BRADY JOHNSON BASEBALL BLAST ABOUT MORE THAN JUST SPORTS

BY Josh Salm of the HTR Sports Staff

May 21, 2010

It didn’t take long once I walked into Municipal Field on Friday to forget the reason why I was there.

Lost amid the sounds of the Manitowoc Lincoln baseball team fooling around in center field in a make-shift softball game, the sights of kids playing in the bounce house and the smells of the grill were why all these Lincoln faithful got together on a cool and wet Friday afternoon.

Brady Johnson.

Brady was the son of Manitowoc Public School District Athletic Director John Johnson who passed away three years ago at the age of 11. He attended athletic events a lot with John, but truly loved baseball.

It was a few months after he passed when John read a story about a college team wanting to raise money for a trip to Florida by playing in a marathon baseball game, and that’s where the idea for the Brady Johnson Baseball Blast came from.

That simple idea has been transformed into a summertime opener for Lincoln families and friends.

But for John Johnson, it’s more than that.

“It’s a lot of mixed emotions,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of pride because a lot of people from Manitowoc help us out. There’s some sorrow too — Not only from me and my whole family — because we miss Brady. There’s some happiness too. It’s a great way to remember him. He was such a part of Lincoln athletics.”

The Blast is a way for Lincoln athletics to give back, not only to the Johnson’s, but to one of their own as well. Funds raised go toward a scholarship given to a Lincoln student-athlete through the Brady Johnson Scholarship.

To do their part, the baseball and softball teams schedule a day off in their busy springs to play in front of fans, take on each other and the teachers at Lincoln and have a good time. You won’t hear a single player complain about being out there. They enjoy the day for all that it’s worth.

It is a night full of laughs and gives these tired student-athletes a chance to just have fun playing the game they love so much.

For the Johnson’s, it’s about remembrance as well.

“It humbles our family to know how people remember Brady and reach out to help out,” Johnson said. “To lose a child, you don’t forget. A lot of other people do — not intentionally — but because they go on living their life.

“Today helps to remember him.”