Dan Weber’s Just Sayin’: Sport that’s changed most around here in the last 3 decades is in the spring

When you’ve been away nearly three decades—to Philadelphia, New Jersey, Chicago, and Southern California—as was the case with me, one of the things you return to review is how and where your old workplace has changed.

Which isn’t always so easy when your old turf is northern Kentucky, where what stays the same often outweighs the changes.

But there’s one place in the spring that has it, and a quick trip around Kenton County on Monday made that a reality for the old high school baseball coach in me.

This is no longer a place where Riverfront Stadium is or was the only artificial turf pitch. And high school baseball coaches, players, and fans no longer have to wonder if their scheduled games will go ahead.

You will be.

Not like Covington Catholic where we played 35 games one season, 21 the next. Or you’d drive as many hours as it took to get to Morehead for a Saturday doubleheader and as you crossed the city limits reached, the It was also raining and the NO GAME TODAY sign went up. And you turned around and drove back.

Not much need for this mark in a world where almost everyone has access to an artificial turf field that has almost no chance of rain unless a typhoon hits during the scheduled playing time.

Like Monday, when a bright, brisk morning grew grayer and darker and colder and windier as the day progressed. But was there a chance that Cooper would not be played at Ludlow at 4:45pm or Lloyd Memorial at Beechwood (5pm) or CovCath at Holy Cross (6pm)?

Not if you’ve looked at the fans, especially for the later two games. They packed blankets and came down to play some baseball. Without hesitation.

A few things here. The seasons were later moved to accommodate fans who can now catch them after work as it is almost certain they will be played.

And as much as you must like the big boys in the big school vs small school matchups, you don’t always know for sure, as more games means more pitchers are required, and you could get one of those games if a team has an ace ready has to go, but the other team fields an infielder.

That certainty reminds me of those nearly two decades last in Southern California when you never asked if any of the teams I’ve covered from USC Football to the Angels, Dodgers and Padres would practice or play.

They are. Maybe in all that time there was USC practice and not a single baseball game because of the rain. Although fires occasionally made it somewhat doubtful in some years.

If an event was scheduled, it was on. And now I’m back home and much the same goes for spring baseball.

And that’s the biggest change I’ve seen in the sport, which during my coaching and playing days was something of an infrastructure-poor sport in infrastructure-poor northern Kentucky that’s already lost to Covington Ball Park, Golden Rod Field, Watkins and others had Bullock Field and most of Goebel Park up to I-75.

Take this Monday for example. The wind blew off the Ohio River just past the right field fence, but the 75-year-old Lemker Field — renamed last spring to add “at St. Elizabeth Ballpark,” thanks to the partnership of the community of Ludlow, St. Elizabeth Healthcare and the Cincinnati Reds – was ready to go.

The artificial turf, new shelters, bullpens, stands, fences and a scoreboard are a tribute to all of these people and the eight outfield wall sponsors who come together to make this possible.

The place looks great and before the leaves hang back on the trees you can watch all the shipping traffic on the river going by. No worries for the Cooper people making the hike down from Union. The game is on and it’s called “Play Ball” in this place where the CEO of St. E. is sitting Garren Colvin grew up learning the value of high school baseball.

Then off the Bromley-Crescent Springs Road to Fort Mitchell and this hive of a busy place they somehow figured out how to get into a stadium/track complex, a baseball/softball complex, a soccer/weight training building and the ” Tiger Barn” Indoor Fieldhouse between Kroger’s on Dixie Highway and the stately homes along Beechwood Road.

And where hundreds of athletes in at least four sports, maybe more, are benefiting from all the artificial turf investments and more that the Fort Mitchell community has made here.

It’s a far cry from my elementary school trying to talk my family out of moving from Ludlow, where we outgrew the second and third floors above my father’s doctor’s office, to Fort Mitchell because, I swore, “they didn’t.” even a baseball field there.”

Well they do now. And everything else that goes with it.

Really nice moment before the game as Beechwood greeted the former manager Bob Meyerhoffnow head coach at Lloyd, for his work at Beechwood in the early 2000’s building baseball state power, winning all “A” and regional titles and a record 37 games in a season.

Then it was off to Covington and Meinken Field, a place where I had the honor of playing softball against some of the best players in the world as a college kid when this particular generation of one-time world champion athletes from Northern Kentucky retired.

Don’t ask about baseball there. Meinken was where our 18-2 CovCath team, best in the region all season, lost in district to Holy Cross on a sacrificial bunt that hit a rock and jumped into outfield for a game-winning to achieve RBI.

But now it’s a scene. No rocks in the infield. Recreated in 2015 in honor of the Cincinnati All-Star Game and with participation from the Reds, the Covington community and St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Now just one field, not three, but a place where you know the game is being played.

Just like that day. No fuss, although the results seem almost irrelevant so early in the season. CovCath won 12-2, Beechwood 12-0 and Cooper 14-0. All of the games ended in less than the prescribed seven innings, but the key here is that they were all played.

As they will be for the rest of spring, good weather or the not so good weather, which by the way hasn’t changed since I’ve been back from California, the not so good weather.

But baseball, and the chance for hundreds of young men to play the game, has it.

Good job, northern Kentucky.

Dan Weber is a sports reporter and columnist for the NKyTribune.