Mustangs Baseball 
Archive - Home Page - 2007/2008
September, 2007 - February, 2008
With the many activities at this time of the year, it is very difficult to reschedule the meeting, and not possible at all to reschedule that same week. The meeting is rescheduled for Thursday, February 28th at 7:00PM @ MVHS. This meeting will provide information about the upcoming baseball season.
Alternative Informational Meetings will be held on March 4th in the morning before school and immediately after school for any players (and parents if you want to) that are not able to attend this meeting on February 28th. These will be:
Tuesday, March 4: 7:00AM - 7:30AM in the Forum
Tuesday, March 4: 2:15PM - 2:45PM in the Forum
These Baseball Informational Meetings also serve as the Mandatory Chemical Awareness Meeting for any athlete and parent that did not participate in another sport previously this school year. This requirement for both parent and player can also be met by attending another Spring Sport's Mandatory Chemical Awareness Meeting. Chris Thielke in the Athletics Office can be contacted to learn about the dates/times of these other sport Mandatory Chemical Awareness Meetings.
After seven years of off-site games, the Mounds View High School baseball team will enjoy the home field advantage next spring (2009). In February, the School Board approved funding for a baseball field that takes advantage of portions of existing field space currently dedicated to three soccer fields. The three grass soccer fields are not fully utilized because most soccer programs are now able to play on the stadium�s larger artificial field. The new baseball field features a demountable outfield wall and fencing. Capital dollars, which by law cannot be used for classroom funding, will support a majority of the $170,000 facility with booster clubs possibly providing for bullpens, bleachers and scoreboards. Until now, the Mustangs were the only baseball team in the metro without a home field. The baseball field is the final realization from a series of recommendations made by a 2002 athletic facilities task force.
School Board Awards Bid For New MVHS Baseball Field
On Tuesday evening, February 12th, the Mounds View Schools School Board approved bids for the new
The baseball field will be placed on what is now the practice field area to the south of the High School. Construction will begin this April, with the field being ready for play in the spring of 2009.
The project will include the baseball field of play, backstop, fencing, water, and concrete dugouts. The outfield fence will be removable - making the outfield area useable for fall sports.
Athletic Director Bob Madison and Coach Mark Downey will work with the Diamond Club to develop a process for input and fundraising for items such as additional storage, bullpen mounds, batting cages, scoreboard, and bleachers.
School Board Meeting Summaries are always available at: http://www.moundsviewschools.org/school_board_2003_04.asp
The February 12th issue of the Shoreview Press contained an article on the new field. A link to the article: Shoreview Press Baseball Field Article
Mounds View Athletic Director Bob Madison announced that the District recently made a commitment to pursue bringing Mounds View baseball back to the high school campus in his remarks at the recent Diamond Club fundraising dinner. A link to the video of his remarks: Video - Bob Madison Diamond Club Dinner Remarks
More information will be forthcoming as the District moves forward with construction activities. In the meantime, questions can be directed to Athletic Director Bob Madison or Coach Mark Downey.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
MVHS Alum Mark Hamburger Reporting to Spring Training
2005 Mounds View High School graduate Mark Hamburger reports to Spring Training with the Minnesota Twins shortly. He spent 3 months with the Gulf Coast League Twins last summer after being signed by the Twins following a 2 day walk-on tryout camp.
Shoreview Press Article About Mark Hamburger
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Rod Carew Speaks at Diamond Club Fundraiser
The Diamond Club's annual fundraising dinner and silent auction held at Kozlak's on Sunday night was a huge success in raising funds in support of the Mounds View High School baseball program. Monies raised will help purchase equipment, uniforms, coaches salaries, and many other items to provide a quality and memorable experience for the players.
Mounds View Athletic Director Bob Madison announced that the District recently made a commitment to pursue bringing Mounds View baseball back to the high school campus. Plans are in place for a new field at the High School, and bids are being taken. The School Board has not approved or taken action as yet; they will likely address this in February. A link to a video of Bob Madison's remarks is below.
Video - Bob Madison Diamond Club Dinner Remarks
Baseball Hall of Fame member Rod Carew spoke about his life, what's important, his baseball career, the Minnesota Twins, and then provided many stories of his Hall of Fame career in a question and answer session. A link to a video of Rod Carew's remarks is below.
Video - Rod Carew Diamond Club Dinner Remarks
The two videos have been generously provided by Jim Radford. He is in the commercial video business, producing on-location and studio training, sales and marketing, special events, web commercials, news, music and dance, biographies, weddings, and more. The lighting at Kozlak's was not ideal, and Jim did a great job to be able to bring this video to us. Jim's website is http://radfordvideo.com, and he can be reached at 651-483-3593 or jim@radfordvideo.com.
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008
College Baseball in the Metrodome
For anyone interested in watching college baseball, the Minnesota Gophers offer free ticket vouchers for the DQ Classic games on February 29 - March 2. The vouchers (worth 2 free tickets each) can be found at the baseball bulletin board at MVHS. Most all of the upper midwest DI, DII and DIII colleges play games in February/March in the Metrodome as well. Consult any team website of a school you may be interested in seeing for their game schedule, or visit the Metrodome's Event Calendar at http://www.msfc.com/events.cfm.
Minnesota Twins Community Fund offering scholarships
The Minnesota Twins Community Fund offers a Diamonds and Dreams Scholarship Program which provides high school baseball and softball seniors the opportunity to apply for 20 $1000 college scholarships. The first 150 applications received will be considered, with an application deadline of March 1st.
For more information: Twins Community Fund Scholarships
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
MVHS Baseball Youth Clinic March 1 and March 2
The MVHS Coaching Staff will be conducting a youth clinic on March 1st and 2nd.
The program is open to students age 9 - 14 (grade 8) interested in baseball, and is designed to enhance their fundamental baseball skills through instruction from Coach Downey and the Mounds View High School Baseball coaching staff and players.
Players will be grouped by age, and the clinics will be geared toward the skill level of each age group and individual player. Pitching from the stretch, pick-off moves and leading off will be emphasized with the Big League players.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Captains Practices Begin January 3rd
Captains Practices will be held at MVHS each Tuesday and Thursday, beginning January 3rd, 8:30PM - 10:00PM each evening.
2002 MVHS grad Andy Peters (2006 University of Minnesota MVP) and 2000 MVHS grad Steve Grasley (Creighton University and Seattle Mariners organization) have offered to help provide pitching instruction/workouts.
Joe Bothwell, Randy Reichert, and Mike Blumer are organizing parent supervision and batting practice throwing for the captains practices (members of the coaching staff cannot be involved in captains practices) -contact one of them if interested in helping out.
In an effort to maximize the use of the batting cage, the captains have requested that players hit in the cage as follows:
Tuesdays: FR/SO hit 8:30-9:15
JR/SR hit 9:15-10:00
Thursdays: JR/SR hit 8:30-9:15
FR/SO hit 9:15-10:00
(If the standard time slot doesn't work for a player, they can certainly hit during the other time slot)
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Cub Foods Fundraising Pictures
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Link for pictures of players fundraising at Cub Foods on Friday, December 21st: Cub Foods Fundraising - December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Spring Trip Meeting
A meeting for all players attending the spring trip to Orlando, and their parents, has been scheduled for Monday, February 18th at 7:00PM in the Forum at MVHS. Schedules and expectations will be discussed.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Cub Foods Fundraising Change
The Diamond Club has traded Cub Foods bagging on February 2nd for this coming Friday, December 21st at the Arden Hills Cub Foods from 4:00PM - 9:00PM. Players can sign-up to help out with the Captains, Coach Downey or on the sign-up sheet on the baseball bulletin board.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Off-Season Conditioning
Any baseball player (or any student) interested in information about off-season conditioning - there is a meeting immediately after school on Thursday, November 29th in the Cafeteria. The meeting will take 15-20 minutes. Some workout routines that are geared toward baseball will be discussed.
This is for those that are interested, it is optional. Baseball coaches will not be involved in organizing or conducting offseason conditioning workouts. This meeting will just provide some workout options for students to consider.
Baseball players that play a winter sport, focus on the winter sport!
Off-Season Condititioning Meeting Talking Points
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Cub Foods Fundraising Successful
Thanks to the 37 players and 10 parents for their efforts on Saturday to raise funds for the Diamond Club through bagging groceries at the Arden Hills Cub Foods. Thanks to John Colwell and the Arden Hills Cub Foods for providing the opportunity, and for feeding the players pizza following each shift. The Diamond Club will bag groceries again the day before the Super Bowl - Saturday, February 2, 2008.
Cub Foods Fundraising October 2007 Pictures
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Rod Carew to Speak at Diamond Club Dinner
The Diamond Club Fundraising Dinner and Silent Auction is being planned for the evening of Sunday, January 27th. The Minnesota Twins have helped secure Rod Carew to be a guest speaker at this event. More information will be available as plans are finalized. Much help is needed to make this event successful; contact Diamond Club President Randy Riechert (randall.reichert@wellsfargo.com) if you are interested in helping with this event.
Annual Fundraising Dinner Ticket Order Form
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Cub Foods Bagging Events Scheduled
The Diamond Club has scheduled 2 grocery bagging events at the Arden Hills Cub Foods: Saturday, October 27th and Saturday, February 2nd (day before the Super Bowl). A sign-up sheet for the October 27th event will be posted on the wall by the weight room shortly, and the captains will also each have a sign-up sheet. Shifts are 2 - 2.5 hours in length starting at 10:00AM and concluding at 5:00PM. The Diamond Club is also exploring the possibility of an additional bagging event at the White Bear Lake Cub Foods.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Recent Letters to Baseball Parents
Below are links to 3 recent letters to baseball parents:
Spring Trip Is A Go - September 7, 2007
Introductory Letter to Freshmen Players and Parents - September 25, 2007
2008 Season Spring Break Framework Letter to Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors - September 25, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Mustangs Baseball Conducts SAYB Fall Baseball Clinic
This past Saturday, the Mustangs Baseball Coaching Staff along with several senior baseball players conducted a baseball fundamentals instructional clinic for players in the SAYB Fall Baseball Program at McCullough Park. Thirty SAYB players were exposed to some of the fundamental drills the high school program uses; rotating through stations for baserunning, infield/outfield, pitching, catching and hitting.