always played summer ball in the Cape. I remember a recap of Braun having hit well in the Cape for example, and if the NWL ever had a realistic shot at getting the top college talent such as him? Most of the baseball talent seems to be in the south east, the south, and the west coast. I look at the coaches in the NWL, and most are from schools I've never heard of. I don't have a clear understanding yet of how the recruiting is done for the leagues, but it would stand to reason that to draw top talent, you'd have to get good coaching first? I would think that the coach, the facility, and the experience would all come into play. So how does the NWL draw top talent away from the more established Cape league. It just seems to me that summer baseball and the Cape Cod league go together, in the same way that football goes with the fall, and so on.

 

Also I was unsure how the leagues compare from a stadium, attendance, and quality of experience standpoint. I was impressed with how well the Bullfrogs did making the game an experience. However if the Bullfrogs want to compete for local dollars they are competing against the TRats in Appl-eton which is an affliated A+ professional baseball and facility.

 

Colby you were right about the travel, there is one team in Canada, and the new team from Battle Creek, MI is currently in town playing the Bullfrogs.

[dadofandrew]

Most fans cannot tell the difference between the NWL and A ball, so any difference is negligible. The fields are pretty rough as well, so you're going to see a lot of bad hops and such.