How the Babe Ruth World Series returned to Cape Girardeau

The Babe Ruth World Series officially returns to Cape Girardeau.

An agreement was reached between Babe Ruth Baseball and the Charleston Fighting Squirrels, who will host the event again. The announcement was made public on Sunday, October 1, but the desire from the organization to have Cape Girardeau host 2024 has been there since agreeing to host in 2023.

"The vice president of Babe Ruth kind of alluded that they would possibly like us to take two years," said Fighting Squirrels manager Michael Minner, who was also in charge of running the event at Capaha Field the past summer.

The ball was in Minner's court as to whether or not the event would be back in 2024. Going into the 2023 series, he wasn't ready to make hosting the event a two-year project.

"I couldn't commit to that with having a 2-year-old and not really knowing how much work it was going to be, how it would turn out financially," Minner said. "There were just a lot of variables."

As the series was becoming a reality, Miner was gradually warming up to a second year at Capaha, telling the vice president of Babe Ruth that it was a "50-50 shot".

"I was probably a one-year-and-done guy," Minner said. "As we got a little closer, it became evident that it was definitely something that we could pull off.

"It was one of the better World Series that we've attended," he said. "Babe Ruth definitely wanted it back in Cape Girardeau. They know that Southeast Missouri did an incredible job of representing Babe Ruth baseball providing a great atmosphere for kids to play from all over the world."

Excitement for the World Series in Cape Girardeau built up from as early as the announcement last year, and it lived up to the hype, especially with the Southeast Tropics winning it all.

"It's the kind of atmosphere that those kind of tournaments deserve," Minner said. "We just didn't know how it was gonna go over. So it definitely exceeded my expectations, and we didn't lose money."

One thing that motivated Minner to say yes to hosting the World Series a second time is the Fighting Squirrels going 0-4 in pool play this past summer. A chance of redemption led to the green light.

"I think it would probably wear on me if I didn't take it back and at least say I want a game where I grew up," Minner said. "This has been a bucket list thing for me and for me to go 0-4 in it doesn't sit well with my competitive spirit."

Another motivating factor in giving the green light was how many local kids were enjoying the event as spectators with their families.

"There were so many great compliments," Minner said. "We had big crowds. We had so many people who were out there with their kids. Now that I'm a dad, these are the kind of things that Cape Girardeau needs. I don't know how many dads and kids I just saw sitting out there, like 4- or 5-year-olds that had a Squirrles hat that they bought at the merchandise tent, and they're sitting out there having a soda and pulled pork sandwich with their dad. Those are the things that make it worthwhile for me."

Minner expects more manpower behind their second go-around at hosting the World Series.

"We're trying to put together some committees and trying to get some people involved so that we have some extra help."