The Sound of Hope

Slowly, the comforting crack of baseball bats replaces the terrifying crack of gunfire at David M. Gonzalez Park. For years the Pacoima park has been the kind of dangerous place residents avoided and refused to let their kids play in.

Too many gangbangers. Too many fights. Too many murders.

Crackdowns at the park helped shoo some of the gang members away. But for how long? Forever, hope organizers of a new youth baseball league at the park. The league helps. With the park full of kids and parents, it becomes less attractive for the thugs who lorded over the playing fields with scowls and threats.

And giving the mostly poor kids something to do in a park other than just hang out and stir up trouble makes them less likely to turn to gangs later on. Team sports teach the importance of cooperation and allow kids to develop new skills that serve them well in school, at home and as they grow. The three teams in the new league are a small start toward giving children back a little patch of grass--and a little piece of hope.