The Badger Amateur Baseball Association says good bye to two of its local legends

By: 
Craig Brei
Special to NEW Media

The Badger Amateur Baseball Association, as well as all local area baseball, lost two of its greatest ambassadors within a couple of days of one another. Don Jirschele passed away on July 27 at the age of 87 and Bert Thiel passed a couple days later on July 31 at the age of 94. Both men have left unforgettable legacies.

Jirschele’s name was synonymous in the baseball community in Clintonville for over half a century. He played, managed, and organized the Clintonville A’s for most of his life. He was, in some aspect, part of a dozen of their BABA Grand Championships. Jirschele organized the A’s sponsored fireworks show that is held around the 4th of July every year. He also was the main organizer for the Doug Jirschele Banquet that raised funds for the American Legion baseball team in Clintonville, along with other sports related groups in the area.

Thiel hit the baseball scene in the late 1930’s and never stopped. As a teen in an area that had numerous baseball leagues going on at the same time, he became kind of a hired gun. He could get $5 for pitching a game and would actually pitch double headers for the $10 payday saying it beat hauling milk cans at 50 cents a day.

His talent was soon discovered and eventually he found himself signed by the Boston Braves. His career continued for years as a player, manager, and scout for major league baseball teams. Over this time, when it would fit his career, Thiel would get a chance to play in the BABA. Later in his career he managed the Leopolis team in the 70’s and 80’s and took a small local team and turned them into a force in the BABA.

These two men had slightly different agendas in the way they approached the game. Jirschele was a person that knew the rules and the by-laws. If he went on to the field to discuss a rule, he would come back to the dugout knowing the umpire now knew the correct ruling on the play. At the BABA meetings he would sit and listen to the other managers listing players, discussing the by-laws and the rule book. If he picked up on something that was not done by the rules or if someone was falsifying a player listing, he would wait to the end of the meeting when everyone was done, and in a calm voice would question and correct everything the league had just spent the whole meeting discussing. With his wisdom and knowledge of the league, he was an integral part in many of the BABA rule changes.

Thiel’s approach to the game was one of, know the game, and execute what you know. The workings of the league were something that a manager just had to deal with, and an umpire’s bad call was something you had to overcome. He had a passion for the game and a passion for discovering and developing players.

As a scout he touched hundreds of young ball players lives. Not just in this area but all over the country, giving them a chance to live a dream. When the BABA decided to start hosting a free youth baseball camp for young area players, Thiel, then 80, was brought on board. Thiel felt that no kid should ever have to give money to an adult for advice on playing baseball, a motto the BABA adapted for helping promote and develop local young ball players.

Thiel making it to the pros with the Braves and Jirschele playing college football for legendary Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky and then being drafted by the Green Bay Packers could have made either one arrogant, but these two guys both had a great sense of humor and both were very approachable.

Their legacy will continue in the hearts of the people they impacted for years to come.