"Playing Ball" in Isanti County
     

Playing ball has been a favorite pastime in Isanti County for decades.  It's not just the strikeouts and home runs, it's the people that keep amateur baseball alive in East Central Minnesota.  As far back as people can remember there has been Redbird Baseball.

The Redbirds are in the Eastern Minny League, which is listed in the amateur baseball archives as the original league in Minnesota and the oldest continuously running league.  The Redbirds, a team since the 1920's, is one of the oldest teams in the league.  Other early Eastern Minny teams were Grandy, Mora, Princeton, Rush City, Ogilvie, Braham, Isanti, and Hinckley.

The Redbirds played in their first State tournament game in 1926, when they finished in third place as the Cambridge Redbirds.  They played at the State Tournament in 1982 and 1985 as the Cambridge-Isanti Redbirds.  In 1985, the Redbirds defeated the number one team in the State, Waseca in the first round of the Tournament!  The Isanti Redbirds have played in the State Tournament in 1991, 1996, 2008, 2011 (State Class C Champions!), 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.  In the 1920's, Cambridge was known as one of the best baseball towns in the state, according to local historians.

The Redbirds have gone from being a town team in Cambridge, to both Cambridge and Isanti, to most recently just Isanti.  Cambridge residents mourned the move to Isanti by the team, but when the request for lights in Cambridge was denied, the team moved to Isanti.  There they built a premiere field, one of the best facilities in the league.  One year later, lights were installed at the field in Cambridge.

One of the most legendary players ever to play for the Redbirds was Adolph Larson.  Larson passed away in 1999, but his pitching and managing days will long be remembered.  The current high school baseball field in Cambridge bears his name.  In Larson's time, the Redbirds played at the fairgrounds in Cambridge which was located where the Cambridge Mall is now.  Larson managed and played for the Redbirds for over 18 years and offered his advice to future managers.  There were six trains a day passing through Cambridge at that time and Larson would board one to travel to the cities to pitch.  At one point, Larson left the area to play minor league ball in Missouri.  When the Redbirds achieved the status of Eastern Minny League champs in 1938, Larson was manager of the team.

Many town team Redbird baseball players currently play, or have played, high school and/or college baseball.  The team regrouped in 2001 with the goal of continuing the Redbird baseball winning tradition.  This effort was highlighted with a State Championship in 2011.  Redbird catcher, Kyle Johnson was named the Most Valuable player for the 2011 State Tournament.