To the editor:

On Tuesday evening, more than 150 Gibbon Reds fans made the trip to New Ulm for their team’s play-off game against the New Ulm Brewers. The fans arrived expecting a close game and hoping for a victory. Well, what they got was so much more…

Yes, the Gibbon Reds came out victorious and are now on to the next round of playoffs. (Exciting stuff for our small community!) But that’s not what we’re writing about today. You see, this small town team comprised of local brothers, fathers and sons is, if you ask them, “just a bunch of friends who happen to share the love of baseball.” And if you ask their fans, we’d certainly agree. But we would tell you they do so with big hearts and a lot of class. Please, allow us to share with you just a few reasons why this small-town club has an average attendance of more than 200 at every regular season, home game for the past few years.

This summer, the team held a free baseball clinic for boys and girls in the community. They practiced drills, held batting practice and played a full game with both kids and players together. Kids still talk about how much fun it was and are already looking forward to next year’s clinic.

THANK YOU for taking pride in our community and teaching our children.

Before Tuesday’s playoff game had even begun, the players noticed their long-time scoreboard operator walk in to the stands. He recently had heart surgery and this was the first game he has been able to attend since. The players, happy to see his smiling face, signed a baseball for him to keep, just to show their gratitude.

THANK YOU, Reds, for appreciating your volunteers.

During the game, a bat was shattered. The players recovered the pieces and later autographed them to give to their younger fans.

One of these young fans, who also dedicates many volunteer hours at Reds home games, was in attendance as well. He was in his absolute glory, cheering along with the crowd for every play and sharing stats of Reds players to those who were near him. Sadly, while the Brewers were batting, some of their players in the dugout were more focused on mocking this young Reds fan. Finally hearing enough, the catcher for the Reds called a time out, took a few steps towards the dugout and told them to stop.

THANK YOU for appreciating your fans. THANK YOU for your intolerance of bullying and poor sportsmanship. And THANK YOU for leading by example.

Each of these stories help illustrate why the Gibbon Reds have loyal fans, why they have so much support from our community, and why we felt compelled to write this letter.

On behalf of all your PROUD Gibbon Reds fans — go get ’em in the Region 2C Tournament!

Nickie Sabo

Gibbon

Maggie Buettner

Gibbon