Author Brings Tour Team to Freeport International
By Paul Kogut, VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Thursday, July 22, 2010
With his Potter Pirates teaching a clinic at South Buffalo Elementary in the background, Jeff Potter of Maryland holds his book, "Whatever Happened To Baseball." Eric Felack | Valley News Dispatch
Like a baseball club from the dusty days of the early 20th century, the Jeff Potter Tour Team has barnstormed through the region in an attempt to reconnect with a simpler era of the game.
Today’s stop: the 16th Annual Freeport International Baseball Invitational.
Potter, an Odenton, Md., resident who was born in Freeport, is the author of “Whatever Happened to Baseball?” In the self-published, 2008 book, Potter laments what he sees as a shift to ultra-competitiveness in youth baseball in the past 30 to 40 years.
This year, Potter put together a team of teenagers from various towns in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The squad hit the road to catch the thrill of playing without the pressure of competing for a championship.
The Freeport International, which was founded with the same ideals in mind, seemed like a perfect place for Potter’s team to set up shop for a couple of days.
The weeklong event, which attracted teams from Australia and Japan this year, features a set schedule that doesn’t include playoffs or a championship game.
“We’ve lost a lot of fun out of baseball,” said Potter, 56. “There’s a lot of egos involved now. It’s different from when I was a kid.”
Potter’s team will conclude its two-day stop at the Freeport International by playing a team from International Christian University of Japan at 5 tonight at James Swartz Memorial Field in Freeport.
Yesterday, Potter’s crew hosted a clinic for youth players at South Buffalo Elementary School field and played a team from New York City at Swartz Field.
Potter’s team is made up of 15 players from towns along the tour through Western Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio. The tour costs $2,400 per player, but each of them are fully sponsored by businesses, organizations or individuals, according to Potter.
The 18-stop tour started July 2 and will end this Sunday with a game against a team from Ellwood City at PNC Park.
“It’s been a blast,” said Damon Matson, 16, an outfielder and left-handed pitcher who will be a junior at Brockway High School in the fall. “I’m loving going to all these towns, playing on different fields.”
Freeport International president Chuck Sarver believes in the message Potter is trying to convey with his book and tour.
“He’s speaking about what we are all about,” Sarver said. “He is focused on the fun of baseball.”
Potter graduated from Ellwood City High School and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1972. The following year, the left-handed pitcher played for the Class A Clinton (Iowa) Pilots and was managed by Jim Leyland, the former Pirates skipper who now manages the Tigers.
A injury brought his promising career to an abrupt halt, however. While playing outfield during a scrimmage game, he ran into a cement wall while chasing a fly ball and broke the wrist on his throwing arm.
A heartbroken Potter stayed away from baseball for about 30 years until his son got involved in youth play, and he was asked to coach. The experience wasn’t as satisfying as Potter thought it would be.
“After the games, I was watching everybody — the coaches, the umpires, the players — being so upset,” Potter said. “It was a lot of therapy writing that book.”
