Jerry Stoddard loves Madison Mallards baseball.

When the owner of Stoddard's Country Grove Market & Catering, 205 E. Cottage Grove Road (County Road BB) in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, started going to the games four years ago, he was struck by the passion demonstrated by the college players on the field. It was their love of the game and a desire to excel that he found appealing.

There was also something going on off the field that caught his attention and he knew he had to make a phone call to Mallards management and talk about it. That following January Stoddard contacted the baseball club with an offer to supply their concessions with bratwursts from his meat market. "We got to sit down with Jerry and talk, taste some of his products, and we just fell in love with what he was doing," said Mallards General Manager Vern Stennman.

The partnership quickly rallied from supplying brats and select specialty sausages that first year to Stoddard's sponsoring The Smokehouse at Mallards Stadium where they serve everything from smoked beef brisket, to smoked pork butt and even smoked turkey legs.

Stoddard even created an Italian sausage especially for the Mallards. The deliciously seasoned brat is served on a toasted bun with giardiniera sauce, marinara and cheese. Stoddard worked closely with Mallards Chef David Boyer, capturing the perfect mix of spices to make a sausage that was uniquely Mallards. "Jerry gave us samples and our chef said, ‘could you add a little bit of this spice or that spice," and Jerry completely customized the sausage to our specifications. It's his attention to detail. He's always there to take care of us."

It's that same attention to detail that has helped his business grow along with Cottage Grove and the many other surrounding communities Stoddard's serves. Stoddard has seen a lot of changes since he bought the market in 1991. "We used to do a lot more beef cutting for farmers. "That used to be the bread and butter of the business when I bought it from the previous owner. We don't do nearly as much as we used to do."

Much of what's changed in the business is due to area farms giving way to single-family homes. And many of these homes have both parents working and children busy with school and after-school activities, leaving little time for preparing meals. Stoddard says they have changed their business to accommodate these needs, with fast service, and quality meats, vegetables and deli selections.

"It's quick in and out. You don't have to walk through the produce section back to the meat and funnel up front and stand behind eight people. Here you can roll in and park at the door and we'll get you the steaks you want, the potatoes, potato salad or whatever else you want to go with your dinner and you're back out the door in a heartbeat. For people today that's really critical because everybody is in a hurry."

With much of the area's development going on west of the village, Stoddard knows that there are a lot of people who don't know about his location just east of the Chase Lumber on Cottage Grove Road (Highway BB). "Sometimes I think we're kind of out of sight, out of mind since we're located on the east side of the four-way stop. People aren't thinking that less than 30 seconds east is Stoddard's."

But those who do make the trip find some of the best quality selections of choice beef, pork and poultry in the area. "We make all of our sausages here. We have summer sausage, breakfast links, maple links..."

And chances are that those sausages and brats that you buy from Stoddard's will all measure up to about the same length, thanks to their computerized meat stuffer. Basically the stuffer fills the brat casings with a preprogrammed amount of meat and even precisely twists the ends to keep it all inside. The stuffer can also fill meat packages to order, freeing staff to help the customer with other orders. "The really neat thing about it is that it's all computer-driven," says Stoddard. "It will give you an exact portion of whatever you are looking for. So if you are grinding hamburger from a side of beef and somebody wants a one-pound package, you just set the computer to one pound, it shoots out one pound of hamburger and it's done. You can do anything from hamburger to bratwursts to summer sausage to meatballs. It's really an amazing piece of machinery."

Seeing his business grow with the community as well as the Mallards organization has been amazing for Stoddard. Chances are if you don't see him at the market, you can catch him at the ballpark this summer enjoying a game with his family. They attend about 75 percent of the Madison home games. Much of why Stoddard says he is a fan is because of the joy he gets from just being at Mallards Stadium.

"Honestly I think the (Milwaukee) Brewers can take a lot of lessons from the Mallards on how to conduct a game that is interesting for their fans. They have stuff going on all the time. They have Maynard the Duck, (mascot for the mallards) starting out on a zip line and coming down over home plate. They involve the crowd and keep things interesting." It's entertainment on the field between innings and at all times throughout the ballpark that makes for a festive atmosphere, but Stoddard also pointed to something extra special that is happening on the field with the players who come to Madison each year from colleges and universities throughout the country.

"The reason it's fun is because these kids are really trying to get somewhere. "They're really pouring their hearts out and you know they're not making a dime to do it. They play because they want to get to the next level and they love what they're doing. And look at their schedule. It's grueling. They have two or three days off the entire summer. A lot of these kids go right from college to play ball, and they play ball all summer and the next day they start college. That's what makes it so much fun is because they're out there because they love to do it. It's amazing to watch. If you haven't experienced a game you really got to do it."

Stoddard's Meat Market

205 East Cottage Grove Road

Cottage Grove, WI 53527

Phone: 608-839-4228