By RANDY GONZALES
Special to Hays Post
On a warm summertime evening, hundreds of baseball fans flock to Larks Park. Some are of a certain age, remembering days—and games—gone by. Others are youngsters who are just discovering the joy of summer baseball in Hays, America.
Young or old, there is something special about Larks baseball. When the home team rallies for a victory, people say it’s “Larks Magic.” But the magic goes far beyond what one can find between the white lines.
Fans look forward to fun in the sun every summer.
They wear their Larks T-shirts and caps; they chow down on Larks burgers; they catch up with other fans they might not have seen since the summer before. Their kids play catch behind the visitor’s dugout and fight for foul balls.
Larks baseball is more than just a game.
The manager
Frank Leo is in his 43rd season as the Larks’ manager.
When the original Jayhawk League disbanded after the 2018 season, Hays played in another league for a year before joining the Rocky Mountain Baseball League, where the Larks won their fifth title in six years this summer.
Hays has an automatic berth at the 91st National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita. The Larks, who have made the season finale almost every year under Leo, open defense of their title on Thursday with a 6 p.m. game against the Seattle Blackfins at Eck Stadium. Like every year, a big Larks crowd is expected to cheer on their favorite team.
Leo, now 75, remembered the years when perhaps 50 fans would show up for a game, on a good night. However, with the help of community support, the program has slowly evolved into what it is today.
“It is a special story,” Leo said, “what it was and what it has become.”
The Larks program was in danger of folding, not that long ago. After recruiting a team for the 2007 season, the organization faced financial difficulties and was at risk of not being able to field a team that summer. Leo understood that could not be allowed to happen.
“I knew if you canceled something (for a season), you’re not going to get it back,” Leo said. “(College) coaches are going to be hesitant to send somebody out here. When you’re done for a couple of years, people may not support you as much as they did.”
“After 2007, I think we found out people wanted Larks baseball in the summertime,” he added. “That’s when it started getting bigger and bigger.”
Once word got out around town about the Larks’ financial woes in 2007, businesses rushed to sponsor games, allowing free admission to continue. The Larks also formed the Diamond Club, where individuals could contribute financially at different monetary levels.
Having game sponsors provides the organization with the necessary boost in income needed every year to field a team.
“The sponsorships are one of our big fundraisers,” Leo said. “It’s very key to our program.”
Winning helps, too. The Larks, year in and year out, rarely lose at home.
“There’s no substitute for winning,” Leo said. “Fortunately, we’ve been successful.”
The pitching coach
Keith Harper was Leo’s pitching coach for all 39 years they were together coaching the Hays High School baseball team. Harper is now in his 20th summer as the pitching coach for the Larks.
Harper still throws batting practice even at 72 years old. You can find him on the mound day in, day out, tossing 300 or 400 pitches in 90-degree heat in the afternoon sun.
“I love it,” Harper said. “I’ve been doing it for 43 years.”
Leo and Harper have been together since their days at Fort Hays.
After playing for the Tigers, Leo was in his first year as an assistant coach when Harper joined the program.
A Colby native, Harper also played basketball for the Tigers and played everything but first base and catcher in the spring. A pitcher for the Colby American Legion team when he was in high school, Harper never pitched in college, but he studied pitching.
“It’s about understanding the game, and dedicating yourself to understanding the elements of pitching,” Leo said. “You don’t necessarily have to be a pitcher to teach people how to pitch. Keith has the knack of understanding the mechanics and being able to relate them to his players.”
During games, Harper studies the deliveries of his pitchers from his rocking chair next to the dugout.
You see, Harper likes to rock. He really likes to rock. About six years ago, he brought a portable folding rocking chair to the park.
“I said, ‘If I’m going to sit here and chart, I’d rather rock and chart,’ ” Harper said. “I love to rock.”
“It just relaxes me,” he added. “ I can’t explain it.”
Harper thinks of his pitchers like family. The players, the fans, the community–it’s a family atmosphere.
“That’s exactly what we wanted,” Harper said. “The community has bought in. They want to be a part of this.”
The community stepped up financially, and community members stepped up by volunteering to become host families.
“It’s a community event, the cheapest place to entertain yourself in Hays, Kansas,” Harper said. “We do entertain.”
Harper said he is asked by opposing coaches how the Larks draw so well, how they create such a good atmosphere. It’s a lot of hard work through the years, is his standard reply.
“Because of the passion, the money that’s been donated, the families who take care of these kids,” Harper said, “we’ve built a little monster at Larks Park.”
The announcer
After a Larks’ home win, Frank Sinatra’s song “New York, New York,” can be heard blaring over the loudspeakers. That’s not by happenstance. It's a tribute to Leo, a New York City native and Yankee fan who came to Hays to play baseball at Fort Hays.
Ken Windholz–public address announcer for Fort Hays State University football and basketball games for the past 25 years–also has been the PA guy for Larks’ home games since 2013.
When Windholz took over announcing duties, he wanted the atmosphere at Larks Park to feel like a baseball game.
That’s where his treasure trove of recorded music comes into play. Windholz typically plays only about one-fourth of the songs he has on his laptop on any given night. What is happening on the field helps determine what songs to play.
“It has to fit the occasion, pick the crowd up,” Windholz said. “We play songs that are contemporary and some throwback stuff, nostalgic baseball songs.”
“I do have a game plan,” he added. “I do have songs that I use at exact intervals.”
Indeed, there are some songs that have become staples. In addition to “New York, New York,” before the home half of the eighth inning, fans can sing along to one of their favorites, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
Don’t be surprised to hear “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” and if one fan who usually shows up wearing a chicken mask is in attendance, you can count on the “Chicken Dance,” with the fan dancing for the crowd. Then there is “The Old Ball Park,” an original theme song just for the Larks.
The passion Windholz has for the Larks began when he attended games at Larks Park as a child. That passion for the team continues to this day.
Back in the day, as a youngster, Windholz had a job running the manual scoreboard beyond the fence in left field and would often ask to be the bat boy, too.
Larks Park became Windholz’s own field of dreams one summer night when the barnstorming Kansas City Monarchs came to town for an exhibition game with the Larks. Satchel Paige, a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues, was billed to pitch for the Monarchs.
Windholz was the bat boy for the Monarchs that evening, and along about the third inning, guess who slowly came ambling into the dugout? None other than Satchel Paige.
A few innings later, Paige motioned to Windholz to play catch with him so he could warm up before pitching.
Not even a teenager yet, Windholz had trouble catching Paige’s deliveries; he was known for his hesitation pitch, which befuddled batters.
“He threw about eight or 10 pitches, which I dropped,” Windholz said. “One thing I remember about his motion was how tall and lanky he was, and he threw the ball kind of like a slingshot. It would take off halfway to my mitt. That’s why I dropped it.”
After Paige made short work of the Larks, the star-struck boy from Hays had him autograph a baseball, which Windholz still has to this day.
Larks players these days will stick around and sign autographs for young fans. After all, they’re part of the family.
“We really encourage the family concept,” Windholz said. “The host families feel a part of it, too. Almost everything has a family-related theme to it.”
The host families
Players, coaches and fans all agree having players stay the summer with a family helps encourage that family feeling.
Deb Weatherbee’s family has played host to a Larks player for many a summer. She and her husband, Gary, and their three children have shared their home with a Lark since 1992. Often, a player will spend more than one summer with the same family.
The Weatherbees’ kids enjoyed having a player live with them.
“It was fun,” Weatherbee said. “They were like brothers. It was such a family thing.”
“They ate dinner with us,” she added. “They went to church with us.”
When their time in Hays was done, that did not mean the relationship was over.
“As our Larks move on, we keep in contact with almost all of them,” Weatherbee said.
Jessica and Kalor Moore, along with their 8-year-old son, Darrick, are hosting their first summer with a Larks player. They learned a Lark needed a home, and they offered theirs to pitcher Brooks Jones.
“We just reached out and said we would do it,” Jessica said. “It’s nice to know a player out there.”
The Moores feel that family atmosphere at the old ball park.
“Just the environment, the community coming together,” Jessica said, “that really makes a difference.”
As for Darrick, who likes having an older “brother” around the house, he just enjoys coming out to a game.
“I like being able to watch the players and hang out with my family,” he said.
Kalor said it’s nice to have Jones around, having an only child.
“We have a young son at home. We thought it would be good to give him someone to look up to,” Kalor said. “Brooks has essentially become part of our family.”
Jones has an older sister. Darrick has become his “little brother” this summer.
“I play video games and have Nerf gun battles with him,” Jones said. “It’s been a great time with him.”
Darrick said he wants to be a baseball player and play in the outfield. Look out, Larks, in about 10 years, you just might have him on your roster.
The players
Dylan LaRue is in his first summer playing for the Larks. He was supposed to be with the team last year, but was injured playing college ball in the spring. He stays with the Windholz family, just like his older brother, Tyler, who stayed with them for two summers.
Dylan appreciates the fans, who come out in droves. For a weekend game, there might be more than a thousand in attendance, munching on Larks burgers and rooting for the beverage batter to get a hit.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “The atmosphere, you can’t beat it as far as summer ball goes. It’s a blast being able to play in front of all the fans.”
LaRue also appreciates having a host family.
“Just having people welcoming us into their homes, taking care of us for the summer, it’s really a blessing,” he said. “They don’t have to do it, but they do it out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Outfielder Kaleb Duncan is playing in his second summer in Hays, and is staying with Daryl Gregg. Having host families helps the players, Duncan said.
“It’s definitely beneficial,” he said. “Anytime you’ve got a place to call home, just knowing they’re a second family, support you every game, is extremely beneficial.”
Jones appreciates having his very own cheering section when he is pitching.
“Every single time I’m on the mound, I hear my name being called on, which I think is a pretty cool thing,” he said. “After the game, everybody is talking to you, like a family.”
The fans
The Larks don’t have to worry about playing before a near-empty grandstand for home games.
Several hundred to more than a thousand fans come to cheer on their favorite team. Some sit in the stands. Others line up their lawn chairs along the fence.
On a recent hot, summer evening, Richard Lamb and his daughter, Jessica, were sitting in the top row of seats at a game, under the shade provided by the press box. Richard has been going to Larks games since he moved back to Kansas from Vermont 15 years ago.
“It’s really not (just) a ball game. It’s a social gathering,” Richard said. “The people just have a great time.”
“It’s a small town, a family atmosphere, all the players have host families they stay with all summer,” he added. “It’s a family thing.”
Jessica, who lived in Vermont, would go to Larks games as a kid when she visited Hays.
After graduating from Fort Hays, she has gone to games for six years now. Jessica is part of the Larks’ family. It was her birthday at a recent game, and the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to her.
Jessica also remembers the games at Larks Park when she was a kid, attending with her sister.
“She would always be down there by the dugout and parking lot, chasing foul balls,” Jessica said. “We would always buy raffle tickets. We would spend way too much at the concession stand.”
The grillers
Larks Park has changed through the years. The infield, which was dirt back in the day, is now artificial turf. Most of the seats in the grandstand have chair backs. The old, wooden press box, painted green, has been replaced by a larger, concrete press box.
Now, there is a shack with a team store, where fans can buy Larks apparel. A television is also located high atop a nearby pavilion, where they can watch the game streamed on YouTube while waiting in line at the concession stand.
Burgers, brats and hot dogs are sold at the concession stand as fast as they can be grilled.
Fans can smell the aroma of Larks burgers on the grill even before they walk through the gates.
On a typical night, about 800 pieces of meat find their way on one of seven available Pellet grills. For the home opener, more than 1,700 Larks burgers, brats and hot dogs were put on the grill for hungry fans.
Doing the grilling most nights are Gary Staab and his son, Logan, and Gary’s nephew, Cory Werth. Ramie Wasinger also helps out most of the time. They have been tending the meat since 2019.
They have grilling a good Larks burger down to a science.
“Season it well, and you have to know when to flip it,” said Cory, adding he turns the burger after 10 minutes, then allows another five minutes before taking it off.
Brian Dreiling has been grilling Larks burgers for 20 years now. He said after a game, the Larks players are fed, as well as the umpires. On get-away nights for opposing teams ready to hit the road, their players also are fed. And, it’s not just burgers. The after-game spread might include taco bars, mac and cheese, chicken sandwiches, lasagna or a potato casserole.
With the higher demand, the Larks have added extra grills and now have six refrigeration units.
“This thing has grown so much in the last four, five years,” Dreiling said.
The history
Since the 1970s, the Larks have played as a summer-collegiate program, bringing in players from all across the country. Before that, it was the old town team, with local players slinging pitches and hitters sending balls into the stratosphere with a crack of the bat.
Baseball in Hays goes back to 1869, when the Hays Town Team played soldiers from Fort Hays. In 1946, the name Larks was born after a name-the-team contest, which was won by Mrs. Bill Downs.
Summer baseball thrived in Hays through the years, with several star players dotting rosters each season. The Hays team would play opponents from Victoria and Catherine, Loretto, and Pfeifer, and other towns, too.
Larks Park, with a limestone grandstand, was built in 1940 by the Work Projects Administration, and held its first game that year. There is no account of that game, just a brief mention in the local afternoon newspaper that there was going to be a game that night.
The Larks website details how In the 1930s and into the next two decades the team’s games attracted the fans. They lined the foul lines with their cars and enjoyed nine innings of baseball on a blanket or chair with a picnic basket. Kids battled for foul balls and returned them for a nickel and looked for empty pop bottles, which were worth two cents.
The Hays Baseball Association was formed in the 1950s to help keep the Larks program alive. While surrounding town teams started to dwindle in the 1960s, the Larks still played their brand of exciting ball.
The Jayhawk League, comprised of summer collegiate programs, was formed in 1976, with Hays being a founding member. Some of the best players in the country who later became big-league stars were part of the league through the years. Hutchinson one year had an outfield of Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Pete Incaviglia.
The Larks have had their own standouts, namely future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols (1999) and Lance Berkman (1995), an MLB All-Star. Jim Leyritz, who hit a memorable home run in the 1996 World Series for the Yankees, also donned a Larks uniform.
More recently, playing for the Larks was former Hays High standout Dylan Dreiling, the Most Outstanding Player at last summer’s College World Series for national champion Tennessee. Former Thomas More Prep-Marian product Carson Jacobs, who, like Dreiling, is in the minor leagues this summer, pitched for the Larks one summer.
The Larks did not always have the best record during the regular season back in the early days of the Jayhawk League, but they more often than not seemed to have a run in them at the World Series.
In 1995, the Larks memorably played Team USA, the Olympic team, in the championship game at the World Series. Hays lost, but the program was put on the radar nationally.
The title
Hearts were thumping hard and tears of joy were being shed after the Larks won their first NBC title last summer. It was a long time coming for Leo and Harper, who have been together all these years. They have won league championships together, both in high school and with the Larks, but never the big one.
“It was a very exciting moment to win it last year,” Leo said. “We’ve been close so many times.”
“You understand it’s not an easy tournament to win,” he added. “When you get there, you hope you put it all together and win it.”
Leo added that just because his team has now won the title, he’s not done yet with Larks baseball.
“You could go out on that note,” Leo said. “I wasn't ready to do it.”
The championship trophy sits there at Larks Park for home games, for all the fans to see.
“It was so many tears of joy, because Frank has worked so hard for this,” Weatherbee said of winning the title. “When it finally happened, it was magical.”