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Zach Lutz, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The University of Wisconsin’s earliest intercollegiate varsity sport, baseball, has been absent for the past 28 years, and the optimism of those advocating for its return is met with conflict and inaction.

The lack of a D1 baseball program often escapes those who have no affiliation with the University or those who are not from the Madison area and or the state of Wisconsin.

“Really? Wisconsin does not have a baseball team? Is it the only Big Ten school without one?” These are just a few of the questions people respond with when they hear Wisconsin has not had a varsity baseball team since 1991.

In general, people who are aware of baseball’s absence at Wisconsin do not seem to know all the reasons the program was dismissed in the first place and why it has not been brought back since.

Growing up and playing baseball in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, UW student, Satchal Postlewaite, had been aware of the program’s absence and the general reasons behind it. “I have heard title IX had to do with it, but I am also going to guess finances played a role.” Some people think that Title IX is the only reason why, but he was also correct in suspecting financial reasons. These are the two primary and most apparent reasons, but it still goes a little deeper than that.

 UW did not experience the same football and basketball success it does now at the time of the baseball program’s dismissal, so the school was not generating as much revenue from the two most popular sports. This helped lead the athletic department into a debt of about $2 million.

“The basketball and football teams were just awful,” said Paul Zuziak, a former Wisconsin baseball player and Badger Herald editor. “Nobody was going to the games and alumni were not buying season tickets anymore because we had a pretty bad spell of teams there for a while.”

This is no longer the case as Wisconsin’s recent success in these sports has helped the school earn a number 15 ranking on USA Today’s top school revenue list following the 2016-17 school year.

Paul Zuziak also mentioned how players and Badger head coach Steve Land saw the dismissal of the program coming.

According to Zuziak, “[he] still talked to some of the players and yeah some of them saw it coming. There was just no upkeep in the facilities, not that there was much to begin with, but the field was not in nice condition. There was not an effort by the program, because they wanted to put resources into things that were going to help rebound and make money again.”

Ultimately though, according to UW Club Baseball coach Jeff Block’s proposal to bring back varsity baseball, these Title IX issues and financial problems are in the rear view for Wisconsin’s athletic department. UW currently has more female participants than male and the school has generated plenty of money over the past two decades or so ever since Barry Alvarez has taken over the position of Athletic Director.

As a proud Wisconsin alum, Paul Zuziak is thankful for all Barry Alvarez has done for this school, investing time and money to make football and basketball a success and putting the University on the map in athletics. He called him “the best thing that’s happened to this school in a while.”

As shown in his proposal, however, Jeff Block does not see eye-to-eye with Alvarez’ inaction concerning the return of a varsity baseball program. In addition to addressing Title IX and the financial situation, Block’s 14-page proposal, produced now four years ago in 2015, also addressed how competitive the program could be, the fan interest and the field/facilities situation. Block hyped Wisconsin as a baseball state with the overwhelming amount of Milwaukee Brewers fans for a relatively small market organization. He also detailed the amount of homegrown baseball talent the state could bring to UW-Madison that is either spent at UW-Milwaukee (because it’s the only Wisconsin school with a D1 baseball program) or elsewhere outside Wisconsin.

Block also discussed how relatively cheap the operating costs of most collegiate baseball programs are, as well as the costs for a nice stadium and facilities in his proposal in comparison to the millions of dollars the athletic department has spent on enhancements to Camp Randall Stadium.

Jeff Block had a lot to offer in his proposal, but in the end, it is up to Alvarez and the athletic department to consider acting on it.

Gary D’Amato and Michael Hunt, writers for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, have both reported communication with Alvarez in the last few years and both gained the understanding that while Alvarez acknowledges the importance and history of baseball at Madison and the improving financial state of the department, Alvarez feels that the endowment for baseball is too much and more than people think. Furthermore, he has wanted to keep focus on the sports programs currently at Wisconsin and make sure those are healthy.  

Though this comes to directly challenge Block, considering all Alvarez has done for the school, most people, even those who desperately want baseball back, have found it difficult to contest his inaction on the baseball front moving forward.

After speaking with UW Sophomore club baseball player, Chase Zernich, there is a sense that coach Block is loved by his players and has their support.

“Coach Block is a great guy, and he is so passionate about bringing baseball back here to this university”, Zernich said. Zernich then went on to say, “he is always posting about the club team’s success on Facebook. The job does not pay well, but he loves it and feels like he is making strides. He is also always posting about stud baseball players having to leave the state to go out and fulfill their dreams.” Jeff Block has the type of drive and passion needed to spark action on bringing back the sport.

While Block pointed to utilizing an off-campus field and practice facilities, Paul Zuziak, Satchal Postelwaite and Chase Zernich all appeared to agree that investing in new, on-campus facilities would stir more excitement, especially for Chase and the club players who feel that driving 20 minutes away from campus for a late practice on a school night can be a bit of hassle. Satchal Postlewaite feels that a new team and stadium that is convenient to get to would help boost attendance right away if the program was resurrected.

In all, Block’s proposal presented a variety of ideas rooted in data and passion for bringing back baseball to Madison. However, Jeff Block is not a household name, so his ability to reach Alvarez’ ear with impact is lesser than someone with a big name and reputation. Paul Zuziak describes the kind of person needed to reach Alvarez as an “enforcer.” Zuziak mentioned longtime Major League Baseball Commissioner and UW-Madison alum Bud Selig as this enforcer. Bringing in the caliber of someone like Bud Selig, this process of bringing back baseball could be sped up and maybe even achieved.

Though he admitted his bias, Zernich said “people still like baseball and want to go watch it.” The issue lies more with the fact that people on this campus do not have a lot of quality options to choose from to go watch. Despite the tremendous success the club baseball team has had since its debut in 1999, the fact its big enough for two teams and is highlighted by its most recent success qualifying as one of the eight teams to make the club World Series in North Carolina and finishing fifth last year, “nobody wants to go watch a club game because of that club label, people do not think it will be that competitive.”

When asked about the club team and attending a game, Satchal responded in a similar vein by saying he would not have much interest because it is not significant enough and sees club as a more competitive intermural league.

No matter how successful and competitive the club team is, it is still the highest level of baseball Wisconsin has to offer. Chase and Satchal both agreed that there is a lack of spectator spring sports on campus and that after basketball and hockey they did not attend any sports the rest of the school year, however, the popularity of baseball could fill some seats with the resurrection of the program and a new stadium.

While Satchal worries about the performance of the program and talent it would possess in the first couple of seasons, Chase believes it would start out slow but remains confident the program could recruit elite in-state talent quickly. Chase, for example comes all the way from Boston. This means the potential for recruiting could extend far beyond the talent in Wisconsin. In fact, according to the Princeton Review, 35% of the school’s student body comes from out of state as it is.

For Paul Zuziak, it’s a sad sight to see baseball gone from UW for so long. He reminisces about the wonderful bus rides, locker room banter and warm feelings he had playing Badger baseball. In his eyes, it really is a shame it has been gone this long, especially given some of the success the program had and the fact that it sent a total of 26 players to the MLB over the course of the program’s duration.

Click here to go to the Audio Story – hear from Paul Zuziak, Chase Zernich and Satchal Postlewaite