As baseball fans and Dodger enthusiasts, fanatics, maniacs, zealots or whatever mantra might apply to us, we spend the season following MLB and the minor leagues, especially the Dodger affiliates. We also pay some attention to high school ball and college ball, both of which wind up in June and are more of interest around the time of the First-Year Player Draft. However, there is another layer of baseball that does not garner as much attention. It is comprised of the many collegiate summer baseball leagues that span the nation.
According to Wikipedia there are over 60 collegiate leagues in the United States. Perhaps the best known and oldest is the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League while the most unique might be the Alaska Baseball League where they actually play the “Midnight Sun Game” without artificial light.
The more I follow minor league players, the more I note that many of them play in the summer collegiate leagues for one or more years. One league that has gained more and more prominence over the past decade – and is definitely one of my favorites – is the Northwoods League. It has emerged as one of the top collegiate leagues and one with a difference even though it will be celebrating just its 25th season in 2019. The teams are located in six different states – Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota- with the bulk of the teams in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Thunder Bay Border Cats are located in Ontario, Canada.
The Northwood League is the brain child of Dick Radatz Jr. who was the co-founder of the league back in 1994. He is the son of former Boston Red Sox pitcher Dick Radatz who struck out Mickey Mantle 12 times in Mick’s 16 at bats against the right-hander. The younger Radatz had his baseball aspirations crushed with an injury that broke his shoulder and collar bone.
Before his vision of a Northwoods League and following his completion of a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from Ohio University, he worked as an Administrative Assistant for the Dodgers at historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. He then spent a few years in the lower levels of the Red Sox organization setting attendance records at virtually every one of his stops. A bit outspoken, Radatz parted ways with the Red Sox in 1992 and in 1994 the Northwoods League was born. He is still the chairman in the league office.
So, what is the difference in the Northwoods League? It is a wooden bat league but that does not make it different from a number of other collegiate leagues. The big difference is that the league has striven to simulate a professional minor league experience for its young players in which they have the opportunity to play under similar conditions experienced by minor league players.
“The primary reason is that they get to experience pitching in front of big crowds in minor league venues,” said Radatz. “They also get used to five-man rotations and long bus rides. All the things that are going to go on in a professional baseball player’s life, they experience here. We really feel like we’re the leader in the field. We play more games and play in better venues. Our experience is more closely related to that of entry-level minor leagues.”
Many of the teams play in ballparks formerly occupied by professional minor league teams from the Midwest, Prairie and Northern Leagues that couldn’t sustain a minor league franchise. The Northwoods League has tried to fill that void and has established improved stability while providing smaller communities with a high-quality product and good competitive baseball. As part of that commitment another definite difference is that although the players are not paid it is a for-profit league with paid staff, advertising, marketing and stadium improvement.
The Northwoods League has a 72-game schedule played in 76 days from late May until mid-August. There are now 21 teams in the league with a 22nd to be added in 2020. There are four divisions with a play-off structure not too dissimilar from the Class A Midwest League. There is also an annual All-Star Game with the 2019 game scheduled for July 16 in Waterloo, Iowa. The Major League Dreams Showcase– a showcase for players hand-selected by a panel of major league scouts–will take place at Madison’s Warner Park on Tuesday, August 6. Of the 163 players drafted with Northwoods experience in 2018, 40 of them had played in the Northwoods 2017 League Major League Dreams Showcase.
The Northwoods League has grown like no other collegiate league both in terms of the number of teams and, in its case, paid attendance. In its inaugural season in 1994 the league drew 69,000 fans. In 2014 the league attendance passed the 1,000,000 mark for the first time and is continuing to grow.
The league is continually trying to improve, expand its viewing audience and give its young players a better chance of being selected in the June Draft. In 2013 the Northwoods League celebrated its 20th Anniversary by becoming the first to have its own YouTube channel. This video tool allowed the League to show all game broadcasts – free of charge – to fans across the world along with nightly highlights of each game.
Another distinctive feature of the Northwoods League is that coaches and field managers are often those who have had minor league or even major league experiences as players or coaches.
As a sidelight with Dodger experience, Tyger Pederson – Joc’s older brother – was the manager of the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League during the 2018 season. He had been selected by the Dodgers in the 33rd round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft out of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He had one short season with the Arizona League Dodgers in 2013 before three years of independent ball before turning to coaching.
Pederson led the Huskies to an impressive record of 47-25. Their regular season success continued into the postseason as they earned a berth in the Northwoods League World Series losing the deciding game for the league championship by one run. Despite falling one win short of the ultimate prize, the impact of Tyger’s aggressive brand of baseball could not be understated. His one season at the helm saw the Huskies improve by 15 wins.
On January 18, the Huskies announced that Tyger Pederson had been offered a position with the St. Louis Cardinals. Too good to pass up, he accepted a position with the Palm Beach Cardinals to be their new hitting coach. The Cardinals play in the Advanced-A Florida State League.
To lengthen out the story, the hitting coach for the Duluth Huskies for the 2019 season is none other than Stu Pederson who signed on to work as his son’s underling. He too had been drafted by the Dodgers in the 9th round of the 1981 MLB June Amateur Draft out of University of Southern California.
The Duluth Huskies baseball club’s new hitting Coach, Stu Pederson, talked about his excitement in the upcoming season working with his son Head Coach Tyger Pederson. Stu reveals, “I couldn’t pass it up. I may never get this chance again” He was the hitting coach for the La Crosse Loggers of the Northwood League during the 2018 season and left to join the Huskies for the upcoming season. Fortunately for the son, he got the opportunity to further his coaching career with the Palm Beach Cardinals. Unfortunately for the father he missed out on the opportunity to form a father-son combo with the Duluth Huskies but undoubtedly was more than happy to see his son further his baseball coaching career.
In other Dodger connections, right-hander Tony Gonsolin got noticed in the Northwoods League by the Dodgers in 2015 and they selected him in the 9th round of the 2016 June Draft.
A partial list of Dodger alumni from the Northwoods League includes: Scott Alexander, Austin Barnes, Andre Ethier, Rocky Gale, Hunter Feduccia, Brock Stewart, Matt Beaty, Karch Kowalczyk, Alex Helmeting, Luke Rally, Marshall Kasowski, Nick Yarnell, Brock Carpenter. Departed Corey Copping and Adam Bray were also both alumni from the Northwoods League.
Discussion (58)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Best of luck to Rob Segedin:
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/01/30/hoornstra-for-two-former-major-leaguers-retiring-at-age-30-beckoned-in-different-ways/
I think it shows how weak the Orioles minor league system has become. Were any of these guys top 100 MLB prospects?
There were a couple of interesting takes on the Kiley McDaniel FanGraphs chat. First there was question on Caleb Ferguson and his future value (FV). McDaniel rated him a 45 which is slotted for a setup guy. If you take away the bias (which I obviously have with Caleb), he is probably properly slotted as a setup guy. As successful as Caleb was last year in somewhat of that role type, I think he would excel there. That does not mean that he cannot develop into a back end rotation type starter, but setup seems to be a fair floor for Caleb.
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Interesting as to how the talent evaluators look at stats vs skills. McDaniel said that it varies, but a rough correlation would be stats would be a 60% factor for AAA players while 10% for rookie ball. That is why rookie ball and even Low A are truly lottery picks for trade packages.
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I now have a new guy to watch this spring for a potential #1 pick in the June draft for LAD. 6′ 8″ RHP Jackson Rutledge. He was a freshman last year at Arkansas and saw some time. He transferred and will play for San Jacinto JC this year, and has signed a LOI to play for Kentucky in 2020, but will probably be drafted in the 1st round or comp pick. He was 3-0 with a 3.45 ERA in 12 games (2 starts) last year as a freshman in the SEC.
His fastball touched at 98 last week in a start, and he is sitting at mid 90’s. The Dodgers have drafted multiple players out of San Jacinto JC so the Dodgers’ Texas scout is going to get a good look again this year.
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Not part of the chat, but I was playing around in FanGraphs and the following involving the Orioles was interesting. FanGraphs is rating Yusniel Diaz #2, Dean Kremer #9, Zach Pop #17, Drew Jackson #26, and Rylan Bannon #27 for the O’s top prospects. Diaz, Kremer, Pop, and Bannon could turn out to be a coup for the O’s.
The Dodgers added outfielder Ezequiel Carrera on a minors deal, per reports. Now 31 years of age, Carrera has seen action in seven MLB seasons and was a frequently-utilized reserve with the Blue Jays from 2016-17. Last year, though, he struggled quite a bit at the Triple-A level with the Braves and Mets organizations and failed to get a look at the majors. LHB – outfield.
Just read the article in the LA Times by Andy McCullough on the free agency evolution that is occurring and suggest everyone give it a read. Should provide fodder for real discussion.
I really enjoyed a book called The Baseball Whisperer. It tells the story of Merle Eberle and the Clarinda A’s, a summer league team for players looking to make it to professional baseball. A really fantastic book for baseball lovers; an old-fashioned and true story about a guy who just loved kids and baseball.
https://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Whisperer-Small-Town-Shaped-League/dp/0544387643/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1548871715&sr=1-5&keywords=baseball+in+iowa
Dbacks signed Greg Holland to a 1 year/3.5 mil contract today. I had been lobbying for us to sign him because after starting his 2018 season horrifically (he signed very late), he had a very good run with the Nats in the second half after being traded there. Sorry we let him slip away. I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt us since he’ll be pitching for AZ.
I think AC may have agreed with my take so at least I wasn’t the only one with that crazy idea.
Great post DC! Brought back some wonderful memories for me. My sons played in the M.I.N.K league one summer. I took a road trip from California to Lees Summit, Missouri with my 13 year old daughter and her friend to watch them play. Travelling with two 13 year old girls have way across the USA is an experience everyone should try. Wonderful trip! Especially enjoyed travelling to the small ballparks in Calrinda, Iowa, Chillicothe, Missouri, etc. It was truly a slice of “baseball and apple pie.” I’ll never forget the experience! And, even though the M.I.N.K. might be considered a “lesser” summer league, the experience was tremendous for my sons. Thank you for jogging those memories!!
The Reds are going to fun to watch this year. In a slow offseason you have to give them credit for at least making their fanbase look forward to the actual games.
I used to watch Dodger and Angel minor league teams play at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, OR. Koufax and Hooten were often at those games. Actually, I think Hooten was the pitching coach.
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Before the Dodgers vacated San Antonio I watched the Missions there. They had all sorts of fan involvements. Fans were invited to put their foreheads on the end of bats with the meat end on the ground and spin. Then the dizzy fans would race around the bases. Lots of free mini pizzas tossed into the crowd.
Kaybear might be as good defensively in LF as Ted. 😉
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I’m thinking Kaybear would do better at first base if not catching like Posey. Other than Seager, the Dodgers do not have a stud 3rd baseman in the wings, so if Kaybear has the arm for catcher he should have the arm for third.
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Here are Kaybear’s scouting grades:
Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 45 | Run: 40 | Arm: 50 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55
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Here are Will Smith’s scouting grades:
Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 55
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Kaybear does not have any elite grades which for me starts at 60. He certainly does not have the speed for LF or is that no longer an asset for the outfield?
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Call me stubborn or just someone that goes against the flow of the majority here but I have always preferred Smith to Ruiz.
I know that Ruiz projects pretty high as a catcher, but if his hitting can be as elite as it appears, could he be a candidate to move to another position? Keep, Smith, Wong and Cartaya as catchers and move Kaybear to LF. He has adequate speed to play there. I’m always looking at the angles.
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It’s early in his career, but his 8.7% K rate is the stuff batting titles are made of.
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When Ted Williams hit .400 his K rate was 4.4% (eyes rolling). His career K rate was 9.2%.
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Now I’m sure someone will say I’m comparing Kaybear to Ted Willaims. (Eyes Rolling)
Thank-you,very nice article, I try to go and see 4 or 5 games each season,last year saw the Rochester Honkers, the Mankato Moondogs and the Duluth Huskies. Hope to see a few more games and 1 or 2 additional teams this year.
Great article… I will be seeing some ball in Palmer AK this summer while staying with my cousin’s son… Of course a big part of the trip, God willing, will be trying to locate some silver or king salmon that want to die…
I wish the West Coast would offer a league…
I love those low minors teams. I first watched Clayton Kershaw live and up close at Harry C. Pohlman Field in Beloit, Wisconson in the Summer of 2007. The Beloit Snappers are in the Midwest League . There wern’t many people there that day… I hope they do better now.
From the last comment in previous Post by Mark:
https://sports.yahoo.com/m/2abc7910-0ace-302b-a3c8-cdaea2e86839/dodgers-rumors%3A-mlb-not.html
Great article about a very good summer college baseball program. I first became acquainted with the Northwoods League in 1995 when my son played for the Kenosha Kroakers. The 1995 Kenosha team had 4 players that went on to play at the ML level. Besides my son who played 1B for Kenosha, there was Jermaine Clark (2B), Joe Nelson (RHP), and Erasmo Ramirez (LHP) – not the same as the Mariners RHP with the same name. It has grown considerably since then. Good baseball for those in the upper Mid West.