BY BRIAN RZEPPA
As Gary Szalka led Melvindale to hundreds of wins throughout a Hall of Fame career, Trenton High School varsity baseball Coach Todd Szalka stood by his side and regularly served as the team’s batboy.
While doing some digging throughout his parents’ house, Todd uncovered some VHS tapes. As he sat down to watch them, he was hit with a wave of nostalgia.
On a locally recorded broadcast, Todd saw his dad and Melvindale taking on Southgate Aquinas in the 1983 District Championship game. With his dad on the bench and Todd playing around in the stands, the videos evoked positive memories from him.
“We had a lot of VHS tapes and they used to just play these games on TV and my parents would record them. We had a number of copies and we started going through them and watching them and I enjoyed what those games did for the community and it’s something you don’t really see any more,” said Szalka.
One of the biggest things that Szalka remembered was how important those games were for all those involved.
“The way with how we receive information has completely changed. Within a few clicks on your phone you can access all the information and videos you could ever need in seconds, whereas back in the 80s and 90s there just wasn’t that level of technology. Getting around the TV and watching a high school game was really significant.”
Having made numerous transformations to the Trenton baseball program over the years, Szalka has now set his sights on the viability of creating another locally televised event like his father had coached in so many years ago.
That won’t come without challenges however, as national cable companies have replaced local providers and have made it more difficult for communities to provide the infrastructure necessary for these events. With Wyandotte Cable still hanging around however, there may just be a chance.
“Wyandotte still has their own cable company so we think they have the ability to do something like this. They can set up the trucks and have the film crews. When I talked to the guy who used to announce the games and asked him if we could do this, he said it sounded interesting, but he didn’t know how we would get it done anymore.”
He continued, “You have to have multiple camera angles like a pro game and nobody around here has that capability anymore because large cable companies have come in and taken over what local companies used to own. They’re not doing a whole lot of local stuff, so Wyandotte Cable may be the only way that we can resurrect this.”
If it ends up being possible, Szalka believes this will be a great opportunity for both the fans and the community and it will serve as a throwback to more locally-oriented sports programming.
“It was just fun going back and watching these tapes. They made these kids in the school seem like they were bigger than what they really were. You watch Tigers broadcasts and you just don’t see that any more in high school broadcasts — you don’t see announcers that know the kids, the programs and the coaches and to me that’s kind of what it’s all about. We got in this to have fun and provide better opportunities for kids and I think this just talks right to it.”