“Baseball is the one sport that everyone seems to try at least once. And it’s never stopped around here. The parents pass it along to the kids, and the kids pass it along to their kids, and it looks like it’s continuing to grow in this area.” (Press Pros Feature Photos)
The namesake of the annual Little League Classic in Versailles, Craig Stammen made it home for the weekend, and in time to witness the benefits of his time, commitment, and belief in the values of community baseball.
Versailles, OH – Sadly, one can’t be in two places at once.
Meaning, that while this weekend marks the 96th annual OHSAA high school baseball tournament, in Akron…it happens to coincide with the annual Craig Stammen Classic for amateur baseball in Versailles, for ages 8 to 14. We’ve covered it for so long that it’s become a priority on our calendar as soon as it’s tacked on the wall in January. We’re not alone.
Priority? Craig Stammen’s flight from San Diego arrived in Dayton Thursday afternoon at 5:00 pm. And by 6:30 he was at the Little League field in North Star.
Irony? After 13 seasons in the big leagues with Washington and San Diego, and his current position as special assistant to the Padres front office – after thirteen years he was finally coming home to watch baseball.
Publisher/editor Sonny Fulks writes the Big Ten and OHSAA baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com.
“It’s pretty neat to be at a Little League tournament bearing your name and see how it’s thriving…to see all these kids from the different communities playing baseball,” he smiled. “I couldn’t be prouder, and I couldn’t be prouder of the guys who have run this tournament for all the years in my absence – how much fun the kids have had, and the memories they’re making every single day.”
Craig Stammen’s name, along with a long-standing tradition, has made amateur baseball part of the culture in Versailles…some would say as important come April as football is in September. Ask a kid from any one of the fifty teams that will be here this weekend if they know who Stammen is and you’ll hear, “I don’t know him, but I know what he does,” said a youngster from Coldwater a couple of years ago. “And one day I want to be where he is.”
“Baseball is something that everyone grows up playing in this area, from T-Ball on,” says Stammen. “Baseball is the one sport that everyone seems to try at least once.. And it’s never stopped around here. The parents pass it along to the kids, and the kids pass it along to their kids, and it looks like it’s continuing to grow in this area.”
But it’s not that way everywhere, which not only makes west-central Ohio an exception, but an anomaly. Drive two hours southeast from Versailles, Ohio and you can find communities where kids are not only not playing baseball, if they do play they quit the game by age 14. Travel, or select baseball, is too expensive for many, and if they’re not asked to play they become discouraged and seek another outlet for their efforts.
“I know there are areas where kids aren’t playing, and a lot has to do with not having an opportunity to play. The solution is to make baseball as accessible as possible.”
“And if a kid doesn’t play high school baseball there’s a pretty good chance that his kids are not going go play baseball,” said a major league scout at the recent Big Ten tournament. “We’re losing too many ‘tweeners and late bloomers, and that weakens the future of things all down the line.”
It’s a statement that Stammen is quick to contradict, given his own experience.
“I’m not super concerned,” he adds. “Probably because of the bubble that we live in here in this area. People love playing baseball here and Versailles High School had so many kids out for baseball this year they wondered if they would have enough coaches to work with them.
“I don’t necessarily agree that if dads don’t play baseball that their kids won’t play, either. There’s several dads out there today who didn’t play baseball and their kids are playing this weekend. But I know there are areas where kids aren’t playing, and a lot has to do with not having an opportunity to play. Is there a diamond to play on and equipment to play with? So is it tough in those areas? Yes, but not here. And the solution is to make baseball as accessible as football and basketball is…as volleyball is for girls. And hopefully it will be in the future.”
Part of the accessibility of baseball is, in fact, opportunity, which in large part is why we feature college baseball on Press Pros…to let kids know that if they continue to play in high school there is opportunity at the next level if they’re committed to the game. It’s the carrot on the stick, an inducement to keep playing, and one day graduate with four years of NCAA baseball on your career resume’. Stammen agrees, as his own baseball career got a jump start through his experience playing at the University of Dayton.
The Phelan Agency proudly sponsors coverage of community baseball on Press Pros.
“I think some sports have grown as a result of being on television at the collegiate level, and baseball doesn’t get as much publicity as a sport that you can play after high school,” says Stammen. “But I can tell you that it changed my life dramatically. I could talk about it all day long. What Press Pros is doing by promoting college baseball is to show kids from Versailles, Ohio that they can go play at Ohio State. Keep playing, keep working hard, and keep getting better. You never know.”
In fact, asked to name someone he played with during his five years with the Padres that didn’t play amateur baseball at all the levels, Stammen could not name a single one.
Knuckeball sighting…in a 12U game Thursday afternoon at the North Star Little League field.
“Nobody. Everyone played, from as young as two years old and on. The more baseball you play the better you get at it. Size and strength matters to a degree, but it’s more a matter of playing the game, and the more games you can get under your belt the better you play.”
Friends and well-wishers greeted him at the North Star field Thursday, some surprised at his appearance…but all were appreciative. The namesake had come home to watch the next generation play baseball, even if for only the weekend.
“This is the purest form of baseball,” he shared. “To play baseball in your hometown with your friends…the ones you went to school with, eat lunch with, do math problems with. There’s nothing more fun than playing with your buddies against the neighboring towns that you’re going to play in high school.
“I’m honored to be a part of it, to have my name on the tournament. There’s so many people behind the scenes that do the leg work, and hopefully I can be a part of that soon now that I’m retired. My son (Chase) will be playing here next year for the 7U team, for the Versailles Tigers.”
Pride?
“Nothing would make me more proud and happy than to see another kid from this community have the experience that I got to have playing baseball – to be a ten-year-old from age 10 to age 40. Let me explain it this way. There’s nothing that could ever replace seeing the next kid [come along] who’s Jared Hoying, who’s Corey Luebke, or Craig Stammen. I think all three of us would be in seventh heaven to see that.”
But for this weekend…North Star will do!
The ‘Spot’ is the presenting sponsors of the 2024 OHSAA baseball tournament on Press Pros Magazine.com.