In a sports world filled of fame and fortune, it isn't common to find someone with a true passion for the game.

For Bryce Pack, of Lamberton, baseball has always been more than just a past time. Pack has been somehow affiliated with baseball throughout his entire life, and Saturday, the Minnesota Baseball Association will recognize all of his achievements as he's inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

"It's unbelievable," Pack said. "I have a hard time believing it yet."

Pack found out about his induction while attending a Minnesota Twins game earlier in the summer for his sons Colby Pack and Casey Pack's birthdays.

"We were going up for their birthdays," Bryce said. "When that flashed on the board and I said, 'yeah right.' Those were my exact words and I still can't believe it."

Pack spent his amateur baseball days playing all throughout the area, but it began at a much younger age for Pack.

"My dad (Clifford) played amateur ball for Walnut Grove for a number of years," Pack said. "I remember as a kid it was standard. Sunday, we went to church, came home, ate dinner and we went to a ball game."

Pack went on to play little league and high school baseball and prior to graduation made his first appearance in amateur baseball with the Tracy Engineers.

"I graduated from high school in '71 and I think I actually pitched in '70," Pack said. "Merle Fischer was the catcher; he was the very first catcher I ever threw to amateur-wise."

From there he went on to play for Southwest Minnesota State University, then known as Southwest State University, where he played four years for the Mustangs. He helped lead the Mustangs to two winning seasons, including an NIC Championship in 1974.

During his summers as SSU, Pack played his amateur ball with some of his Mustang teammates with the Marshall A's, but following graduation he went on help start up the Tracy Engineers, again.

"I think they folded at one point, and then I got them going again," Pack said. "I managed them for seven years and we had some pretty good success over those years I know we went to state a number of times and had battles with the Milroys, the Ivanhoes and the Ghents at that time."

Pack then returned to Lamberton and started the Lamberton Brewers.

"My assistant coach in high school, Jeff Shaner and I, got it going because we had a bunch of kids that wanted to keep playing after they graduated," Pack said. "That kind of fizzled out because we couldn't get enough kids to give enough commitment to doing all the maintenance."

The Brewers lasted until the late 80s, where Pack both managed the team and pitched, leading the Brewers to the regional playoffs in one of the last years of existence.

Pack was also the coaching high school baseball at Red Rock Central and after making his departure from amateur baseball when the Brewers went under, it was on his way back home from coaching the Falcons to the region playoffs in 1992 when he decided to make his return.

"We had a fairly decent team and we had gotten upset by a team that I didn't think should have beat us," Pack said. "Shaner and I were coming back on the bus and we looked at each other and said, 'the game isn't that hard to play.' We were so frustrated we decided to go up to Redwood and play, so we played with Redwood for two years."

Pack played the summer of 1992 and 1993 and then devoted his time to starting up the Lamberton Long Sox.

"We had a bunch of good athletes," he said. "We had some decent high school teams for a few years and some decent athletes between Westbrook-Walnut Grove, us and Wabasso, and a bunch of those guys wanted to keep playing ball. So, I said, 'lets start up a town team,' so we did. The rest is history because they've been pretty successful."

The Long Sox went on to win seven consecutive Tomahawk East League Division Championships, dating back to 2003, while also making three state tournament appearances. The most recent coming last summer when the Long Sox made it through the first two rounds of the Class C State Tournament before falling to Winsted and St. Martin to end their run.

Pack's resume also includes umpiring, managing the Marshall A's in the late 90s and is now currently the commissioner for Region 2C. His career will now be capped off Saturday when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Glen Carlson Hall of the St. Cloud Civic Center in St. Cloud.

"People that know me, I'm a baseball fanatic," he said. "I go to games to enjoy the game. I watch it on T.V. My kids don't even have to be playing, I go to watch it. It has been (an important part of my life) and it always will be."