Geneva Baseball Association reaps rewards of early groundwork

It might be difficult to believe, but kids who grew up in Geneva watching the White Sox “Winning Ugly” in 1983 or imitating Ryan Sandberg during his MVP season in ’84 weren’t playing organized baseball in Geneva.

There simply wasn't a youth baseball program in Geneva for them to play in until Rich Mittman founded the Geneva Baseball Association (GBA) in 1990.

Now, the GBA is getting ready to celebrate 25 years of baseball. Opening day ceremonies are set for April 25.

“We’ve got some commemorative apparel that we’re promoting on the website,” GBA commissioner Dan McGarry said. “We might get some patches for the kids’ uniforms, and we’d like to do something on opening day and introduce the former board members.”

None of this would’ve been possible if not for Mittman, who moved to Geneva in 1988.

Now, Mittman didn’t wander into a cornfield one night and hear a voice telling him to build a field in Geneva and the youth teams will come, but he did mosey into St. Charles and Batavia.

Realizing that the only baseball program in Geneva was a daytime one offered by the park district, Mittman was able to get his sons to play in St. Charles in 1989. In 1990, they played in Batavia while he simultaneously established the GBA.

Still, he needed fields. And, he needed players. And, he needed umpires. He worked with Steve Persinger and the Geneva Park District.

Persinger agreed to provide fields, as well as prep them, if there was sufficient public interest. Meanwhile, Mittman and his wife, Nancy, sent fliers to the schools for children between the ages of 7 and 12, as well as distributed them during the park district’s daytime program.

A meeting was scheduled, attendance was very good, Persinger gave his consent and the following spring, on April 20, 1991, the GBA had its inaugural opening day with 91 players and seven teams, four at the majors level (11-12) and three at the minors (9-10).

Such a humble beginning has now turned into a program that offers baseball opportunities for those between the ages of 5 and 17, as well as in-house all-star tournament teams, 11 travel teams between 9U and 14U, a comprehensive six-week Spring Training Academy, a fall league, as well as three $500 scholarships for high school seniors.

“The groundwork these guys have laid has made our jobs easy,” McGarry said. “All we’ve had to do is minor tweaks.”

Chris Diemand served as commissioner for six years and coached for 19 years. His two sons played in the league, including Steve Diemand, who would later coach in the colt league with his father.

“I feel really honored to be a part of all this,” Chris Diemand said. “What Rich did to start this whole thing and to see what it’s become is really great. I’m just fortunate to have had the time to work with and meet a lot of great people.”

GBA has been willing to adapt to the changing demands of today’s youth, and that’s helped it succeed. Recognizing there was a demand for baseball beyond summer, the GBA started fall ball in 2006.

“The kids were all going to Wasco to play, and they were charging so much to go out and play there,” former commissioner Dave Lamb said. “So we looked into doing something here and charge half of what they were. It seems to have worked really well.”

Like most youth baseball associations, participation numbers have dwindled because of other sports and activities. The GBA had 1,107 players in 2009, but expects to have around 625 this spring.

“It’s happened to everybody because the three-hour commitment for baseball isn’t as palatable as soccer and lacrosse or other things,” former commissioner Bob Shabowski said. “Part of our struggle is how do we get people committed to baseball. We’re still trying to figure that one out.”

But unlike Mittman’s challenge 25 years ago, Geneva parents don’t have to figure out where their kids are going to play baseball. If they’re interested, they only need to visit genevabaseball.com.

Thanks to him, his sons were able to play, and now he has a granddaughter and two grandsons who are playing in Geneva.

Josh and Jason Rader, whose father, Carl Rader, was GBA’s first major league president, won the major league championship in the GBA’s debut season along with Mittman’s son, Matt Mittman.

Jason now coaches his son, Cody, in Geneva.

It’s all come full circle, or better yet, around the bases in Geneva, thanks to Rich Mittman first digging into the batter’s box and getting the rally started.