Dorchester Times: FLASHBACK: Salute To Miles Nerud, Father Of SFS Baseball

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

FLASHBACK: Salute To Miles Nerud, Father Of SFS Baseball

A few years ago, Dorchester High School alum Jack Guggenmos -- a former athletic standout -- wrote on Facebook: "It’s so great to see the legacy of Mike Nerud continue and grow! He is the true father of SFS League baseball. Believe me, he would be so proud. Congrats to the coaches and players on their championship! The tradition continues in Dorchester!"

In October 2007, the Dorchester Times reported the passing of Miles J. Nerud, one of Dorchester's favorite sons and a local baseball hero. Here's what we wrote at the time:

"Miles Nerud, 91, passed away at 12:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 in Friend. Born April 2, 1916 to John and Anna Nerud, survivors include nieces, nephews and friends, including special friends and neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Sehnert.

"Nerud brought organized little league baseball to Dorchester in the 1950s. He served as one of the founding fathers of the Seward-Fillmore-Saline (SFS) League in 1957. Despite some changes from the original town teams, the SFS League remains strong today, half a century later.

"Prior to Nerud's work with Little League ball, he organized the first Dorchester Legion baseball team in the late 1940s.

"According to the Dorchester Centennial history book, Dorchester was known as a baseball town as early as 1905. Miles Nerud played a vital role in securing that reputation. He helped to grow the town's love for the game and produced some of the finest ball players in the region.

From an early age, Nerud recognized that baseball was more than a game for our area community, but a social network that brought families together regardless of age, ethnicity or social standing.

"Around these parts, he will always be remembered as Mr. Baseball -- by players past and present. And we will be reminded of his contributions whenever we see a game played on Dorchester's Nerud Field, named in his honor."

4 comments:

AnonymousNovember 1, 2007 at 1:19 PM
Nice tribute to a good man.
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AnonymousNovember 2, 2007 at 4:51 PM
This guy work tirelessly for the benefit of our young people - and his legacy remains.
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AnonymousNovember 2, 2007 at 11:54 PM
Mike was a friend of my grandpa, and he also was a mentor when I was young. I was never very good at baseball, but he always got us into the game to play. When I was in High School, from my Freshman through Junior summers, I helped them run the concession stand for the Legion. I have had some good bosses in my life, but Mr. and Mrs. Nerud were the best. They were more than bosses, they were friends. Mike loved the young people of Dorchester, and he worked tirelessly to see that everyone got a chance, even if they were not very good. He even took time to personally coach some of us. And when he delivered the mail, you could almost set your clock to him.

I look forward to a reunion with them some day at God's throne of Grace!

JR Wolfe
York, Nebraska
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AnonymousJuly 10, 2021 at 11:53 AM
Larry Gish would be a close 2nd Place as a father of Dorchester Baseball. Many championship teams in the 80s
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."