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Sports

Ballwin Athletic Association: Baseball How It Should Be

Writer and little league umpire Jimmy Feeney talks about what makes baseball at the Ballwin Athletic Association great.

When you think about baseball in St Louis, you most likely think of the Cardinals and Busch Stadium. When it comes to baseball inside Ballwin, however, some different images likely come to mind: Pint-sized boys and young girls swinging bats and tossing balls, wobbly legs running bases and warm patrons drinking slushees. These are the things that have helped shape the character of the Ballwin Athletic Association for more than 70 years, and are just a few of the things that help make the association great.

The beautifully manicured fields are tucked behind Manchester Road behind the Schrader Funeral Home. The facilities have expanded since BAA's inception, but the game has remained the same.

Ask anyone you know from Ballwin about the fields and the league and they will most certainly say they played there or know someone who did. From the youngest players who are all of 5 years old to the oldest grandparents who have told me their age is none of my business, this is a special place that's often overlooked.

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For Ballwin resident Seth Freedman, 41, the association's diamonds were bound to catch up sooner or later with his son, Henry, he said. Henry's team, the Ballwin Crushers, played in the 9-and-under league Monday.

"He's always had a pretty strong interest in sports so this was kind of natural," said Freedman, who works as a dentist in Wildwood and said his son is now in his fourth year with the team. "We live about five minutes away so it was a perfect fit."

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Although the two can bond over baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals, Henry also calls the Yankees' Derek Jeter is his favorite player, much to his father's dismay.

"This is where my parenting has gone awfully wrong," Freedman joked.

Other supporters have been at the fields even longer.

"I've been coming here for over 4 decades," said Nick Voigt, 76, of Ballwin. "I played legion ball here many many years ago on field one when there were just 2 or maybe 3 fields."

To date, there are 7 fields, ranging the pint-sized Field No. 7 for tee-ball to Field No. 1 which today still hosts a College Metro League.

"My two daughters, Rita and Nancy both played softball here for many years and now I have 7 of my 9 grandkids playing here as well," Voigt said. "I love this place and the tradition that it brings."

But from a younger, sometimes shorter perspective, the league is simply about the action.

"I hit the ball all the way to the fence and I got a homerun," said Peter Quinn, 7, who attends St. Clare of Assisi. "I ran so fast."

"It was actually a groundball through the first baseman's legs that ended up a 3 error homerun, but it was thrilling," said Pat Quinn, Peter's dad. Just seeing how excited Peter was put a smile on my face.

John Hernandez, one of the directors who you'll find at the fields almost every weekend, said he volunteers his time just for the love of the game.

"To have your hometown fields and league be the best they can be gives everyone involved a huge sense of pride and accomplishment."

The long history of BAA Baseball has many highlights, including appearances by Mark McGwire as a traveling all-star schoolboy and the 2006 National League MVP Ryan Howard from Layfayette High School. In fact, the latter presence brought with it a rumor that Howard once crushed a homerun hit that bounced off the now-closed Red Lobster roof, way past the right field fence on Field No. 2.

Only a few years ago on any summer night you might have caught baseball legend Ozzie Smith here watching his son play. And yes, he was as genuine and down to earth as everyone has said he was. Fans were very respectful and let him watch his son play in peace and he appreciated that.

In fact in the post games, Ozzie's character really came out. He would patiently sign every autograph asked of him and smiled the whole time. I personally saw games where he stayed more than an hour after his son's game to make sure each little leaguer got whatever they wanted signed. My 3 kids alone must have at least 10 Ballwin ball caps with his Hall of Fame autograph on it. That said, Ballwin Baseball truly is special.

For more information about the Ballwin Athletic Association and upcoming leagues, click here.

Note: Editor Chase Castle contributed to this article.

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