By Bruce Karnick

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If you have ever been involved in Hastings Baseball, odds are you know the name “Wayne Erickson.” In Hastings, Erickson served on the Hastings Hawks board and HYAA’s board for a combination of 25 years. Erickson passed away suddenly in February at the age of 82. Because youth and amateur sports were his passion, his family wanted to wait to celebrate his life until the baseball season started.

Wayne was born December 21, 1939, in Minneapolis to Raymond and Marcell Erickson. Wayne attended grade school in Hampton and graduated with the Hastings High School class of 1957.

He had a passion for sports, and that passion allowed him to lead a variety of youth, amateur and professional sports over 60-plus years. That journey started in 1957 when he joined the Hampton Cardinals as a player. Eventually he became a player-manager and he added groundskeeper to that list before he left the Cardinals in 1978 when he moved to Chisholm. During his 21 years living in Hampton, he married his wife Jeanne in 1965 and began to raise a family while working for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Outside of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Association, he was a founding member of the Hampton Jaycees in 1967 where he served until 1974. Wayne also founded and coached for the Hampton peewee hockey team where he was instrumental in leading the building of the outdoor rink in Hampton. He also taught baseball and football to Hampton youth as well as organized the Punt, Pass, & Kick Competition. He was also a player, coach and president for the Hampton Softball Association.

When he moved to Chisholm, he continued his commitment to youth sports and the community. Wayne served as a board member on the Chisholm recreation board for five years before the family moved to Hastings.

In 1996, the Ericksons made the move to Hastings where he joined the Hawks, first as a manager then as a board member. He helped raise the funds to install the first-ever scoreboard at Veterans Park, a task that laid the groundwork for the most recent scoreboard update. He also had a hand in building the concession stand as well as the press box that now sits behind the stands.

Erickson also participated as part of the HYAA Board of Directors and as tournament director, five years in each role. He was also on the board of directors for the Hastings Senior Center for the final three years of his life and was an advocate for dystonia research, serving as volunteer golf tournament coordinator for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, Minnesota Chapter.

Erickson had a huge list of accomplishments and made a huge impact on the communities where he lived. He had a huge impact on this reporter’s life. Wayne was not just a baseball guy to me, he was a friend, someone I could just call up and chat with out of the blue. Sometimes I would call him up just to hear him answer the phone “Bruceeerrrrr! How ya doin’ rookie?”

I would reply “Waynooooooh… how ya doin old man?” and the conversation would go from there.

Erickson expected things out of people, good things. He wanted to see people be the best version of themselves that they could be. He wanted to pass on his passion for helping others.

“Wanyo” taught me more about baseball than I had ever known before, not just the game as it is played on the field, but the behind-thescenes stuff: managing the organization, managing the field, doing field maintenance, marketing. As his health began to fail, he would come out to the park without anyone knowing and he would just sit on a picnic table and watch work being done on the field. It was calming for him. It was his happy place, and he would always compliment the work done because he appreciated what the volunteers did to make his “happy place” as perfect as it could be.

He wanted the Hastings Hawks to be a good community partner. His commitment to the community through sports is why it was suggested the Hawks have a $250 scholarship for a senior baseball player.

In addition to serving in the communities where he lived, Wayne spent many years on both the Classic Cannon Valley League Board, the league that Hampton, Hastings, Miesville and other regional teams belong to. He was on the CCVL board from 1967-1978 then again 2000-2018 where he was president for 22 years. He was also on the State Amateur League board from 1974-2022.

One of the coolest things about baseball is it is a game that is full of tradition. Part of that tradition is honoring players, coaches, managers and many others that had a profound impact on a team, a community, or the game itself. Wayne Erickson fits that description. His time spent with the Hampton, Chisholm and Hastings youth organizations, his 22 years with the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Association and his 20 plus years with each the Hampton Cardinals and the Hastings Hawks, it is only fitting that the Hastings Hawks and the Hampton Cardinals started a new tradition to honor Wayne’s 60 plus years in serving the sports community.

The Wayne Erickson Memorial Trophy is a new travelling trophy to remind the Hastings Hawks and Hampton Cardinals of the impact sports and the players have on the community. The hope with the trophy is that is connects future generations of players with folks from the past to keep the townball traditions alive.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Jeanne, children, Michael and his wife Ann Erickson, Troy and his wife Beth Erickson, Taina and her husband Harri Kangastupa; grandchildren Amy, Logan, and Luke; siblings Sharon and her husband Richard Mathews, Donna Driscoll, and Larry and his wife Becky Erickson and many other relatives and friends.

The challenge I would issue, in Wayne’s memory is simple: Get involved. Become a coach or an official for a sport you are passionate about. When teams need volunteers, jump in and help. If sports are not your thing, but something with the arts is, become a mentor or an instructor to kids. Join a board of directors for a community group. These boards, especially the ones that run our youth and amateur sports, need people to be successful. Bring your talents to the groups, even if it is something not related to the sport directly. You would be amazed at the work that is done just at Veterans Park Baseball field.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll even meet your own Wayne Erickson.

The Wayne Erickson Memorial Trophy will travel between the Hastings Hawks and Hampton Cardinals to help foster the connection that Erickson had to both teams. He was a Cardinal from 1957-1978 and a Hawk from 1996 to 2016. The winner of the most recent game will keep the trophy. Photo by Bruce Karnick