Dairymen Triumph at Detroit World Tournament

How do we measure grit and perseverance – let alone cultivate it? The concept is well-worn, and many a leadership treatise claims to contain the recipe. But to find it, and keep it, is no easy task. 

The concept is so important that almost every culture has words to shorthand the complex emotional cocktail of getting up after being knocked down: The Finnish call it “Sisu”, often translated as "stick-to-itivness" – and demonstrated by the Finns in the Winter War of 1939 against the mighty Soviets. In Arabic-speaking cultures, a bright-eyed grandmother might lean down and whisper “Sumud” to a granddaughter who has just been told to mind her place. 

The French call it “Cran”, which literally means a “notch”, and one can imagine a scene in Alps, a climber tempted to let go, and a voice telling him to find one more fingerhold. The Japanese call it “Ganbatte,” while the Spanish might say “Garra,” which literally means "claw," and is used to describe someone with tenacity, fighting spirit, and fierce determination.

Last weekend, the Bovina Dairymen Vintage Base Ball team traveled the 604 miles to Detroit, MI – and they brought their Garra. 

The modern World Tournament commemorates the 1867 World Tournament – when the Detroit Base Ball Club hosted amateur teams from across the region who came to play for their towns, and their pride. In 1867, the “Unknowns” from Rockford, Illinois, famously took first prize. 159 years later, the Rockford Unknowns, coming from a population of 7,000 with strong migratory ties to upstate New York, would lend their moxie to another group of upstaters.

On Saturday, the Dairymen played the Columbus Buckeyes (OH), falling behind early after Columbus tallied seven runs in the first. But Bovina bounced back with nine runs of their own in the first two frames, going on to win by a score of 12-9. Rookie Collin “Soup” Campbell collected three hits in the game. 

Next up was the Walker Tavern Wheels (MI), who had added some star firepower after losing to Bovina in the third-class championship a year ago. Bovina again fell behind early, trailing 9-5 after three innings. But Bovina tallied 14 aces in the final three frames to win 19-11. Hunter “Colonel” Truman had three hits to send Bovina into the first-class bracket. 

Next up was the Columbus Capitals (OH), who matched the Dairymen frame-for-frame in a laborious contest that saw only five innings completed. After the Capitals scored two in the top of the fourth, Bovina plated three runs in the bottom and held the Caps scoreless in the top of the fifth to win 12-11. Captain Nick “Roughcut” Frandsen hit a two-out single in the fourth to score the winning run and send Bovina to the championship game. 

But in the title match, a goliath loomed: the Flat Rock Bear Clan (MI). Defending World Tournament champions and winners of 35 straight games, the power-hitting Bear Clan had not lost a match in over 13 months. 

The game began bleakly, as Flat Rock posted a whopping eight runs in the top of the first. A somber bottom of the first followed, when Bovina’s own vaunted offense went down 1-2-3. But the defense stiffened, and Devin “Double G” Truman slapped a crisp single to plate the first Dairymen run in the second. After three and a half innings, Flat Rock led, 11-1. 

Bovina was flat, but not defeated. They had been here before. Over the course of the last ten years, the Dairymen have developed a reputation for never giving up, winning close games, and mounting late comebacks. If they had one left, the time was now.  

In the bottom of the fourth, Luke “Burnsie” Burns gave the boys in suspenders a sharp snap, starting the inning with a long double, and sending the bench an unmistakable sign – fingers intertwined, two thumbs down: indicating a pair of udders. Bovina’s bench erupted as they sent back the response in unison—a two-handed milking motion—and the flood gates opened. The upstate boys sent 13 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs and crawling back from the dead. The game was on. Both sides steeled themselves for a fight. 

The teams traded zeros and superb defense, including a Bear Clan double play to erase a promising Dairymen fifth, and a full-sprint, diving catch by Dairymen left fielder Alex “AT” Taylor to stifle the Flat Rock sixth. 

Then, disaster: Dairymen pitcher and 3-hitter “Iron” Mike Brown came up lame with a hamstring injury. The Bovina faithful held their breath as Mike hobbled off the field, spat venom under his breath, and limped back to the pitcher’s mound to finish the game. In the crowd, grandfathers nodded their heads, made sure no one was listening, then whispered to their grandsons: “That’s one tough son of a ------”.

Troy “Honey T” Tucker plated two runs with a double in the seventh, but was thrown out trying to take the lead at the plate. The crowd of some 500 awed and gasped. Tie ballgame.

The Bear Clan scored two in the eighth, and their numerous supporters let themselves be known for the first time since Bovina’s big inning. 13-11, Flat Rock. 

Bovina loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, with Alex “Burger” Stanton up to bat. Burger had had a rough tournament, with just four hits to his name – three at bat, and one accidental knock to the four-year-old bat boy, who fell to the ground crying, and for which Burger was roundly booed by the ample crowd. But baseball is a game where anything can happen, and usually does. Burger hit a hard ball between short and third, and chaos ensued. Flat Rock threw the ball around, got an out on a Dairymen miscue, then threw the ball into the tall grass. As a ball generally is not “dead” unless touched by a fan, Burger raced all the way around the bases as Flat Rock searched the reeds. 14-13, Bovina; Burger, redeemed. 

After Flat Rock practically willed a single run across in the top of the ninth to tie the game, a strange thing happened: no air came out of the Bovina balloon. In the Dairymen huddle, an excited air took over. Somehow, someway, the boys from Bovina looked at each other and knew they were going to score. 

Dylan “Hobbs” Tucker led off with a single, Burns hit a double, and Mike Brown hobbled to the plate with the winning run just 90 feet away. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Brown hit a single to left field, scoring two runs and sending the field into a frenzy. Brown simply swaggered towards first base, throwing his bat and flashing the crowd a determined stare. As walkoffs were not recognized in 1867, Bovina added two more in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 18-14. All told. 

Bovina will have its name engraved on the World Tournament trophy, and will go down as the first East Coast team to win the prestigious World Tournament. Additional awards for the weekend include: Nick Frandsen (voted Tournament Finest Captain), Troy Tucker (longest throw competition – 1^st place), Alex Taylor (fastest runner competition – 3^rd place), Furthest Traveled (604 miles), and Best Uniforms (as voted by the ladies in attendance). 

As the thrill of victory and agony of defeat muted, the hugs, thank yous, and handshakes rained innumerable. Rightly so. The Bovina Dairymen, who started in a hayfield in 2008, who nearly fell off the map in the middle 2010s, and who trailed in every game they played last weekend, were World Champions. 

It takes a village too large to list, but special thanks are due to Faith Frandsen, Susan Burns, Joan Burns, Gary Burns, John “Chico” Finn, Tanner “Handsome” Metzko, Livestock Foundation, the MARK Project, Mike Ossy and the World Tournament staff, the Henry Ford Museum, and our friends, families, and fans who support us game in and game out. 

Three cheers. Garra.