Opening Day of New Children’s Baseball League Is a Hit

At first, the boy, no more than 8 years old, stood on home plate and stared blankly at the pitcher’s mound. After some instruction, he stepped to the side and, just as an arching pitch hit the ground a good 3 feet past him, swung with all his might.

The crowd gathered at Madison Park applauded anyway.

The boy and more than 120 other children were at the park Saturday morning to join the new California Angels Rookie Baseball League, a free program designed to give local boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 10 their first taste of the American pastime.

Organizer Darrell Miller, a former Angels player, said he hopes the league will also steer underprivileged children toward ballparks and away from the streets.

“What we’re promoting is fun for the kids and good citizenship,” Miller said. “If we can spark five, six, 10, 15 kids into liking the sport, we might even save some lives. Who knows?”

The opening day’s activities included a visit from Angels player Junior Felix, along with free posters and shirts. In upcoming weeks, free gloves, caps and baseball cards will be distributed. All league players will also be featured in a pregame show at Anaheim Stadium on Sept. 12 and be given free tickets to the game.

The children will be divided up into teams of 12, and they will alternate field positions by inning. To protect them, a pitching machine and a softer-than-usual baseball will be used.

For Santa Ana resident Connie Neill, the league appears to be a way to keep gangs and drugs from creeping into the life of her 8-year-old son, Lester.

“He likes this, and I do too, because we are surrounded by a lot of crime, and this keeps him occupied,” she said Saturday at the park. “He’ll probably see all that stuff, but as long as he stays involved in baseball, he’ll be OK.”

But for Lester, standing nearby with a poster of baseball stars Jose Canseco and Lance Parrish, the league simply means a chance to play. “I like the catching and the batting and the sliding,” he said, adding with a smile, “I like the sliding ‘cause you get all dirty.”

The league will meet at the park, at the corner of Edinger and Standard avenues, at 10 a.m. every Saturday through Aug. 31. Miller said Saturday that there were spots open for 80 more participants. For information on registration, call (714) 647-6502.