Baseball Like It Oughta Be

When Steve Schmitt committed to summer-collegiate baseball in a city that failed to support pro or college baseball, few expected him to succeed. Here’s the inside story of how the Madison Mallards became summer-collegiate baseball’s top draw, changed the face of the sport and brought new life to a downtrodden neighborhood and ballpark.

Expected to fail in their inaugural 2001 season, the Madison Mallards soon became summer-collegiate baseball's most popular team. Since 2002, the Mallards have become the biggest box-office hit among hundreds of similar teams nationwide, drawing more than 4.3 million fans in team history. Baseball Like It Oughta Be is the phenomenal story of how owner Steve Schmitt, a rural Wisconsin shoe sales marvel, and his young, aggressive staff turned dust into gold. Celebrating their 25th year, the Mallards have an entertaining and hilarious history that combines marketing prowess, customer service and anything-goes promotions with stories ranging from Gary Coleman's outrageous appearance to slugger Pete Alonso’s amazing season as a Mallard. Schmitt and team president Vern Stenman turned a downtrodden ballpark into a must-experience destination. The Mallards never went bananas on the field, churning out future pro players like Alonso, Nico Hoerner, Tony Gonsolin and Ryan Spilborghs. Along the way, they've become one of America’s most extraordinary sports teams.

The Mallards story follows an owner’s obsession; the dreamland of a young marketing director, who quit an NHL front-office job; relentless customer service for their fans; fresh promotions annually; belief in what many viewed as a struggling neighborhood; and the embracement of America’s least likely renowned ballpark.

“Upon first visiting Madison in 2012, I sensed something extraordinary at the Duck Pond. While nothing lasts forever, the Mallards have now thrived for nearly 25 years and just continue to crush it, one summer after another. This book is a remarkable testament to owner Steve Schmitt and his dedicated team throughout the years and should be studied by every minor- and summer-league executive in North America. The Mallards' success story is filled with resilience, creativity, and community spirit.”—Rob Neyer, Commissioner, West Coast League, and author of Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game

“The Mallards inspired a revolution in baseball. Since their launch in 2001, summer collegiate baseball has blown up across the country and brought quality baseball and entertainment to hundreds of communities. The Mallards focus on both fun and great baseball has created a template for others to emulate. Tom Alesia does a great job telling the entertaining story of the team’s launch and their broader impact on the game.”—Doug Melvin, Milwaukee Brewers Senior Advisor and former General Manager

“Terrific! I loved it,”—New Yorker critic and Pulitzer Prize winner Emily Nussbaum

“Baseball Like It Oughta Be shows how a try-anything team overcame the odds to forge an enduring connection with its fans. Tom Alesia’s colorful cast of characters includes front-office sharpies with an eye for eccentric promotions and collegiate players with big-league dreams, plus 25 years’ worth of celebrities, mascots, and bat dogs who enlivened Madison Mallards seasons. Alesia digs up fascinating details, and his fondness for this particular team—and the sport in general—comes through vividly.”—Dean Robbins, author, Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me

“An entertaining look at how to build an audience for a sports team when the result on the field is less important to many fans than the entertainment and atmosphere of it. Plenty of interesting characters! Pretty sure it’s the only book to mention Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Gary Coleman and Pete Alonso. A fun read!”—Sports Book Reviews

“What a hoot! I still have a Mallards’ uniform hanging on my wall! (Team owner) Steve Schmitt loved to compete. Go Mallards!”—Bill “Spaceman” Lee, renowned pitcher for 14 major league seasons

"An entertaining deep dive"—Jim Polzin, Wisconsin State Journal

“It’s really enjoyable! Alesia values the art of storytelling and its historical significance. He can see the beauty in it all.”—Los Angeles sportswriter Tom Hoffarth, Farther Off the Wall

“It is well overdue to put a spotlight on the Madison Mallards operation. Owner Steve Schmitt is a marketing and retail savant. When you combine that with the ambition and progressive ideas of President Vern Stenman, you are able to make history. There is no team in summer collegiate baseball that is close to them in attendance and there probably will not be in the foreseeable future. Their story is an important piece in the Northwoods League becoming the largest organized baseball league in the history of the sport. I can’t wait to see what they will do for women’s softball.”--Dick Radatz, Jr., Chairman, Northwoods League

“Baseball Like it Oughta Be is an underdog story reminiscent of Moneyball, but with a model based on marketing and fun rather than math-driven analytics. Readers will enjoy Tom Alesia’s lively narrative about how the Madison Mallards generated phenomenal levels of support by emphasizing community and the fan experience.”—Kent Krause, author of Sunny Jim Bottomley: A Biography of a Hall of Fame First Baseman and Wahoo Sam Crawford

“The Mallards are so much fun! Grab this book!”—Seattle’s Katie Quinn, The Sports Librarian

“It captures the wild, inspiring rise of the Madison Mallards. A must-read for anyone who loves the game–or a great underdog story!”—Bruce Adams, owner, Bethesda Big Train

“I loved this book: the story, the players, the owner, team leaders and the Duck Pond! Tom Alesia chronicles the Mallards in so many wonderful ways. I highly recommend it!”—The Baseball Storyteller (Noel Roby)

“I loved it—thoroughly enjoyed it!”—Dennis Degenhardt, president, Society of American Baseball Research, Wisconsin chapter 

“Long before the Savannah Bananas became a household name, the Madison Mallards took a broken-down ballpark in a failed baseball market and started outdrawing virtually every team in the minor leagues. Tom Alesia skillfully describes their story in this entertaining narrative. This book should be a must-read for anyone in sport!”—Mark Cryan, professor of sport management, former minor league general manager, and co-founder of the Coastal Plain League

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Alesia, a Midwest newspaper feature writer, won the National Music Journalism Award. He wrote Beauty at Short, one of 2022’s most popular baseball books, about Hall of Famer Dave Bancroft.

PAPERBACK RESELLERS:

August Publications | Madison Mallards (online and at the ballpark gift shop) | Amazon (paperback) | Ingram (individual purchases) | Barnes & Noble (paperback) | Powell's Books | Bookshop.org | Books Inc.

EBOOK RESELLERS:

August Publications | Amazon | Apple Books | B&N Nook | Kobo | Bookshop.org | Indigo (Canada)

FAST FACTS
ISBN: 978-1-938532-88-7 (print), 978-1-938532-89-4 (ebook)
Foreword: John Kovalic
Print specs: 5.5x8.5, 208 pages
Print price: $18.95
Wholesale/bookseller discount: Minimum of 15 units, 55 percent discount (plus shipping; $8.53 per unit) with returns
Wholesale/bookseller availability: Directly from August Publications, Ingram, and Amazon.

Booksellers and Libraries: This title is available from Ingram and Overdrive.

If you buy the eBook from August Publications, you'll need to transfer it to your device if you do not buy it from your device. Amazon gives you plenty of tools to transfer this book from a PC/Mac to any sort of Kindle; click here for information. We've done lots of testing to ensure this book can easily be transferred to any Kindle, and the process is smooth! If you're not comfortable transferring files to your device, we recommend buying it from Amazon (for the Kindle), Barnes & Noble (for the Nook), or Apple (for the iPad/iPhone).

MORE PRAISE FOR BASEBALL LIKE IT OUGHTA BE
“It’s a fun journey to a level of baseball most fans never get to visit! The characters, the aspirations, the adventures – all make for a very entertaining tale.”--Marty Appel, baseball historian and author, Pinstripe Empire, the New York Yankees from Before the Babe to After the Boss and two-time Casey Award winner

“Baseball Like It Oughta Be shows how a try-anything team overcame the odds to forge an enduring connection with its fans. Tom Alesia’s colorful cast of characters includes front-office sharpies with an eye for eccentric promotions and collegiate players with big-league dreams, plus 25 years’ worth of celebrities, mascots, and bat dogs who enlivened Madison Mallards seasons. Alesia digs up fascinating details, and his fondness for this particular team—and the sport in general—comes through vividly."--Dean Robbins, author,Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me

“It's so much fun! What great history!"--host Bianca Martin, City Cast Madison podcast

“Fantastic!”--Midwest Writers Room podcast