March 3, 2010
Local amateur leagues come together
by Brett Rudy/
At the Grip N’ Rip charity event at Boston’s Game On! restaurant on Feb. 11, former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette met the leadership of the newest entry into the Boston Yawkey League, the East Boston Knights (from left): Eric Bellavia, Steven Baldassari, Duquette, Richie Mastalerz, Omar Ortiz and Geoff Harris. (photo: JCiummei/NortheastProPhoto.com)
MORE IMAGES 
Hello, New England baseball community! The New England Baseball Journal has allowed me the opportunity to contribute regularly with an article on amateur baseball. I’ll start with a brief introduction. My name is Brett Rudy and I began my amateur baseball career with Henry’s Baseball Club in 1991. I joined the Boston Men’s Baseball League in 1994, was the league’s marketing director for about a dozen years, and then founded the Boston Amateur Baseball Network last year. The BABN helps bring baseball players from across Greater Boston into one place to find teams and upcoming baseball activities, and to engage in conversation on all things amateur baseball-related in Boston. Until recently, this wasn’t so easy.
Rewind the calendar to 1929, when the Boston Park League and the Intertown Twilight League were founded. Both leagues claim to be the oldest amateur baseball league in America. The competition between leagues began.
Over the next 50 years, amateur leagues such as the Intercity League (1950), Cranberry League (1960) and North Shore Baseball League (1980) sprouted up and stuck around. But in the last 15 years, more than 20 leagues were founded in Greater Boston to support amateur ballplayers graduating from the 100 local colleges and universities. Over time, these players aged, forming the need for age 30-plus and 40-plus leagues. Today, in Massachusetts alone, there are more than 30 adult baseball leagues encompassing more than 320 teams. The competition never has been greater for resources such as players, fields and umpires.
Yet, for one evening in February, the Boston baseball community came together, taking a giant step toward making inroads between leagues. The day before the Boston Red Sox held Truck Day and the team’s equipment departed for Fort Myers, the Grip N’ Rip Club set out to make the competition a little friendlier and hosted what is believed to be the largest amateur baseball networking event ever held in Boston.
Grip N’ Rip Club, founded by adult baseball league veteran Andy Katz, provides discount cards good for savings at batting cages, camps and sporting goods stores. Most of the proceeds from membership dues are donated to Hits for Kids, the charitable organization founded by Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis, dedicated to rallying local and corporate support for charities and organizations focused on the health and well-being of children. On this evening, more than 200 ambassadors of the amateur baseball community came together at Game On! Boston, alongside Fenway Park, to network and make their contribution to a worthy cause.
“The Grip N’ Rip Club put on this event to spark partnerships, leading to better baseball programs for the youth and amateur baseball community in New England,” Katz explained. “Tonight, we all worked together toward a common goal of raising money for grassroots children’s charities, and moving forward we should continue to collaborate to grow the Greater Boston baseball community.”
Among the guests was the leadership of many amateur baseball leagues, including Kyle Provost of the Royal Rooters Baseball League, who oversaw the event raffle, Vinny Bertrand of the Boston Amateur Baseball League, and Matt Englander of the Boston Men’s Baseball League.
Walter Bentson, president of the Boston Park League and chief umpire assigner for several leagues across the region, was pleased at the response for the charity involved and all the leagues that were represented. “I really had no expectations other than to mingle with ‘baseball people,’ ” he said. “It’s amazing how amateur baseball in Massachusetts continues to grow at all levels. And they’ll need umpires! My outlook for 2010 is very positive for all leagues that I assign, and for the umpires on my team.”
As for the league Bentson heads up, he added: “The Boston Park League is looking forward to its 81st consecutive season. We’re a nine-team league, and in the past five years, we’ve had five different teams win the championship, so every team feels they have a shot at the title.”
Dan Weldon, commissioner of the Boston Amateur Baseballers’ Union, was enthused to be in attendance. “I came out to the event to support a great cause and to show that BAmBUu wants to be a cooperating member of the Boston amateur baseball community,” he said. “We worked closely with the Boston Amateur Baseball League and East Coast Amateur Baseball League leadership in 2009, including an interleague All-Star Game, and the cooperation benefited both our leagues immensely. We look to expand this interaction to other leagues in 2010.”
Frank Alexopolis, new president of the Massachusetts Independent League, chimed in: “The Grip N’ Rip event was great because it brought together players, coaches and leagues from all over at one venue. For 2010, the MIBL is looking to take steps to establish itself as a respected league in the baseball community.”
Bill Stanton showed off the social media site he developed called Check Swing. This Facebook-like tool is another example of helping the baseball world connect, in one place. The only discussion on checkswing.com is baseball, baseball and more baseball — no matter what league you play or coach in.
Former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette, in a further effort to bring leagues together, offered his Duquette Sports Academy for a baseball tournament this fall for the different leagues to participate in together.
In about a month, the various leagues will begin to battle it out on the ball fields for the 2010 season. Yet for an evening, the leagues came together in a unified effort and to support a worthy cause. I look forward to providing New England Baseball Journal readers with a sneak peek into the activities of the local baseball community in the coming months.
