Iowa Baseball Museum of Norway: Making a stop in the baseball Capitol of Iowa, Norway, was a must for me on this trip. The true events of this towns rich baseball histrory prompted the movie ‘The Final Season’. This small town’s high school team won 20 Iowa State Baseball championships before being forced to merge with another local school after the 1991 season. I became a fan of the movie after watching it, but I am a bigger fan of the true story here. If you are ever in this area, this town and museum are a must for you. The museum itself is small, but packed with memorabelia from baseball’s history as well as the history of baseball in Norway. They had displays of former Major Leaguers from Norway such as Hal Trosky, Bruce Kimm, and Mike Boddicker. Also on display are the school’s state championship trophies, little league trophies, and coaching awards. The people who run the museum are all on a volunteer basis, as well as the people who helped put it together. We were given a first hand history of the town and it’s teams while we were there. There is a great pride in Norway about what they accomplished. My pictures and words really can’t do this place justice. A highlight for me was meeting legendary coach Jim Van Scoyoc who led Norway to 12 of it’s state titles and was named National Coach of the Year. After being forced to retire before the merger, he coached the Detroit Tigers system and founded Perfect Game to help teach young ball players. This was just a great experience for me.

Photos property of MIB