By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

“Old-fashioned small-town baseball is the glue that holds many communities together,” says Tom Tomashek, co-author of “Minnesota Town Ball.”

Fans at small town parks in Otter Tail County, similar to those watching baseball at major league parks, enjoy eating hot dogs and partaking of beverages while cheering for their teams. “The best in Americana” note many baseball fans throughout our county.

Tomashek adds that small town baseball generates a great sense of pride and passion among its residents. That’s especially true for towns such as Dent and Urbank that don’t have high school sports teams. For them, the town baseball team is their only local team to take pride in.

During the early 1950s people in Otter Tail County stayed closer to home and attended many small-town baseball games. In those days television was just taking hold and many area roads were gravel.

Fans, with each passing decade, have enjoyed the aroma of popcorn and the taste of hot dogs sold at small town baseball parks throughout the county. 

During the 1950s, on Sunday afternoons, many fans spent family time at area lakes. In the evenings they attended town baseball games at parks that had newly installed lights for nighttime games. 

“One year during the early 1950s we averaged close to 1,300 people at each home game,” said retiree Harley Oyloe who played for the Fergus Falls Red Sox, state champions in 1950.

The year 1960 was the last of 15 years referred to by many as the golden era of Minnesota amateur baseball, covering the years after World War II from 1946 to 1960. “Town Ball,” covers those glory days. There’s lot of information about Otter Tail County baseball in the book.

The summer of 1960 was the final year for the Minneapolis Millers minor league team. In 1961 the Minnesota Twins commenced play at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. The next playing field, for the Twins starting in 1982, was the Metrodome and Target Field opened in 2010.