8/3/2019 Frank Schwall Scarsdale Little League

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TODDSLISS

opening day In Fresno,, IS still fresh in the mind

Tom Seaver. who

his later lifeall important ballgame

day through the World

glory day s or pitching forMets in 1969 and beyond[0 Seaver, but the picturehis mind of his muther sitst base bleachers and the

voice , and his fatherom e run marker in the OUI

e family dog (a nome rund eared the chalk line on

the dog was smart enoughto cross onto the field) arecarries around with him toalso knows that be was No ,niform." had green trim.

ver, along with the greatKoosman, hel ped

rate not only the openingLittle League season, but

dedicated Little Leagu eway 3, the memori es

back on Saturday mom.ver threw the firs t ball to

all Jr. of the Pirates , leftyMatthew Katz of the A 's.

re growing up , the startis so special." said Seaver.

e League and a memtional board. "rC lO a begin

season for the gam e youlife it changes as you go,

ore of an art form and evenhow special it is."

never really had an opening

baH and in hll> mid -aJready playing semi-pro

was a diffe rent time.thing you look fo rward too it' s great when the bell

ing ." Koosm an said wh ileat Last Licks Friday.

s game and·you just wan tplay ball."

kids have today lS nothing man had .. 've got their metal bats,

loves and uniformlo and J bull with no hi de on it,"d. "ICs like nigh t and day."

ver and Koosman maymo ries from youth base-

, the memories createdare ummaginable. No

In store for the kiili

a field 10 caH tlJeir ow

. He played one year of

w season, field excites ·ballplayer

Dugouts are one of the many new features at the dedicated Little League field at Crossway 3.

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8/3/2019 Frank Schwall Scarsdale Little League

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at CrosswayLeagu

in grades 3-6, 1l1e field new dugouts, JeDces out

an outfield fence that00 feel , bullpens for bolbed in on-deck circles. an

eboard, a tlagpole andsid es of the field In

obvious amenities, borne

in with a new

used to be just a backstopfor each team.

true for field com

that contributed to the

fort .fulfilling to see the project

said. "Nothingving a fie ld for

play baseball on. Hopefully

a lot of fun at this field."two years for the field to

on from the ini tial proposvillage to opening day.

in place in time for the

haven't seen it yet andsudden th ey show up and

by it," Schwall

"diU .. 1111111" II ~ ~ I I I ' I I : . < : U r T - = n r l t ; ause the didn't see it in progress l i k ~

some orus have,'·In addition Lo the Litlle Leal!uc. there

were a lot of different agencle ; Involvedwith the ficlu .

,It was U cllllaoonttivc. effort withmany people from the PRC to SuzOlnne

B u ~ b y Jnd the r e ~ r e a l i o n department tothe vil l:lge m o n a g c r ~ office to Ih etruSh.'Cl.," Schwall ~ u i d "1\ w a ~ great III

see how peoplc can work togelher 10

produce something .,

While the field IS certilinly a spdcialplace antl :I . focal point for tht': LittleLeague, }he game is II Iil l what mailer!'.moM to those .imolved,

'There art: S I) muny greal \·aluc:-. inLitlll.! Lctl1;.ce  like leam-.man!>hip.sport!>fllanship , Ic:tming how to phlv a

I ~ J I l f . - - U l H ' ~ " ,\ J , U 1"" , 1\,.14"-'

a\ t Lillie Leagu e:- preSidem Katz s.aid."To Ihut is whutit ' !\ ahout.

"Thls fiel d is nol anyth ing Ih ath i g h l e n ~ thl! compelilh'cness of basebalL ]t's Just a fun place to he. If s notj ust f()r championship games amI thebest teams. I t ' ~ for everyone in thirdgrade and up to get a chance to play on

the field."Four games were played ( I l l the fieldSaturday, ind udin g the opener featuringthe Pirates and A' s JJl the fi flh- andsixth-grade league."I t feels really good because we'l"!

the first people ever 10 walk on thefield," Neh an Sheth of the A' s "ald."It's great si lt ing here in Ihe newdugout. You fee l li ke a real player: '

"I love it because pt!ople CJn comewith their frien d!> to play bu \eha \linst ead of going home and playingthere," Max Bernstein of the A's said ."I love the fences and the dugo uts

because it makes you feel like you ' re ina real major league game."

ven the parents were enjoyi ng thenew mi nor league-h Iking field. thoughin the end seeing their kids happy andactive was the main thing." ] t ' very nice." M a . ' { · mom Belh

Bernstein said she watched the gamfrom the bleachers. "I think for our kJ(ls

to play the fir..l g,lme;: here is exching.

I C :· .. n \ ; U - - • _  I n;:

this Illorn ing. They couldn' , wait."For Be th c r n ~ t e i n , who grew up in

Nebraska. there was u central Incalionwhere all of Lhe l i e l d ~ were. so havingthem ~ p r c a d <Jmund town in Scarlodale

a, it hit of H chunge. 'The great thingi.. thal thc\' have a s e n ~ e thaI th is is theirfield,"' ~ h e said.

All part of rhe dedication. Schwallannounced the Scarsdale Little LeagueHorne Run Challenge. The fi rsl playerto hit II homt: run liver the rence wins ulearn pil.la and ice .:ream party frllmAmore Pilla :lnd Culd Stone Creamerv.Babe Ruth hit the first home run ;1Yankee Swdiilm in 1923. Who will Oc

thi: answer to thaI trivia q l J e ~ t j u n inScarsdale:!

6 ~ U d. '' We ' re very

c\citcd for l h c ~ i d ! i to ~ t ~ r t playing111cre·s a sense 01 satisfaction becausethiS is such Ol beautifu l addition to

cUMaJe:'

The dedication

NBC sponscaster :lJld Scarsdale resI

dent Bruce Beck served a<; emcee of theevent ami opened by noti ng how "awesomc" the lield is and thaI "lhere maybt' a no r'easler coming tomorrow, buteven tile perf\!ct :-.torm couldn't stop ustuda\,: '

B ~ c k has coached on the fields of

Scarsdale dnd his youngest son Mikean umpire in the league . Beck· s

first C)pening day memories are fro mLi ving'aon, N.J ., 1964, where afterthree throwing and catching errors hemade it ho rne safe with whal he stiIl,to thiS day. considers a home run on aballthm d id n' t even cl ear the pitcher's

mound"Little League is about muc h more

than u ~ t hllting uud fielding and baserunning," Beck told lhe crowd. "Youlearn how to be a winner and a ~ s y loser. anJ about fair pla y and teamwork."

MJyor Noreen FISher noted Ihe "perfect ex ample" of how the local governmen t and tbe community can come

was Ihat il wuk only 1\1.;0 ye

opposed lo the "25 year,,·' it

takes the village III a c c o m p l i ~ b t··My hope!' are you have ma

of sunshine·· and that the u e m pon tun." Fillhcl said.

Bo) SCOUI Troop 4 presencolor [!uard and led the PleAllegla'fll:e and c a r ~ d a l e senioFailla perforn1t::d "The Star-Sp

Banner,'·

Beck let! the Little Leagu

wh ich illC.luded such youth spor

as fair play, "triving to win anvour hurdes\. He noted thattoday 's major league herQe!. li

Yorl. Me ! Da,jd Wright, have taoath in thclf cJuldhooili..

In Introdul.: lng Ihe speciali t h e ~ " ~ h

Koosman one of the mnst "uncle

pitchers ever . WC

e ~ . struck out over 2,500was a two-t ime AII -S tnr and t20-game "'lOner in his 19-yeur12 with the Metl>. For the 11)69

Coosman won two games in the

Series. And . ex actly 40 years to

. sman made his maj(lr leagagam st the Ph illies.The mOlin attractJ(ln, howe v

Seaver, the 1967 Rookie of th

three-time Cy Young A wardand 12-time All-Star, who w

games and struck out over 3,600in his 20 years. Tom Terrific w!

ed to the Ba<;ebaJl Hall of Fame iand has the distinclion of havihighe!>J pe rcentage of vo tes ever.

Seaver, who played four yLittle League. urged the kids to

the gam\!, because it's not abo

ning." He also told them to

the gam e'· an d "have fun .""[Little League l was the begJ

a love affair with a great gam e,'·said. "Little did I know that W)u

me to Cooperstown, Those serooted in l illie League."

Whether or not Scarsdale prmajor league ta lent, the memorie:new field· s boys and girls of sl

willlao;t a lifetime.