The 16th season of Northwoods League Baseball is set to begin Thursday, May 28th in seven cities across the Upper Midwest. The NWL has had unprecedented success for a summer collegiate league in drawing fans to its ballparks and in 2009 those who are not able to attend will have greater capabilities to follow their teams online. A brand new feature for 2009 will be a live stats system allowing fans to follow the game play-by-play and get real time, updated stats thanks to the NWL’s partnership with Pointstreak.com. After launching in 2008 a new and improved video web casting system will be introduced with every game broadcast live and archived at nwltickets.com. Also online at northwoodsleague.com will be all league stats, standings, and the daily recap with audio highlights from around the league, as well as blogs from league personnel.
With dozens of NWL alumni in the Major Leagues and hundreds more working their way up in the minors there are sure to be future Big Leaguers taking the field this summer in the NWL. Highlighting the returning stars, depending on the MLB draft, are former NWL MVP’s and current Arizona State University teammates Carlos Ramirez (’08) of Mankato and Kole Calhoun (’07) of Eau Claire. Tim Jobe (Florida Int’l) of Duluth returns after finishing second in batting in ’08 with a .338 average and 9 home runs. After hitting .313, 8th best in 2008, Kevin Johnson (Cincinnati) is returning to St. Cloud but this season as a pitcher due to a non-throwing shoulder injury. All-Star Aaron Dott (UW-Whitewater) returns for his third season in La Crosse. Dott threw the 8th no-hitter in NWL history against Green Bay last June. The reigning strikeout king (97 K’s), Zach Robertson (Iowa), returns to Rochester for his 3rd year in a Honkers uniform. Keith Castillo (Southern California) will also be returning to the NWL for his 3rd year with the Alexandria Beetles. Castillo, a switch-hitting 1B/C/OF could completely re-write the Beetles career record book with another solid season. Bobby Pritchett (Central Arkansas) returns to Wausau after posting 7 wins on the mound for the Wisconsin Woodchucks in 2008. Another notable returnee, All-Star Mike O’Neill (Southern California), will be playing for the Alexandria Beetles after spending 2008 with NWL champion Thunder Bay. Other 2008 mid-season and/or post-season All-Stars set to return in ’09 include: Joe Bonfe (EAU), RJ Hively (BC), Matt Jansen (MAD), Bob Lackovic (WAT), Kyle Gumieny (WIS), Ryan Goins (WAT), Brooks Pinckard (EC), Nick O’Shea (GB), and Troy Frazier (WIS).
Some notable changes have been made in the dugouts for 2009. Tenured managers not returning include 2008 Manager of the Year Jason Nell (MNK, 3yrs, 108 wins); Erik Maas (ALX, 3 yrs, 107 wins); and Tony Arnerich (STC, 3 yrs, 105 wins). Those three managers rank 8th, 9th & 10th respectively for NWL career wins. Returning for their 5th seasons in Madison and Eau Claire are CJ Thieleke and Dale Varsho. Thieleke ranks 5th with 151 wins and Varsho 6th with 132 wins in their tenures. Also returning, after a four-year hiatus, is Tom Fleenor. Fleenor ranks 2nd in NWL history with 218 wins over 6 seasons with the Rochester Honkers (’98-’01) and the St. Cloud River Bats (’03-’04) including three division titles and a league championship in 1999. Fleenor will be taking over the reigns for the Battle Creek Bombers in ‘09.
The NWL All-Star game will be held outside of the United States for the first time as the Border Cats of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada will be hosting the leagues annual showcase on July 21st. Ferguson Jenkins, the first Canadian member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, will headline the festivities.
2009 looks to be another exciting summer in the Northwoods League with many more records sure to fall and large crowds packing ballparks in the 14 NWL affiliate cities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Ontario, Canada.
