As a Johnson County baseball club celebrates its 75th anniversary, it’s looking to the past with pride and the future with hope.
Established in 1951, the 3&2 Baseball Club started as a small league in Overland Park and now, has morphed into a club that spans across two different parks in Johnson County, with its East Complex in Lenexa and its West Complex in Shawnee.
“It’s a fixture in the community. I mean, you can’t go anywhere in Kansas City and not run into somebody that’s played there,” said Executive Director Jeff Chalk.
This year, the nonprofit club consists of more than 700 teams, from beginner T-ball groups to high school baseball, and hosts more than 3,000 tournament teams per year, said Neil Rutkowski, director of league and tournament operations.
On Wednesday evening at the East Complex, 3&2 commemorated the anniversary by inducting six members of the club into its Wall of Legends, which recognizes club members who have had a significant impact on its 75-season history.
“We really think of ourselves as folks in the memory-making business, and we just happen to try to create good memories for families through the game of baseball,” Rutkowski said. “I think if we use that as our bearing point and all that we do, that’ll get us to the next 75 years.”
The club started in 1950
Started by a group of parents in Johnson County, the 3&2 Baseball took some time to establish itself as the institution it is today, Chalk said.
From 1951 to 1965, most games were held at Segner Field in Overland Park, now the property where Westlake Hardware is located in the Louisburg Square Shopping Center.
Following that, the club moved to its East Complex, where games are still being played.
From 1976 to 1985, it expanded its reach to include four new ball fields at 63rd and Pflumm in Shawnee, now the land where the Shawnee HyVee operates.
A decade after the fields in Shawnee closed, 3&2’s staff realized it needed more space again. So in 1997, it purchased 73 acres of land in Shawnee to develop 16 new ball fields, known as its West Complex. In 2000, the fields opened for play.
The whole process was led by 3&2 Board President Dick Jenkins, one of the inductees on Wednesday night to the Wall of Legends, who said at the time in the late ’90s that the club had gotten too big for one complex.
“We always had more kids than we had spots,” he said during his speech. “Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever told a 7 or 8 year old you don’t have room for him to play baseball in your club, but after doing it for two or three years, I thought ‘We got to do something about this. I can’t face another kid and break his heart like that.'”
The club is about community
During the Wall of Legends induction ceremony, a theme of the need for community and connection weaved throughout the inductees’ speeches.
For some of the people inducted, including Chalk and Rutkowski, their relationship with the club spans generations.
“My dad played there. I played there. My kids played there. It’s just generation after generation of folks in this community that have called (3&2) their baseball home,” Chalk said.
Looking at one of the ball fields, Rutkowski said it carries two similar memories that he cherishes.
“My first home run on this field right behind me,” he said. “A very magic moment for me was when my oldest son was going through (3&2) and playing. I was coaching first base and he hit his first home run (at the same field). Where else can you have that, right?”
For people behind the scenes, like Facilities Director Tom Gray, who was also inducted into the Wall of Legends, it’s a lot of hard work, and they only get to see the fruits of their labor in glimpses.
“(The fields crew doesn’t) see a lot of the baseball because we’re working when the park’s empty, Monday through Friday, on the weekends, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. So, we don’t get to see a lot of the baseball,” he said during his speech. “But as I look out and see some of the kids that worked for me (in the audience), it enlightens you about the effect you’ve had on kids and people.”
3&2 has encountered some bumps in the road
In its 75 seasons, 3&2 has encountered some setbacks, most notably the COVID-19 pandemic, when it saw its number of registered teams drop dramatically, Rutkowski said.
“Those numbers took a huge dip,” he said.
When teams were allowed to come back, Rutkowski said the vibe shifted to feelings of gratefulness and positive energy, which has carried over the past five years, to the point they’re hitting pre-COVID numbers for registered teams.
“Once we were able to return to playing baseball, it was a completely different vibe. People were just happy to be at a park playing baseball or watching their kids play a sport,” he said.”
The club is pushing to remain a nonprofit
3&2 Baseball Club is sustained through three major revenue streams: Operating revenue, such as league entry fees, concessions and merchandise; sponsorship and advertising; and municipal grant money from the City of Shawnee and its partnership with the Shawnee Mission School District.
During the induction ceremony, 3&2 Baseball Club President Bill Miller noted the rising popularity of privately-run, for-profit youth baseball leagues and how non-profit organizations like 3&2 Baseball Club are becoming less common.
“(We need to) remain competitive in the youth baseball market which … is becoming more and more commercial and less community oriented,” he said.
The goal for 3&2 is that it remains a nonprofit organization so it continues to feel like a community-driven effort and not a commercial endeavor.
“There are the obvious tax advantages (to being a commercial business). We’re not in it for commercial benefits, but instead, the benefit of providing the opportunities to the kids,” Chalk said in an email to the Johnson County Post.
The club continues to evolve
Through the years, the club continues to improve its fields and facilities. In the past year, it added artificial turf to the nine fields at its East Complex through partnerships with the Shawnee Mission School District and a tourism and economic development grant from the City of Lenexa.
Among its many projects it has lined up, it’s looking to add turf to its West Complex, as well as other potential projects, like replacing field lights with LED lights, adding more cover for shade and replacing asphalt walkways.
It’s about providing families and athletes a quality experience that makes both the 3&2 Baseball Club and Johnson County stand out.
“It’s interesting because many people who come out here, especially from out of town, they say, ‘How do you guys have such a beautiful complex like this?’ They don’t realize it started in 1960 here,” Rutkowski said.
Reinvestment is the key to longevity, Chalk said, in both 3&2 Baseball Club’s facilities and its relationship with its athletes and their families.
“The staple that we are in the community, we’re proud of that role, and want to continue to thrive for decades beyond where we are today,” he said. “So we’re trying to set things up now to be able to do that. Seventy-five years is a good launching pad for the next 75.”
Other good Johnson Count community news: ‘Incredibly humbling’ — Olathe music educator named 2026 Kansas Teacher of the Year
