THE BULL
Baseball is a game of passion, a game of love, and a game that you have to grow to love. Fortunately, it’s a game that I grew up loving, playing it in little league in Shelton, the old “Floyd Conroy League,” a well known baseball lover that kept Shelton’s little league program going well into his 80’s, even 90’s.
But this past weekend, with the love of the game that I have for baseball, I had the moment in baseball that I cherish the most, helping to rename Sutton’s DLD Park Legion baseball field to what will forever be called the “Mike Thompson Memorial Field” during the first round of the Class C state baseball championships in Sutton.
I’ve shared my admiration for Mike over the last 13-14 months after his passing in early June of 2024. Mike and his wife, Diane, were huge fans of anything Sutton, whether it was their own boys, Steve, Nic or Jeff, students who took part in any activity, sports related or not, at Sutton.
Saturday night’s dedication ceremony was a personal highlight of mine, and while I’m not a “lifer” for Sutton, these past 16-plus years at the helm of the Clay County News has given me the opportunity to grow, enjoy and meet so many Clay Countians to the point that I feel I have a pretty good tab on the “powers that be.”
Mike was one of those “powers that be,” at least in my opinion.
He was a tad rough around the edges, but he was smooth when it came to watching “his kids,” the Sutton kids that is.
As an Aurora native, Mike came to his new hometown in Clay County as an outsider. When he and Diane started Printing MD many years ago, they knew, as did I, it was bigger than just being a community fan. Being a fan and supporter of one school wasn’t enough, the Thompsons, despite their three sons competing as Sutton athletes, were also supportive of the county kids and their competition.
Saturday night, as I was the “front man” in renaming Sutton’s Legion field to “Mike Thompson Memorial Field,” the aura of Mike came strongly to me, especially after a moment of silence. As I paused the ceremony for a moment of silence to bring Mike’s memory a little closer to the state tournament, to Sutton fan’s especially, I had a chill come over me with Mike’s presence on the field, as if Mike was standing next to me saying “don’t overdo it, it’s just me.”It was as if he was sitting in my office after the CCN purchased Printing MD from Mike and Diane, as he often did any day of the week, no matter the day.
Mike, as I shared after his passing in June of 2024, was unique, but one thing was certain, his passion for baseball, and even bigger, for young students success was never-ending, even if they played for “the other team.”
His pride for his family was strong, as is Diane’s today. They wanted to see kids be successful, to grow and enjoy competition, but most of all, have a passion for what they were doing to represent their community, their school, and most of all, their own self, and their family’s.
It’s hard to find a soul like Mike’s these days, but in the 5-6 years or so that I had the luxury of working WITH Mike after the purchase of Printing MD, he’s one of those guys that I hope I run across again, when I get to join Mike above and beyond!
What a blessing to be a very small part of dedicating the DLD Park Legion field in Mike’s name, and how I’d love to play an out on “Mike Thompson Memorial Field” in his honor. Maybe, just maybe, I can convince his boys Steve, Nic, and Jeff to join me for a quick out.
By the way, did you see the “zip” that Steve had on his ceremonial first pitch Saturday night? The pop coming from the glove of catcher Weston Ohrt was a sizzler!
