Bob Collins“One of these days I’m going to spend summer nights in Minnesota communities where town ball is still a thing,” I often say to myself at roughly this time every year. I was inspired by this Star Tribune video a few years ago. Maybe I better hurry up.
The Echo Press in Alexandria today carries the obituary of the Brandon-Evansville Bluedogs, who have folded after being in the Resorters Baseball League since 2001.
Cause of death: Age.
“Of our 11 veterans, we had three that were not going to play this year and many with potential conflicts throughout the schedule,” Bluedogs player Mike Bruns told the paper. “In the end, we needed five to seven new players to fill out our roster. With no access to B-E kids due to them all playing for Millerville, we really had nowhere to turn to recruit more players. Other things contributed, but it boils down to a numbers thing.”
The team won its division a few times, and qualified for the state tournament occasionally, but Bruns said there were no younger players to add to the roster to replace the men of a certain age.
