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BY ROBERT SPOSATO
S a n d l o t S l u g g e r s
N e i g h b o r h o o d b a s e b a l l l i v e s !
A
s a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I
watched more baseball than any
human being alive. These were the
days before cable TV and ESPN, but in New
York every Yankee game and every Mets game
was on TV, so I tended to see a game or two
every day. And being the astute little baseball
neophyte, I learned a great deal about the nu-
ances of the game. Of course I played high
school baseball and then had three sons, whose
teams each needed coaches. I often coached
two teams at a time — talk about a glutton for
baseball.
So now it’s no wonder I have this baseball
camp in Eugene, where I assemble young
baseball players to the loveliest of baseball di-
amonds, for a full morning of skills and drills
and thrills. Did I mention that I get to pitch?
Yeah, and I get to tell everybody what to do.
A few years ago, after five years of operat-
ing the baseball camp, I got another baseball
bee in my bonnet. I was hearing about all these
kids staying home all day playing computer
games, surfing the Internet, and watching tele-
vision. Having always heard from parents that
“kids never play baseball in the neighborhoods
anymore,” I set out to change that. I put out the
word that games will be played at Washington
Park. Sandlot Baseball Camp was born.
My dream was to bring back neighborhood
baseball, where kids rode their bikes to the
park and somehow managed to put a baseball
game together. I must admit that I wasn’t sure
how well today’s kids would be able to play
“unstructured” baseball. I wasn’t sure that kids
would respond to the quiet park, the low-tech
umpire, the unglamorous attire of no uniforms.
Parents weren’t sure their kids would appreci-
ate the opportunity to run their own game.
We adults fondly remember those neigh-
borhood games where we all got along, we fig-
ured out all the problems that came up, and we
all had fun. Never mind that much of that is
pure fantasy.
Those games were less than stellar sporting
events and often social disasters. I distinctly
recall being bullied by the bigger kids, having
to acquiesce to the demands of bigger kids or
risk a punch in the nose, with many a kid cry-
ing all the way home after a less-than-inspiring
ball game. Maybe, I thought to myself, with
my background and an active imagination, I
could make it better than it was. Maybe I could
iron out the wrinkles and provide a great
“sandlot” baseball experience.
So these days I gather 40 kids, make four
fair teams, prepare the fields, provide some
equipment, an umpire, and let the players fig-
ure out the rest. The result is neighborhood
baseball at its ideological best: multi-age (10-
14 years), multi-gender, and multi-ability (the
better players often mentor the less experi-
enced players). Bullies are not allowed and ar-
guments die as quickly as they begin. Innings
follow innings and the great game gets put into
the photo-albums-of-the-mind, which is ex-
actly where dreamy 12-year-old ballplayers
like it.
Baseball is a simple game; you’re safe or
you’re out. It’s a difficult game, a game of fail-
ure; players make outs and errors. Kids who
play baseball mature more quickly because of
having to accept failure. It’s an important game
for kids to experience.
The verdict? Kids today are really good
young people with perhaps even greater abili-
ties toward community harmony than their re-
visionist parents ever had. Regardless of the
many structured activities these kids have en-
joyed that the older generations have not, or
more likely because of so many social experi-
ences, kids today have an intelligence and sen-
sitivity to issues that we rarely saw in previous
generations. Sandlot baseball works because
kids still know how to play among themselves.
They just need the chance.
ew
Robert Sposato operates Safe at Home Baseball Camp
and Sandlot Baseball Camp in Eugene and teaches at
LCC. He can be reached at robspo@hotmail.com
! !" W i ll am e t te • E ug e ne # OR ! $ % & '
(% () !* * '
LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE’S
Renewable Energy
Technician Program
is accepting NEW STUDENTS for fall 2004
Student Dan Orleck with a photovoltaic solar panel
Lane Energy Management/Renewable Energy
Technician Program is funded by EWEB & BPA
For information about the
Renewable Energy Management program,
call Roger Ebbage at (541) 463-3977.
an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution
JULY 8, 2004 23