A bit more on Beloit

Remember this post from June 30?

Posted some video from ESPN's Outside the Lines program about the struggles of the Beloit Snappers trying to deal with one of the worst local economies in the state of Wisconsin.

The Journal-Sentinel followed up on that story yesterday.

Ball team runs the squeeze play
Beloit Snappers draw fans any way they can

It's four hours before the first pitch and Jeff Vohs' office is a beautiful mess. The Snappy the Turtle mascot outfit lies on the floor, baseballs are stashed in boxes and a prize wheel is shoved in a corner.

Life is never easy for the general manager of a minor-league baseball team, especially the boss who runs the Class A Beloit Snappers.

Vohs is selling baseball in a city with an 18.1% unemployment rate, the highest in the state.

He'll do just about anything to get fans into the ballpark, and then keep them there for nine innings.

Want to reach out to those who've lost jobs? Drop off 2,000 tickets at the Rock County Job Center, just up the road in Janesville, where the local General Motors assembly plant shut down.

Need to pack the crowd with college kids? Offer $1 tickets on Tuesday nights and hope older workers enrolled in community college join the kids in the stands.

There is some good and some bad.

Attendance is up around 9% from last season, the team says. If the weather holds, the team might draw up to 90,000 fans this year, the equivalent of about two sellouts at Miller Park.

Sponsorships, though, are off about $18,000 from last year's total of $250,000. At least one past sponsor went out of business and a few others cut back in the tight economy.

Pohlman Field is a gem of dirt and grass surrounded by bleachers, wood decks and picnic tables. Pro scouts sit behind the plate. The players aren't much older than the kids who scamper after foul balls. Local advertisements line the outfield wall.

Go. Read. Especially the part about the wall sign for the Beloit Snappers Fan Club, Huntley Chapter.