New video board on deck for Phil Welch Stadium
By Chris Fortune
Fans may have a new visual experience to take in by the time the reigning MINK League champion St. Joseph Mustangs take the baseball field in the spring.
This Monday, Dec. 9, the St. Joseph city council can approve a bill authorizing the purchase of a new electronic video board that will work in conjunction with the current scoreboard.
“It’ll have the same type of electronic capability as the Civic Arena scoreboard,” said Chuck Kempf, director of St. Joseph’s Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities. “It’ll have video capability. It’ll also have the ability to have the score stats, player information, that type of thing on it.”
The video board will be built by Daktronics, a South Dakota-based company, for $130,000. The city will appropriate $65,000 from the park sales tax fund, a $55,000 donation will come from the George Bode Jr. Benevolent Trust, and the final $10,000 will be covered by the St. Joseph Mustangs.
Kempf said the plan to build a video scoreboard came from former Mustangs owner, Dan Gerson, who passed away on Sept. 24, 2023.
“He had brought that to our attention that at some point in the future, he really wanted to pursue that,” Kempf said.
Mustangs owner Ky Turner, who purchased the team from Gerson in 2022, said the support the team has received from the city, the trust, and through individual donations to its 1939 Club is humbling.
“We just appreciate everyone who’s been involved in this and really wanted to see it up there and see it rolling,” Turner said.
The Mustangs reclaimed the MINK League title this past July and even set an attendance record in 2024.
Turner said Phil Welch Stadium is the envy of leagues and teams across the nation, and it will continue to build St. Joseph as a destination for college baseball players around the world.
“We’ve had players from Hawaii, Japan, France, Canada, as well as a lot locally and then across the United States,” Turner said. “It’s just another notch, I think, for Phil Welch to continue to be that destination.”
Kempf said the plan is for the equipment to be delivered and installed this spring before the Mustangs 2025 season begins.
To find more information about the Mustangs and the 1939 Club visit stjoemustangs.com/1939-club.
