The greater Chippewa Valley, and Upper Midwest in general, are known for their different, even unique, sports. Primarily for one reason: winter. We live in a climate that, as my late father used to say, consists of nine months of winter and three months of bad sledding. We get our first shovelable snowfall in October (like this year) and -20 degrees off and on from December through March.

This leads to a preponderance of sports not found in many other American locales; at least not the degree found in our part of the nation. Around here, hockey is a major sport down to the high school level. Concerns over snowpack thickness for snowmobilers can be a lead story on the evening news. Cross-country skiing tournaments and curling leagues have their place in our sports environment. Ice fishing needs more shows on outdoors-themed cable networks. I dare you to find a similar spectrum of sports in Cincinnati, Little Rock, or San Jose.

Sure, global warming is probably going to take the edge off our classic Wisconsin winters. Yet, as the previous two wintry seasons proved, we’ll still have our share of doozies, significant enough to warrant our cold-weather crop of sporting events. So, why not expand the roster of western Wisconsin winter sports?

Recently, one thought keeps crossing my mind: winter baseball. Think about this for a moment (and avoid what most think of when they hear “winter baseball:” off-season baseball in Central America and other warm-weather climes). Yes, baseball is among the more weather-sensitive outdoor sports. Precipitation stronger than drizzle results in a postponement of a game. However, note the recent trend of Major League Baseball stretching its season into early November – the early wintry season for northern cities like Minneapolis. We are fast approaching the season when the Twins will play World Series games with piles of snow on the plaza beyond right field at Target Field, with wind chills near 20 degrees.

Such wind chills caused Major League Baseball to postpone a playoff game this past season. However, playing playoff games in the cold, potentially snowy late autumn is likely to become more commonplace. At what point does MLB postpone World Series games in Minnesota due to wind chills in the upper-teens … therefore, postponing said games deeper into mid-November, when wind chills have potential to be in the mid-teens? Either MLB needs to adjust their schedule earlier in the calendar year, or adjust their approach to wintry baseball.

With snowy, chilly baseball likely to become the norm, let’s build on this idea locally: winter baseball in western Wisconsin. Envision a winter league of teams similar to the Cavaliers, based in cities like Wausau, Eau Claire, and Hudson. I’m not talking just early November with a bit of a chill in the air. I’m talking November to February, baseball with seven inches of snow on the ground, baseball with below-zero wind chills.

The prime problem with winter baseball is snowfall. As in, white flakes falling from the sky and into the eyes of fielders trying to catch an off-white ball. OK, then games can be postponed during significant snowfall. Otherwise, play ball.

Imagine the ball chopping off the snow, but nearly dying on the bounce, so an infielder has to decide if they will play closer to the plate than in normal baseball. Imagine a runner sliding into second to steal a base – and trying to brake on the snow to hold onto the base – or orange pylon, if you will. Imagine the different pitches thrown by pitchers needing to wear regular gloves with baseball gloves. Uniform-wise? Layers and boots are the answer. Football players do it, so baseball players can simply add a layer beneath the uniform and wear ski masks.

Tell me you wouldn’t be intrigued to see how this works – at least from the comfort of your living room. Maybe you wouldn’t get season tickets to sit in the cold. And a TV deal may be hard to come by. Yet, we are hearty Wisconsinites, and with all the other winter activities we embrace, we’re crazy enough to watch baseball in the snow. The frozen diamond of Carson Park? I can hear John Facenda now …