Every time I take in a little league game at Joe Roberts Fields, the memories rush through my mind like a raging river.As I settle down in my folding chair, my attention quickly turns to the boys who are swinging at practice pitches or fielding fly balls, both of which are offered by their respective coaches.Right about that time, I begin to wonder if the players realize how fortunate they are. The kids playing baseball in the Luverne Community Education major and minor leagues are competing at a complex that is second to none. In my estimation, it’s one of the most valuable assets the community of Luverne has.As a youth player in the late 1960s and early ’70s, I remember the excitement of game morning. Our twice-weekly games didn’t start until 9 a.m., but it wasn’t uncommon to find a neighborhood friend and myself tossing a ball (we called it warming up) in front of one of our houses two hours before that.Then we would hop on our bikes and take the mile-plus ride to the baseball complex, which was anything but a field of dreams.Don’t get me wrong. We would have been satisfied playing baseball on a grocery store parking lot. But, compared with the setup at Joe Roberts Fields, our diamonds (I use that term loosely) bear no resemblance to the pristine playground located east of the Rock County Highway Building here in Luverne.We did have a backstop to keep foul balls from reaching the street, but that’s the only thing we had in common with the fields in Luverne.Instead of pitching off a finely-groomed mound, the hurlers from my home town offered their deliveries to the plate from a rubber mat that was held in place by two spikes pounded into the ground at the same elevation as the rest of the field.Our infield was all grass, with the bases (except for home plate) lying unfastened to anything – if a player slid into second or third base, he had to make sure his feet didn’t kick the bag into foul territory, resulting in an out because he wasn’t officially on the base.As for an outfield fence, there wasn’t one. The only home runs during our games were of the inside-the-park variety. The only problem was that this park had no boundries, and there were instances when it took the outfielders more time to chase down balls that sailed over their heads than it did for the batter to circle the bases.The outfielders were challenged in another way. Along with keeping their eyes on long fly balls, they had to avoid the gopher holes that littered the field.The gophers that made the field their homes proved to be sources of delays as some less-than-focused players found sport in throwing their gloves at the rodents, which resulted in a time-out when witnessed by one of the game’s umpires.At Joe Roberts Fields, I don’t see any of those problems.Our little leaguers play on diamonds that are almost completely enclosed by fences. In back of those fences, near the home plate area, each team has its own dugout complete with a roof to provide relief from the sun and more than enough bench room to accommodate the entire team. Compared with the two sliver-bearing benches for the players placed behind the backstop at the fields in my home town, the dugouts at Joe Roberts Fields are luxurious suites.When it comes to the fields, there is no comparison.The Luverne children play on agro-limed infields that that are so perfectly dragged before games that they resemble flat sheets of glass. The outfields are mowed weekly, and Joe Roberts and his crew (Brad and Scott Pick) make sure to keep the grass areas of the playing fields gopher-free.Throw in the manually-operated scoreboards, and spectators have all the information they need to watch a game peacefully at an eye-appealing venue.As the parent of a player, I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t taken the time to thank Joe Roberts and his crew for giving the children of his community such a nice, safe place to play baseball. There’s a lot of summer ball left, and I will, as should every other parent and player, let them know their efforts are noticed and appreciated.Knowing Mr. Roberts, he’ll probably shrug off any compliments sent his way. Roberts said that it has taken more than one person and more than one funding source to turn what was an unused piece of ground in 1965 into the beautiful baseball complex it is today.Joe Roberts downplays the labor (five to six hours each week) he and his crew put in at the playing fields as: "The work we do for the community."But his efforts over the years have not gone unnoticed. That’s why the fields are named after him, and that’s something Mr. Roberts is proud of."I’m really honored my name is on these fields. Having your name on a place where young kids play! How lucky can you get?"
