Let's play ball. In one part of Fargo-Moorhead, we have the buzzing of the Beez. In another part, we have the swarming of the Red Hawks. Minor league sports are definitely in the house.
The F-M Beez are part of the International Basketball Association. The F-M Red Hawks are part of the Northern League Baseball organization. Both teams have recently made their home in Fargo.
The Beez made their start in Fargo back in October 1995. They claimed the Civic Auditorium, otherwise known as the "Hive", as home and began their season on Dec.5 against another semi-professional team from Bismarck, N.D. Their season consists of 24 games, half of which are played at home. The Beez ended on a very successful note. They clinched the 1996 IBA championship.
The team is owned by three men, John T. Korsmo, Chris Gardner, and Al Hovland. The coach is Rory White, who played for the Fargo-Moorhead Fever basketball team before the organization left town to seek the sun of Mexico City, Mexico. White decided to stick it out in Fargo and remain involved in its basketball scene.
The players are a diverse group of men coming from as far as San Diego, Calif., to as close to home as right here in Fargo. There are two players each from North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota. Todd Johnson and Sherrod Russell are from UND and Dave ñThe Judgeî Williams and Vernon Crump played for NDSU. All of the men are college athletes, which brings good, competitive basketball out onto the court.
The Beez play league teams from Bismarck N.D; Winnipeg, Manitoba; St. Cloud, Minn; and Rapid City, S.D. To win the championship the Beez whirled through the Winnipeg Cyclones and then went on to outshoot the Black Hills Posse. All of the playoff games were a set of two out of three.
The IBA's first season allows only small budget for each team to work with. This budget, however, does not reflect negatively on the level of play for the team. Jack Martin, Ralph Jacobson, and Tom Vesel, three Beez fans from Fargo, all agree that the games are filled with a lot of enthusiasm and a good degree of competitive basketball.
"The team and coaching staff are well balanced and very professional," Vesel said.
"We love the Hive," Jacobson said.
Vesel feels that Fargo-Moorhead should be able to support a 3000-person-a-night sports franchise. Jacobson agrees and thinks it is about time something new came to the area.
Unlike the F-M Fever, which had trouble finding enough fans to fill the Fargo Dome, the Beez drew a close to capacity crowd at every home game. So far Jacobson, Martin, and Vesel are happy with the Beez and hope they will continue to play in Fargo for the future.
"I had a great time at the first game, then I went the second time and had an even better time," Jacobson said.
Ultimately, for sports fans, these three men and the rest of this area will feel the same amount of enthusiasm for the newly founded F-M Red Hawks baseball team.
Deadline after deadline, the F-M area waited to see if Gene Allen, a Minneapolis attorney, could raise the money to set up a Northern League baseball team in Fargo. The first deadline, June 15,1995, Allen and NDSU joined together to raise $1.5 million. They could not make this happen so the deadline was extended to July 5. Then by July 15, they needed another $500,000. It seemed to never end for Allen.
Finally, everything came together and the executive wheels started rolling. On July 6, 1995, the Fargo City Commission voted to bring a team to Fargo and supply money for the building of a new stadium. The vote was not an easy one because of a potential conflict of interest: Commissioner Irv Inniger is also NDSUÍs assistant athletic director. Other commission members, Arlette Preston for one, thought Inniger might be biased toward the well-being of the university instead of the city because the new stadium would benefit NDSU and also be on its campus.
Bruce Thom and Mid-States Development are the majority owners of the F-M Red Hawks. They waited patiently throughout the winter months for their $4 stadium to appear from beneath the piles of snow-covered dirt. The Red Hawks' home opener is scheduled for June 7, against the Madison, Wis., Black Wolves.
The $4 million is courtesy of the city of Fargo as an interest-free loan. The Red Hawks organization plans to have the city repaid in about seven years.
The stadium is modeled after Yankee Stadium in New York City and is designed by the same company that built the Fargo Dome. The field consists of an artificial turf infield and a grass outfield. The building has the same brick and dark green trim as the Fargo Dome.
The team of individuals preparing the Red Hawks to perch here has its work cut out. John Dittrich, general manager, heads a staff of eight people whose main goal is to create awareness among the citizens of Fargo and Moorhead about their new minor league baseball team. They are hard at work everyday selling, promoting and scouting.
"We are constantly trying to keep the team out in the community,"Dittrich said.
According to Dittrich, tickets are a hot commodity. He is impressed with the ambition and readiness of so many people in the area. He is also extremely happy with the community's business sponsorship.
For the announcing of the team name at Playmakers in Fargo, an estimated 1000 people lined up. Fans may have also been in line to see former Minnesota Twin Dan Gladden unveil the team name on a jersey he was wearing.
Behind all the efforts of making the team a public name, there is a group of athletes ready to fill the spotlight. The coaching staff is also of major importance. Doug Simunic was named Red Hawks' head coach after he left his previous coaching job with Winnipeg's Northern League team. He is joined by Jeff Bittiger, the new pitching coach. Dittrich expresses much confidence in these two coaches'abilities.
The players were carefully scouted and chosen in order to establish the type of baseball that will add to the competition level of the league. Dittrich says the scouting team focused mainly on picking up players from colleges, but held tryout camps for anyone else. There were two camps in Florida, one in California, and one in Fargo. The team consists of 22 players.
Both the Beez and the Red Hawks are looking for support from the people in the Fargo-Moorhead area. They are teams of eager people wanting to make an impact here. Get out to the ballpark or the auditorium and support a new tradition of athletics that is all its own.
Story by Jen Aune Photos by Jan Plaude Design by Amber Buttweiler and Jen Pfliger