Gary Schlabach had some land out next to his corn field, and brothers Lamar and Ronnie, and a number of others, chipped in some grounds keeping help, backstop construction, and so on. On Memorial Day, 1999, the first game was played. Some 15 guys participated that day.

There were rules. The main one: "Anyone could play." Lamar Schlabach said there's, sometimes, an insular aspect to Amish life. That is, sometimes Amish hang out with Amish. However, the ball field was for Amish, "English," anyone who wanted to play.

In fact, Hispanics would probably feel right at home at the field, especially at the concession stand. Several years prior, a local Amish craftsman had built a rather smart looking wooden concession cart for an Hispanic fellow to use for a downtown stand in Indianapolis. The guy never picked it up. "Itch Field" (there's some mosquitoes) adopted it, acrylic painted peppers, and all.

Lamar said the Amish community, just like any other community, has troubled youth. And because of the rather quiet Amish lifestyles, the Amish kids sometimes need outlets.

"You can't bring a kid into the world, then offer him no outlet for his youth," said Lamar.

And the field is more than merely an outlet. It's a reflection of a life, it seems to me, that is a lot more sane, a lot more spiritually balanced.

Another rule at Itch Field: Anyone can play, at any position. Sides are chosen by merely counting off. If a 12 year old kid, has, say, an 8 mph fast ball, and wants to pitch an inning, he pitches. Also, another kid, who enjoys playing first, is somewhat developmentally disabled. He won't field ground balls because his place is right on the bag. No one objects. And he gets to play as much as he wants.

In a world primarily possession oriented and achievement driven, how often do we see this at a corporation, for instance? That is, along side a highly skilled computer programmer you see a developmentally disabled person learning and working the best they can. A place where some profit margin is sacrificed for, well, love, relationship building, social justice...

Lamar said the games at Itch Field are "competitive, but not that competitive."

Also, letting everyone play at Itch Field, could well be a metaphor for letting everyone "play" in society. Instead of parlaying more money into bigger ventures that squeeze more of the competition out, maybe being "competitive, but not that competitive" is about being content with an "adequate" lifestyle, staying somewhat small, and allowing other businesses to "play" too.

Maybe if there were Itch Fields, with Itch rules, in towns all across the country, kids would learn a saner, more balanced way to approach business, and for that matter, life.

Note: The last game of the summer, more than 150 ball- players and fans participated at the Itch. The concession stand all but paid for itself that day.

Column appeared weekly in the News Democrat and Ripley Bee newspapers in Brown County, Ohio.