(**Note: Thanks to Jimmy Mergen for sharing this information about the club)

EARLY FARMING BASEBALL HISTORY

It all began in the summer of 1936 when a group of young farm boys decided they could play baseball just as well as some of the surrounding towns’ young men.  They got together in the William Evens’ pasture and made that the home field for a short time, and then moved to the Herman Schleper farm pasture.  In 1937, the move was made to the Jim Hagemeier meadow.  When this field was ready, they began playing other teams from the area such as Jacob’s Prairie, Richmond, St. Martin, Avon, and Krain Town.  When they defeated the 7 UP team from St. Cloud by a 6-1 score, they knew they were ready for the big time.

Farming helped form the Lakewood League in 1938 along with these other small towns: St. Wendel, St. Anthony, Freeport, St. Stephen, and New Munich.  After defeating Albany in an exhibition game, they knew Farming baseball was here to stay.  The first manager was Ed Silvers and the team was equipped with real uniforms, replacing the overalls.

1939 was a wet year and the meadow was always muddy or underwater, so the move to the Tony Thyen pasture was made.  Farming also left the Lakewood League that year and joined the Stearns County League.  This league consisted of Farming, St. Martin, Roscoe, Freeport, Lake Henry, New Munich, Spring Hill, and Elrosa.  The Stearns County League disbanded in 1942 due to World War II.  Farming then joined the Great Soo League in 1943.

In 1945, after complaints from other teams about sliding into what they thought was third base, relocation to the present location just east of the church became the final move.  This was quite an undertaking as the entire area was heavily wooded, including the current parking lot and school playground.  Wood parcels were auctioned off with the condition that they be cleared by spring.  The Blattner Company was hired to bulldoze the stumps while the players came in with tractors and teams of horses to haul them off.  Level the field was done again by Blattner.  June of 1946 was the grand opening of the new ballpark.

In 1950 another league move was made, this time to the Central Stearns League, which was later to become the Stearns County League again.  In 1983, the league expanded to 10 teams creating a North and South Division, with five teams in each division.  This is still the present makeup of the league with Farming belong to the South Division along with Richmond, St. Martin, Roscoe, and Lake Henry.  The North Division consists of Elrosa, Greenwald, Meire Grove, New Munich, and Spring Hill.

In 1957 another improvement was made by adding the concession stand to the park.  This required a lot of hard work but the financial rewards were very welcome.  This became possible because of the many hours expended by George Ramler, Herman Holthaus, Bill Nordmann.

 

Farming Baseball Managers:

 

1938-1939:          Ed Silvers

1940-1941:          Meinrad Evens

1942:                   No baseball due to WWII

1943-1944:          Meinrad Evens

1945:                   Elmer Schleper

1946:                   Ed Silbernick

1947:                   Joe Korte, Urban Schleper

1948-1950:          Meinrad Evens

1951-1952:          Joe Korte

1953:                   Paul Schleper

1954:                   Jerry Buerman, Vern Rammler

1955:                   Harvey Koglin

1956:                   Elmer Schleper

1957-1958:          Jimmy Mergen

1959:                   Ralph Buerman

1960-1969:          Elmer Schleper

1970:                   Meinrad Janssen

1971:                   Howard Koglin

1972:                   Bill Bruemmer

1973:                   Dan Mergen

1974-1983:          Elmer Schleper

1984:                   Mark Schleper, Mike Schleper

1985:                   Mark Schleper

1986-1988:          Dan Mergen

1989:                   Mike Schleper

1990-1992:          Kerry Mergen

1993-1996:          Pete Schleper

1997-1998:          Mike Schleper

1999-2000:          Chris Nett

2001:                   Chris Thies

2002-2005:          Jeff Mergen

2006-2008:          Chris Thies

2009-2010:          Aaron Nett

2011-pres:           Dale Schroeder