Dear Barry Alvarez:

Please bring baseball back to UW-Madison. We are the only Big Ten team without a baseball team and I can't seem to understand why. Baseball is one of America's pastimes and it is missing from one of the biggest Universities in the country. There are many fans of baseball all over the state of Wisconsin, yet they have to deal with UW-Milwaukee being the only D1 baseball program in the entire state.

There is more than enough talent to become competitive in the Big Ten due to the high talent coming out of Wisconsin and the Midwest itself. With Madison being not only one of the best Big Ten schools academically but one of the best in the country it is bound to draw high interests from prospects around the country. Just look at Madison's club baseball teams and you will see that they are highly competitive among club teams. There would be plenty of talent waiting to come to Madison to play D1 baseball and to make Madison competitive in the Big Ten and in the country.

Having baseball back at Madison could also boost baseball influence in the entire state of Wisconsin. This would be as a result of kids seeing that the biggest and best school in the state has brought baseball back. As a result, they will want to start playing so they can represent Madison. This would give many kids motivation to become better baseball players so they can compete for a spot on the team. There are many lessons to be learned by participating in sports, so this would only do good for them (See "Sports Teach Learn Life Lessons That May Not Be Learned Anywhere Else" for more). There is so much to learn from baseball. Kids would better themselves while having fun doing it by playing a team sport with a future goal to play for their favorite school and become a Baseball Badger.

From a current Badger to a former Badger, I would love to see baseball come back to Madison because it belongs here. There are enough fans that would get behind the movement. The amount of support would be more than you would expect because people LOVE baseball. With all that being said, Madison needs to bring back America's favorite pastime.

Sincerely,

Baseball Badgers Everywhere