John Burch at center of Cannon Falls baseball history

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At age 95, somebody asked John Burch of Cannon Falls if he had any regrets. 

"That I can't hit a fastball one last time," he replied.

His wife often wondered aloud if he didn't just love the game of baseball more than he loved her. 

Everyone involved in Cannon Falls baseball over the last half-century or so has a John Burch story. He was a local institution, so much so that officials even made a small museum with his old jersey and equipment.

He played baseball at Hamline University and joined the Army, later returning to play for Lakeville and, later, his hometown team despite many believing he could have played professionally. 

In his later years, he even drove a scooter from the nursing home to the field to watch games at the field they named after him.