It was 6 a.m. on August 3, and the Red and Blue teams were finishing their second overnight shift at the Park High School JV Baseball Field in Cottage Grove as they attempted to beat the record for the world’s longest baseball game. Having played in two hours of torrential rain the day before, they were exhausted, though playing in shifts helped. The music behind the backstop kept them alert, but some worried they might not stay awake to beat the old record of 62 hours, 32 minutes, 59 seconds. Full count, the pay-off pitch, and the batter flailed uncontrollably for strike three. Then, blaring through the loudspeakers came the sounds of M.C. Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This,” producing a great moment of levity and a welcome energy boost. They persevered and completed the game after 63+ hours, setting the new record for the Guinness Book of World Records. They tallied 575 runs, 293 innings, and more than 12,000 pitches!
Bryan Ludwig ’08, who organized the event, is a head coach and general counsel for the PHD Baseball Club, LLC, which was created in 2009 by another Auggie, Brian Bambenek ‘07, and two of his friends. The idea behind PHD (pitching, hitting, defense) is for the coaches to share the love of baseball and return immense value to participating athletes in a manner that is unmatched in Minnesota, training these young men and giving them the tools they need to succeed on and off the field.
The “longest game” was intentionally tied to charity to provide a way to live out PHD’s mission, and to encourage the athletes to give back. Their first attempt in 2013 to break the record fell short, but they raised thousands of dollars for the Masonic Cancer Center at the U of M. The group used this year’s event to support the ALS Association under the auspices of the newly formed sister organization, PHD Baseball Charities, which raises funds for charitable organizations to use on educational, medical, or other socially necessary services—locally or globally. Designating ALS as the event’s beneficiary was timely, since 2014 marks the 75th anniversary of the famous retirement speech by baseball legend Lou Gehrig (“I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth…”), whose name is often used interchangeably with the name of the debilitating disease he contracted, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). (To donate to PHD’s efforts on behalf of ALS, go to www.webmn.alsa.org/goto/wlbg.)
In addition to his work with PHD, Ludwig runs his own legal practice, Ludwig Law Office, PLLC, focusing on estate planning and business law. He balances his time between both careers by using his “essential life-saver,” his little white board, where he organizes his PHD and Law responsibilities in four quadrants: Urgent, To Do, Doing, and Done. He is continually surprised at how often the two areas cross over, and he finds that at the core of it all, he is always on the clock building his network, which requires self-awareness, direction, and critical thinking skills. Many of the traits and skills that are of value to him now were cultivated on the ball field and in the classrooms at Augsburg, and he is especially grateful to Coach Keith Bateman for helping him get his first volunteer coaching experience with the Minnesota Twins Training Academy. In July, Ludwig enjoyed the tremendous honor of serving as a bullpen catcher during the All-Star game.
Ludwig says the best part of his work in and around baseball has been seeing growth in character, determination, and maturity of each athlete. He and his wife Sarah (Peloquin ’08) are expecting their first child, a girl, in November. They enjoy spending time with family and friends, taking their dog Izzy to the park, watching the Packers and Twins, going to the gym, and cooking new foods.
—Cheryl Crockett ’89