40 Good Neighbors

Dan Winterstein

Dan Winterstein holds one the most exalted titles in America, Commissioner of Baseball.  He jokingly says “everyone should be a commissioner at one time or another.”  But, when Dan became commissioner of Mt. Airy Baseball, part of the deal was that, appearance of conflict of interest or not, he could keep coaching while serving as commissioner.  “The most fun part,” he says, “is working with the kids.”

Dan has been involved with Mt. Airy Baseball for eight years and has been Commissioner for the last few years.  Over 500 kids, between the ages of 5 and 16, play baseball on 35 teams organized into five leagues.  The regular season runs from April to June with post-season tournaments keeping some kids and their coaches busy until July.  Mt. Airy Baseball is an all-volunteer organization.  Dan insists “it is not something I do alone.  Each of the teams has one coach and one or more assistant coaches.  Each league has a commissioner and there is a board of directors that meets beginning in October.  Every year we worry that there won’t be enough coaches.  But it doesn’t seem to happen.  Someone always comes forward to help out.  Coaches begin meeting in January.  This year we are going to add an indoor hitting program in a batting cage before the season begins.”

Some of Dan's other community activities include serving as President of the Henry Home and School Association for three years and starting an after-school arts program, for which he secured a number of grants.

But baseball is Dan’s great love.  For him, Mt. Airy Baseball “is a wonderful thing to be a part of.  Everyone who comes out enjoys it.  What is most fun about it is that it brings together people from every corner of Mt. Airy—people who wouldn’t otherwise be together—every week, for at least ten weeks.”