Baby, baseball a combo deal

Matt Stallbaumer required wife's blessing to host tourney soon after daughter's birth.

By BRANDON WRIGHT
Published March 21, 2007

BRANDON

Matt Stallbaumer sat on a picnic bench behind Brandon's baseball field Tuesday and looked up toward the tall oak trees as if the answer would be found there.

"Let's see, when was my daughter born?" the Brandon coach said. "That's a good question."

He thought some more, scratching the five o'clock stubble poking from his jawline.

"Wait, it was two weeks ago today," he said. "It is Tuesday today, right?"

Freshly-minted fathers should be able to rattle the date off without hesitation, but Stallbaumer's past two weeks have been far from typical.

"This is all part of the story," he said with a chuckle. "This is how it's been."

Stallbaumer got the call from Tony Saladino while in the waiting room of Brandon Regional Hospital. The namesake of one of the most prestigious high school baseball tournaments in the country left a voicemail asking if Stallbaumer was interested in hosting the 27th annual event at Brandon after scheduling conflicts at the University of Tampa, host for the past eight years, arose.

Madyson Lea Stallbaumer had just been born hours before on March 6. Stallbaumer knew the amount of time it would take to be the host school for the tournament and winced.

Family has always been a centerpiece in Stallbaumer's life. Born in a blip of Kansas town named Paola, Stallbaumer and his sister, Melissa, were raised in a tight Catholic setting. Stallbaumer's parents, Mike and Cathy, have 18 total siblings. So if he was to accept Saladino's offer amid the birth of the couple's first child, Christina would have to be on board.

Stallbaumer told her what it would entail: 14-hour days at the field doing everything from checking trash cans to raking clay.

And though Stallbaumer had just helped cut Madyson's umbilical cord, Christina didn't blink.

"I had to talk to her first and foremost," he said. "And she said go for it."

Stallbaumer's parents made the trip from Kansas this week for Madyson's arrival - and the tournament. Stallbaumer had Wharton assistant Wade Boggs sign a baseball for Mike, a big fan of the ex-Red Sox Hall of Famer. The Saladinos also presented Stallbaumer a baby tournament tee shirt for Madyson, who is expected to make her first appearance at Daddy's field some time this evening.

And then, finally, the whirlwind that has been the past two weeks of Stallbaumer's life will all come together - at Brandon's baseball field.

"It's a blessing my parents got to see all this - Madyson, the tournament - and know their son has made something of himself," Stallbaumer said.

"I'm a pretty lucky guy."

Brandon Wright can be reached at bwright@sptimes.com or 727 892-2216.

[Last modified March 21, 2007, 00:23:39]