By Brad Hallier
Life has changed quite a bit for Marc Blackim in the last 12 months.
Two of those changes were life-altering. One, his daughter Morgan was married in late May to Austin McGinnes. The other happened nearly 365 days ago. On Aug. 12, 2023, Blackim stood in a suite at Wichita State’s Eck Stadium watching the Hutchinson Monarchs win the National Baseball Congress World Series.
Two days that resulted in a large amount of stress, but ended up being rewarding.
“My daughter’s wedding was more stressful,” Blackim said with a smile during a Tuesday interview at Hobart-Detter Field. “Both were a lot of fun, but both were stressful.”
Change is often stressful, for better or for worse.
Blackim and his wife Kim have owned the Monarchs since the 2010 season, the franchise’s second season. The roster sees significant turnover every year. The coaching staff has been steady but has endured change, going from Patrick Hilboldt to Andrew Ehling, and then local baseball icon and the wildly popular Deron McCue, and now to Casey Lippoldt, who is in his second season.
Winning the NBC World Series changed the Monarchs in some ways. They’re no longer just a regional team that has a strong fan base. They’re now the NBC World Series champion, a title often reserved for the bluebloods like the Santa Barbara Foresters, Seattle Studs, Hays Larks and Liberal BeeJays. As a matter of fact, since Santa Barbara’s 2008 title, the only teams to have won the NBC outside those four are the defunct El Dorado Broncos, the Kansas Stars, a team that lasted two years and was comprised of former Major League Baseball standouts, and the Monarchs.
“I think the best way to put it is it was a total shock at first,” Blackim said. “We tried this for 15 years. We got fourth or third, and you ask yourself, ‘Are we good enough to be the champions, to beat teams like the Foresters?’
“For a lot of years, a lot of people were just hoping we would get into the NBC. That was the goal, whether we won a game or not.”
The Monarchs’ 6-3 championship win over Santa Barbara answered that question. Yes, the Monarchs are good enough to win a national championship. They did something that even the greatest Hutchinson Broncs teams couldn’t in the early 1980s. You may remember them. Teams that had Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmiero and Pete Incaviglia. Not even they won an NBC championship.
And yet, through all this change, and all the pats on the back, and all the notoriety that comes with being a championship team, the Blackims are the same people.
Marc can be seen at Hobart-Detter Field talking with fans and ensuring both teams and the umpires have what they need. He even helps coach when needed. Kim still routinely misses most of the games as she takes care of pretty much everything behind the scenes. It’s been common through the years for Kim to visit the pressbox in the sixth inning or later and ask how the game has been going.
“I don’t want to sound mean, but the thing is, people see me but they also have no idea what Kim does,” Blackim said. “Without Kim, there is no organization. For example, I sent our (NBC World Series) roster to the coaches. Ten minutes later, Kim was the only one who responded, and she suggested we needed a backup infielder. We all agreed. She was 100% dead on.”
While much has changed for the Blackims and the Monarchs, they are the same as they were before last year’s championship.
“We’ve had success on the field, and we work hard to make these young men better men,” Blackim said when asked what has stayed the same. “We establish relationships. We have strict pitch counts that we adhere to. We work hard to find host families. We feed the team.”
The details matter for the Blackims. They want the best for the players, most of whom come to Hutchinson as strangers. They want the players to leave with great memories, on and off the field. Wins are important to the Blackims and the players, but the Blackims also want the players to go home bragging about their host family, the burgers at R&B Drive-In, the shakes at Bogeys, the pulled pork at Roy’s, golfing at Carey Park, and fishing along the Arkansas River.
While Blackim is excited to see if the Monarchs can repeat as NBC World Series champion, as they start their title defense at 6 p.m. Thursday at Wichita State, he’s also excited about a potential winter vacation with Kim.
“The easiest way to put it is the Monarchs are something we do, but it’s not who Kim and I are. Family comes first for us,” Blackim said. “There are other things we enjoy doing together, such as traveling. Winning a championship didn’t change who Kim and I are. Family is always first.”
More changes are coming. By the time the Monarchs play their next home game in late May or early June 2025, the grass and dirt at Hobart-Detter Field will be gone, replaced by state-of-the-art artificial turf.
For a Hutchinson native and baseball man like Marc Blackim, it’s bittersweet. Hobart-Detter Field has long boasted one of the nicest natural surfaces in Kansas. When the first pitch is delivered, the dirt is perfectly manicured and the lush grass is as green as the golf course across the street.
But the field also doesn’t drain water well, and games have been postponed after rain two days prior. Turf will allow for fewer rescheduling headaches and even allow for lengthy weather delays.
“Putting turf down needs to happen,” Blackim said. “It’s going to be amazing. Mammoth (Sports Construction) will do a great job. It’ll be an unbelievable facility for a long time, longer than I’ll be around.”
And through it all, the Blackims will be the same people, and the Monarchs the same organization.
That doesn’t mean, however, the upcoming NBC World Series won’t have Marc and Kim Blackim on edge. While they don’t have to worry about gameday management, there is a championship at stake.
“For me, my stress is for these young men to perform to the best of their ability,” Blackim said. “I know they’ll play hard, but will they play to the best of their ability? These young men are the national champs, not Kim and I. We just get to tag along.”
They’re the same people they were before, and after, the NBC World Series championship last year.
