Minor League

Wisconsin has been home to numerous minor league teams over the years.  Fans in the state have gotten the opportunity to watch players such as Hank Aaron and Mark McGwire while they were first starting out.  Now all we have left in the state are two minor league teams. 

The Beloit Snappers are the low A level farm team of the Minnesota Twins.  There is hope they will soon get a new stadium.  They will be relying on donations and cashflow generated by Snappers operations.  I hope they are able to get this done. 

The Milwaukee Brewers also have an in-state low A level farm team in the Midwest League.  The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have been around for a long time but this will be their third season affiliated with the Brewers.  You can become a shareholder and get lots of perks as an owner of the Timber Rattlers. 

I would love to see more minor league teams come back to Wisconsin.  The success of the Northwoods League has shown how popular baseball done right can be in the state.  The key to luring teams back is having a top notch stadium for them to play in.  Hopefully we get another inventive community to find ways to privately finance a new stadium. 

Milwaukee Area Technical College

Frank Cimorelli is the head baseball coach at Milwaukee Area Technical College.  Here is my interview with him.

BAW:  What tips do you have for youth ballplayers hoping to play college ball someday?

Frank:   I encourage all youth players to just get out and play whether it's in the backyard or with select teams. The more you get out there and play,the more fun you have the better your skill set will get. If the players aren't having fun they won't continue to play and by the time they get into high school they'll be finished with baseball. All players will develop at their own pace. Sometimes the best players at 12 aren't the best at 16 so you really want to encourage them to stick with it and with some determination they will get better.


BAW:  How many all star tournaments do you scout each summer?

Frank:   My coaches and I try to attend atleast a couple showcases a year in WI and northern IL. Our conf. and Region is based in IL. and I think it's important to our program for high school players to know we are out there.

BAW:   Do you have any players lined up to play in the Northwoods League this summer?

Frank:   We do not have any players lined up for the Northwoods League. but have had some success in placing players in other college summer leagues. For players interested in going to a summer league the added exp. will only help in their continued growth as players. Our top priority is to help players improve to the point where after 2 seasons with us they will attract enough attention to receive scholarship money to 4yr schools.

BAW:   Does anybody on your team have a chance to get drafted this summer?

Frank:   We don't have any players this yr. who have a chance to get drafted but each season we get better players and at some point are hopeful that we will have a player advanced enough to attract attention from professional scouts. I played JUCO baseball myself so I know the opportunity it offers. Can you get better sitting and the bench at a 4yr school for 2 or 3 yrs.,sure but in my opinion getting on the field right away and getting game exp. is much more beneficial. If I didn't have the JUCO exp. I'm not sure I would have progressed enough at a 4yr school to get drafted as a junior,play professionally and pitch in the major leagues. When using up eligibility sitting on the bench those are innings and at bats I would have never gotten back and the confidence gained probably would have been put on hold. I was a player who coming out of HS had 0 scholarship offers and by the end of my soph yr at a JUCO knew that someday I had a very good chance at getting drafted. While I don't expect this to happen to all the players that play for me there is a good chance they may improve enough after 2 yrs to get a scholarship and continue their education and play 2 more yrs of baseball.