For many of us, the heat of July signals a time for vacations, swimming pools, ice cream and baseball games. For Berkshire Baseball founder and president Dan Clouser, the game is also a way of life that isn’t limited to just summer. Dan started the organization in 1989 and has seen it blossom from a close-knit club to a sporting powerhouse that draws Berks residents and people from beyond our borders to watch the storied Boys of Summer while enjoying a hot dog and a cold drink. When he’s not around a ball diamond, Clouser enjoys downtime at his South Heidelberg Township home with his wife Sandy; children James, Stephanie, Kelly and Sherry; and their two beloved dogs.
Q | Did you imagine Berkshire Baseball becoming what it is today when you started? Not at all; the initial idea was just to get together and play baseball. It began as the Spring Lawn Optimist Baseball League, and was just for adults. It remained such for 10 years, but in 1999, our players were getting older; we had become coaches to junior league and high school teams, and our own kids and grandkids wanted to play, so it made sense to branch out into youth baseball.
Q | I’ll bet you discovered your love of the game as a kid, too. Yes, I played Little League and through high school. I always enjoyed it, which was why I started a club: to be able to play. That first year we had one team of probably 15 guys. Now we’ll sponsor three spring teams, seven in summer and eight in fall. That’s roughly 300 players.
Q | Wow, with such a large group you must need a substantial space. We had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on our new 22-acre Bern Township facility in April. It features four baseball fields and four multi-purpose fields. Our main source of revenue is renting to the tournaments we host–about 20 a year that bring in about 1,000 youth teams from all over the mid-Atlantic and Canada.
Q | So Berkshire Baseball is kind of a tourist attraction? Absolutely. We’ve been a member of the Greater Reading Visitors Bureau for more than 10 years, and I was recently told by bureau representatives that our organization brings between $5 and $7 million in revenue to area businesses each year. We’re already planning to make improvements so [the Bern location] looks like Fenway Park, with fields named after legendary local players like Charlie Wagner, Vic Wertz and Rocky Colavito.
Q | So I hear that, in addition to all your work managing this huge facility and ball club and organizing big tournaments for people near and far, you are also an author? Yes, my book The Beauty of a Diamond Through the Eyes of a Coach was released in May, 2012. It took nine years to write, and it’s a reflection of what I’ve done with the organization and in coaching. When I’m working with kids, I always stress the importance of giving back and the fact that baseball is a connection to the past. The new facility is an outgrowth of that philosophy; we want it to be more than just a plaque on the wall dedicated to past players and more like an outdoor museum, where people can bring their families for a fun day, to learn a little and have a great time at a game.
Q | Is there another book in your future? And where can we get your first book? Actually there is. I’ve started another that includes funny, true stories of experiences during years of youth baseball. The finished book can be found on Amazon.com, and locally at Schuylkill Valley Sporting Goods in the Fairgrounds Mall, the Rawlings outlet in VF Outlet Center, the GoggleWorks STORE and Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown.
Q | What’s your idea of fun when you’re not at work? It’s tough to call going to a baseball field work, so other than spending time with my family and walking my dogs, I can’t think of anything better than doing what I do.
BY MICHELLE E. BIGGERSTAFF | PHOTO BY JOHN A. SECOGES, SECOGES PHOTOGRAPHICS
