A Big-League Comeback

It was dusk, time for tryouts to begin, and only four ballplayers had taken the field at Santa Ana’s El Salvador Park.

Santiago Little League’s season was off to a less-than-rousing start.

The 10- and 11-year-olds swung their bats mightily, but most couldn’t catch up to the balls being shot out of a pitching machine. When a pinging pierced the chilly night air, little hands shook until the stinging stopped. “Squeeze the bat,” coaches yelled. “Swing faster,” parents shouted.

As the night wound down, there were more signs that baseball hadn’t been played in this soccer-crazy city since last season. Base runners in rumpled pants skipped over bases, unsure fielders in faded sweatshirts retreated from ground balls and outfielders encountered unkind bounces on patchy grass.

This ragtag group might be a long way from Williamsport, Pa., and the Little League World Series. But Leon and Pearl Raya know that Santiago Little League’s real success isn’t measured in hits, runs, errors or victories, but in years.

Ten years ago this month the Rayas stared down one of the oldest and most notorious gangs in Santa Ana and offered the neighborhood hope.

As longtime parks and recreation workers in Santa Ana, the Rayas befriended many young people. And their hearts broke each time one was gunned down in gang violence.

In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, when the F-Troop gang and the Mexican Mafia controlled El Salvador Park, police called the neighborhood one of Santa Ana’s deadliest.

Among the victims was the once-vibrant Santiago Little League. Intimidated by the gang presence at El Salvador, parents stopped volunteering, kids stopped playing ball and the Little League that once enlivened the corner of Raitt Street and Civic Center Drive shriveled up and died.

Each day on her way to work, Pearl Raya passed the park and wondered what happened to that lively place of her youth, where her father taught her brother baseball fundamentals and where she spent endless hours at the snack bar munching candy with friends.

One January day in 1994, she decided it was time to revive the spirit of that place for the next generation of Santa Ana’s youth.

“I started thinking about all those other kids who hadn’t been sucked into that [gang] life,” she said.

“I thought it was time to do something for them. And Leon and I have always firmly believed that you should never forget where you come from and that you need to help where you can.”

The couple began canvassing the neighborhood, distributing fliers with information about upcoming registration for the Santiago Little League. They recruited coaches at PTA meetings, stopped kids on the street and went door-to-door looking for players and parent volunteers.

Many times they walked up and the down the neighborhood’s streets, on the prowl for prospective players, just minutes before police raided homes for gang members. Baseball, the Rayas told parents, might help steer kids away from gang life.

But there were still plenty of skeptics, and the first day of registration didn’t comfort the Rayas. Families strolling through El Salvador Park on their way to the ball fields passed nearly every gang member in Santa Ana.

“We had no idea that a gang summit was scheduled that day,” said Leon Raya, 42. Shaken by the sight, parents cursed the Rayas. “Why are you starting this up again?” the couple was asked.

“There are other Little Leagues in Santa Ana. Now my child has to play here, with all these gangs?”

“It was a long day,” he said.

But there were a few bright spots. Jose Herrera, the first parent to register a child for the reborn Santiago Little League, was reluctant to be a volunteer. But as he looked forlornly around the park, Herrera changed his mind -- realizing his community needed him now more than ever.Ten years later, he is still involved as the league’s treasurer. For Herrera’s sons, Jose and Cesar, Santiago Little League was their first exposure to organized sports.

“Playing on a team taught them to understand that you share responsibilities and that you respect your elders,” said Herrera, who coached both sons and was the league’s president for a year.

“It’s also meant a lot of good times for my wife, myself and my kids.”

The Rayas had hoped to field four teams that first year -- and somehow managed to form nine teams with about 100 players. This year, 15 teams with 150 kids will play baseball at El Salvador Park, in six age divisions.

“I didn’t think we’d ever get that league going again,” said Denny Curran, administrator of Little League’s District 30, which includes Santa Ana. “It’s amazing what Pearl and Leon have done there.”

But more challenges remain. Santiago is the poorest of Santa Ana’s seven Little Leagues, with just $200 in the bank. Uniforms have been purchased but league President Albert Perez said there’s not enough money left to pay for new equipment, snack bar improvements, a new storage bin, baseball clay and a permanent outfield fence.

Unlike many suburban Little Leagues, Santiago does not have banners from local businesses hanging on outfield walls and backstops. That’s because there are no fences at El Salvador Park and there are no sponsors, not a one.

“We’re struggling a bit for money,” said Leon Raya, now a recreation supervisor in Garden Grove. “Other leagues rely on their sponsorships to get them over the top. All we have are registration fees and money from candy and fireworks sales.”

The Rayas’ struggle to promote baseball in a large immigrant community that lives and breathes soccer. More than 15,000 Santa Ana youths play organized soccer, and only 2,000 play baseball, which is not as culturally popular and is more expensive. Local businesses support soccer, not baseball. And these days, with background checks for all volunteers, parents are less likely to volunteer for fear of being deported.

This year Perez is asking each of the 14 board members to secure a $250 sponsorship from a business. He’ll settle for 50 sponsorships of $5 each. The league is still $10,000 to $20,000 short of what it needs to get through the season.

The Rayas wonder whether excitement over the purchase of the Angels by Arte Moreno, a Latino, will wash over the El Salvador Park neighborhood. Moreno has gotten the attention of serious baseball fans for spending millions of dollars to recruit talented Latino ballplayers.

“Arte Moreno is not a stupid man,” Leon Raya said.

“It’s no coincidence these guys are all Latinos. He sees what the marketing possibilities are [in the Latino community].”

In the shadow of Angel Stadium, the kids in the Santiago Little League hope for more trappings of their own.

“When we go and play at other parks, they have batting cages, bullpens, shaded dugouts, nice benches and sponsor banners,” Leon Raya said.

“We don’t want our kids to play other leagues and be embarrassed because of their raggedy uniforms. Other leagues have kids in warm-up jackets. We have kids slipping around in the batter’s box because they’re wearing tennis shoes. We just want our kids to feel proud of where they play.”

Still, El Salvador has come a long way since 1994.

Thanks to help from the city of Santa Ana, the Angels and another Little League, the park’s two main fields have well-functioning lights, a brick snack bar built into a small grandstand and a small wooden scorer’s box.

“We wouldn’t have considered holding All-Star games there 10 years ago,” said Curran, the Little League administrator.

“Now we don’t have any qualms about it. “

There are still reminders of the past. Gang graffiti can be seen on a wall across the street, and gunshots rang out near the park last week. But it’s better than it used to be, and some people credit baseball.

“The neighborhood is not crime-free, but it no longer stands out,” Police Sgt. Carlos Rojas said.

“Since sports has come back to that park, people are more willing to come forward with information. The gangs are still around, but to a large extent they’ve gone underground. The improved situation has led to a sense of empowerment for that community.”

Sitting on a metal bleacher seat, Noemy Munoz watches 9-year-old son Oscar field ground balls on an infield of clay mixed with coarse brick dust. She says she is thankful she gave Santiago Little League a chance.

“I wasn’t sure how this would work out,” she said.

“I grew up here and I knew the history. After my son’s first year, he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep playing. He didn’t have any confidence in himself in school or the classroom.

“But the coaches here instilled confidence in him and last year, he started hitting home runs and had a great year. And now he has that same confidence in the classroom. Last month, he was on the honor roll.”