Putting Electronic Scoreboards to Work Proves to Be Beyond Coaches’ Power

Birmingham High has a nice, new electronic baseball scoreboard, but don’t rush to Al Ramirez Field to check it out.

It hasn’t been put up yet. Probably won’t be for quite a while.

Red tape is the cause of the delay, according to Birmingham baseball Coach Wayne Sink. He claims that Los Angeles Unified School District officials insist that the price of installing the scoreboard will be $15,000 because of attendant safety precautions.

“I think it’s a bit of overkill on their plans,” Sink said.

Birmingham’s existing scoreboard is manually operated, often by youngsters recruited from the stands. To place numbers on the scoreboard, one must scale a ladder and sit or stand on a catwalk about six feet off the ground.

Coach Mike Maio has had similar scoreboard problems at El Camino Real. The scoreboard arrived months ago, and reams of district paper work have been waded through, yet the project remains stalled.

“We got by the red tape, now we just need to get the contractor out here,” Maio said. “(The district) wants three times the requirements on everything. It’s overkill.

“I guess if I want it done, I’ll have to come out on the weekends and work on it.”

Chatsworth has had a scoreboard in place for several years. In the off-season, however, wiring for the scoreboard was damaged during the installation of a warning track in right field, where the scoreboard is located.

The scoreboard was not repaired in time for Chatsworth’s opener last week.

“It’s not looking too good,” Coach Tom Meusborn said. “All the paper work is in, all the money is in. We just need the OK for the contractor to come out and fix it.”

That leaves San Fernando with the lone functioning electronic scoreboard among Valley City Section teams.