Little League Prepares to Take Kids Out to the Ball Games

The Battery Park City ballfields won’t be available this spring, but the Downtown Little League is gearing up for its 2002 season, to be played on alternative fields in Manhattan. Now is the time for young sluggers and hurlers to sign up.

If you haven’t received an application by mail, you can download one from the the Trib's homepage, or pick one up at Kings Pharmacy, the Cornerstone Grill, New York’s Finest Cleaners or Mail Boxes Etc.

The registration fee is $60 before Feb. 7 and $75 thereafter. Children aged 6 to 14 who live south of Canal Street are eligible to play. The season opens on April 6 and games are played on Saturdays and Sundays. There will be five co-ed age divisions for baseball and, if there are enough interested players, a girls’ softball division.

The league seeks team sponsors, coaches and managers. Sponsors get their company’s name displayed on the players’ uniforms and receive a free ad in the league yearbook. Sponsorships are $450 per team. Those interested should call Wallace Turbeville at 704-0585. Businesses can also support the league by buying a yearbook ad.

The reconstruction of the Battery Park City fields, now being used as a parking lot for World Trade Center cleanup vehicles, is slated to begin in the spring and continue into next winter. T-ballers, however, are expected to be able to play close to home, in Rockefeller Park in northern Battery Park City.

These are the expected fields for other divisions: Junior Minors in Waterside Park at West 23rd and West streets; Minors in DeWitt Clinton Park at Eleventh Avenue and 54th Street; Majors in Coleman–Obel Park at Cherry and Madison streets (Lower East Side); Juniors at Murray Bergtraum Park on South Street next to the Manhattan Bridge and Central Park; and Seniors in Central Park.

The league anticipates having free bus—and possibly ferry service—to and from some fields.

The league also hopes to organize a trip for the Minor, Major and Junior divisions to Williamsport, Pa., home of the National Little League, to play games. If you are interested in the trip, tentatively scheduled for May 17 to 19, email your child’s name and age to Turbeville at wturbeville@mac.com or fax it to 704-0630. For more info, call Vito Supa at 285-5543.