Simpson baseball a (Blake) family affair

It's the Blake family. Baseball is just kind of what they do.

You all know Casey Blake. He's the Los Angeles Dodgers' third baseman, a guy who has carved himself out a nice little major league career.

Casey's brothers, Joe Jr. and Ben, played at Simpson College in the family's hometown of Indianola. Ben Blake played professionally briefly in the Cleveland Indians organization.

Youngest brother, Pete, also played pro ball in the Minnesota Twins system before arm injuries short-circuited his career. He works at The Yard baseball club in Indianola.

The boys' father, Joe Sr., played baseball and football at Simpson and baseball professionally in the New York Yankees organization. He has been the pitching coach at Simpson for 25 years.

Oh, and Simpson's head coach is Ben Blake. See, baseball is what they do.

"Simpson has always kind of been a home away from home for us," Ben Blake said after his Storm lost to Buena Vista and were eliminated Friday afternoon from the Iowa Conference tournament at Veterans Memorial Stadium. "We lived two blocks from campus. So my older brother (Joe Jr.), myself, Casey and my youngest brother, we were at the baseball field weekends, mornings, all summer long. My dad was an all-American there. Coaching at Simpson is just something that has come naturally, I guess."

Like baseball comes naturally to the Blakes.

"Pete was probably the best player of the four," Joe Blake Sr. told The Simpsonian. "He has an amazing ability to simplify the game and the swing. It has made him a very effective instructor. His brother, Casey, says that he's got his doctorate in baseball."

"When Casey was with the Indians, we used to go down quite a bit to Kansas City to watch him play," Ben Blake said. "Now I guess we'll have to go to Chicago ... But he's got a good deal out there in L.A. And he doesn't have to worry about the weather."

Ben Blake was an assistant head coach at Simpson in 2004 and 2005 and associated head coach in 2006. He was tabbed to replace successful longtime head coach John Sirianni, who is still the school's athletics director, in 2007.

This year's Simpson team finished 19-23.

"It is hard, but what are you going to do? They were going to make (Sirianni) move on, so they had to name a replacement," Ben Blake said. "You know, I think baseball's pretty simple. You get good kids."