Bismarck Tribune - Bismarck Sports - A new flavor of baseball

A new flavor of baseball

May 28, 2008 - 05:29:30 CDT

By JAMES ZIEGLER/Bismarck Tribune

On Washington Street, just south of Main Avenue, there is a fence hiding the Bismarck Municipal Ballpark behind a layer of brown vines.

The preseason Northwoods exhibition game Tuesday night between the Brainerd Blue Thunder and the Alexandria Beetles couldn't be hidden as easily as that, though.

If the sound of Matt Power announcing the game didn't give it away, the endless stretch of cars lining Sweet Avenue surely did.

The Northwoods exhibition was one part of a greater scheme for Brad Feldman.

Feldman has been working toward the goal of a Bismarck Northwoods League team for two years now.

"I just love baseball," Feldman said.

The Tuesday night game was to determine the community's interest in Feldman's dream.

"Try to get the excitement, get the people here to watch. See what the turnout is and maybe even get a team here in the future," Feldman said.

There was a good crowd for the face off between Alexandria and Brainerd, both Minnesota teams.

The only no-show was the sun. It was invited, but for reasons unknown, decided not to attend, aside from brief glimmers from behind a thick layer of clouds.

Walking up to the ballpark entrance, the crowd seemed small from the street. Only the cars gave away its true numbers. Feldman estimated more than 400 people attended.

"I spent a month putting this thing together, and the fact that we have four or five hundred people here bodes well, in my opinion, about what we could do in the future," Feldman said.

Alexandria jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, early enough that latecomers were still straggling in.

"I'm glad to see that there's still people walking up," Feldman said.

At first the crowd reflected the weather - not quite dark, but definitely serious and quiet. They are mostly families. Small children pepper the stands.

Dads watching the game intently, while junior plays behind the bleachers and mom wanders down to the concession stand.

According to Feldman, this is the first time Bismarck has hosted a Northwoods game.

"I've been talking with Brainerd for quite a while now, actually about eight months. So when I got the idea, I gave them a call and I said, 'you know, what do you think? Do you think you guys could do this?'

"And they said, 'If you can put it on, we'll come and we'll get another team.'"

At the end of the night Alexandria took the game with a score of 11-8.

It was a good step toward Feldman's goal of a Bismarck Northwoods team by next year.

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Comments

Jerry wrote on May 30, 2008 1:49 AM:

" Brad

Thanks for trying, I was at the game on Tuesday and I wish that there were some kind of atomosphere. The most exciting thing (other than the game itself) was when the beer-batter struck out and I joined 30 other fans (1/3 of the real attendance) for 2fers at the beer garden. Some fans (5 or 6) did enjoy the shameless trivia question about your brother. I do appreciate the effort of trying to bring more sports opportunities to Bismarck. But I agree that there needs to be work done to the stadium!!

Bis-Man could support a team, but I can count 20+ people who would have gone to the game but didn't hear about it or couldn't co-ordinate a time to purchase tickets during the two days they were on sale at Scheels. My main point here is lets bring a team to Bismarck,buts lets not half-a$$ it like the Rattlers.

Brad, thanks for playing but please stick to your Part-time day job! "

G wrote on May 29, 2008 4:53 PM:

" I agree that the ballpark could use a little work on the bleachers. Seat backs are definitely needed. As for having another exhibition game in Bismarck next year, I am all for it. Bismarck/Mandan needs a little something more when it comes to baseball. For an area our size, a Northwoods League team would fit nicely here. Looking thru the media guide that was given to me at Tuesday's game, I had no idea so many major leaguers have played in this league before...Pat Neshek of the Twins is one in particular I didn't know about. Brad, good job on the game and keep up the good work! "

Brad Feldman wrote on May 29, 2008 8:49 AM:

" I appreciate all of the comments. I will tell you there is a plan to work on the stadium to make it more fan friendly. This would include seat backs. As far as the quality of play, one must remember that the bulk of each of the teams rosters are still playing in the NCAA Division 1 national tournament. If this game happened in July when all of the bigger players from the bigger schools such as UCLA, Texas A&M, Wichita State, were up here you would have seen even better baseball than the other night. To bring in a team from the Northern League, which is the one the Redhawks play, would mean at least a 7 figure franchise fee. Then you will likely need another 7 figures just to run the team for the year. Not to mention, in order to bring in that kind of team we would have to build a brand new stadium. I just dont know where that kind of money would come from. But as far as the game the other night, I have been hearing a lot of positive feedback and will continue working on this. We'll see what happens. Thanks for the support and maybe we can do this again next year. "

Skeeter wrote on May 28, 2008 12:54 PM:

" I'm definitely in favor of this idea, however, I think it could draw many more fans if there was better seating around home plate. People don't want to sit on steel bleachers. Get some good seating similar to the Redhawks stadium in Fargo and I think people would love to come to a game. "

corey wrote on May 28, 2008 11:33 AM:

" Northwoods baseball...Im a die hard fan and I would rarely attend a game. What we need is a real minor league team where the players actually have a chance of making the majors, just like the Wizards...when that happens people will show up. If you stick with the Northwoods plan you are simply just taking the best you can get and its going to fail...just like the Northern League did. "

G wrote on May 28, 2008 8:55 AM:

" It was a decent game last night. I think Bismarck/Mandan could support something like this in the future. It would be nice to have something similar to the Dakota Rattlers back in town during the summer months! Legion ball is good, but it isn't the same. "

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