Additionally,
and more importantly, it gave kids throughout Alameda the opportunity to
play baseball and make new friends - not only in their local
neighborhoods - but with other kids from other schools and other areas
of Alameda.
That first Board of Directors in 1969
consisted of...
- Ralph Kearney, President
- Toby Chavez, Vice President
- Remo Sabatini, League Director
- Ray Luce, Secretary
- Bob Jackson
- Al Sanchez
- Charlie Tillman
- John Richina also assisted the Board.
The coaches that inaugural
season were: Tony Guisto, Louie Dijulio, Ron Stefani and Alex
Alexeen.
Initially the
league was funded by the Board members and the generous contributions of
merchants and organizations from Alameda, Oakland and Berkeley.
The league also obtained funds by going around town and painting home
addresses on curbs for $1.00 a pop.
By the early '70's there were 6 teams of
15 players each (five 13-yr. old players, five 14-yr. old players, and five
15-yr. old players). The teams played a 10-game schedule, only on
weekends, at Godfrey Park (adjacent to the city golf course).
Our sponsors
back then were, Good
Chevrolet**, Rodgers Trucking**, Brown Brothers Shoes**, Brenda's Flower
Shop, Alameda Sporting Goods and Pillow Park Waterbeds.
(**Current Babe Ruth
Sponsors)
In 1975, the 13-year All-Stars won the
District 4 Championship at Krusi Park and went on to play in the state
tournament in Woodland, CA. The squad went 1 & 2 but we knew that we
had a core of kids who could play and parents who would support the
program.
After the 1975 season we ended up with
just over $700 in the bank but more importantly, we had parent support.
With volunteers like Tom Green, Eddie White, Phil Bonadona, Tom
"Cal" Calestini, Jim Ogden Sr., Dino DiNitto along with lots
of other people, we began to further develop the league. Soon, people like Sherman Lee
came into the program along with Bill Dal Porto, and Larry Rodriquez,
all solid people who -- along with their families and friends -- helped to
improve the program.
In 1976, the League expanded to eight
teams.
Then the following year, the Alameda
Merchants (Sr. League) Baseball Club was formed. The team only had one
18-year old, two 17-year olds and fifteen 16-year olds. The team's
uniforms didn't arrive on-time so the baseball coach at Alameda High let
the team use the high school uniforms for the first half of the season.
That first Merchants team was coached by Tom Green, Danny Chaix and
Larry Groves.
In 1980, Jim Bustos and Sam DeFranco came
to the Babe Ruth Board and asked us to help them start a Little League
in Alameda. (There was no 12 & under program for Babe Ruth at that
time.) For 4 years (1980-83) the Alameda Babe Ruth and Alameda
Little League Boards were one in the same, though we had separate
charters from Little League and Babe Ruth.
After 4 years, Little League was strong
enough to stand on its own, so we had an amicable split. Alameda Babe
Ruth agreed to never go into the 12 & under group (the National Babe
Ruth Organization had since formed their own 12 & under program) and
Alameda Little League agreed to never go into the 13 & over group.
That agreement still stands today.
In 1984 we started our Prep League for 13
year-olds (now called the American
League) to help players make the transition from Little League to Babe
Ruth.
Then in 1985, our 14-15 year-old All-Stars
made it all the way to the Babe Ruth World Series
in Jamestown, New York and returned home World Champions! Remarkably,
that same core group of kids made it back to the World Series three years
later (as 16-18's), nearly
repeated, but ended the tournament as the World Series runners-up that
year.
In 1982, Alameda Babe Ruth became
involved with the World League.
The purpose of the World League (also known as the "International
Boys League") was to foster international goodwill and friendship
by holding a world youth baseball tournament each summer. In 1990, Alameda Babe Ruth hosted the
World Tournament at San Leandro Ball Park (as neither Encinal High's
Stargell field or the College of Alameda field were built at that time).
|
Note:
Alameda Babe Ruth played a major role in getting Lucky's and the
Oakland A's to donate money to build Stargell Field. We also
played a major role in getting the College of Alameda field
built in 1996. |
In 1996 Alameda Babe Ruth hosted the
World Tournament again, this time at the College. After the tournament,
it was decided that we needed a separate World Tournament Board, as
there was too much for one board to do, especially when Alameda hosted
both the World Tournament and Babe Ruth all-star games. So while Alameda Babe
Ruth used to be the only baseball board in town, now there are 3
separate boards (Babe Ruth, Little League and World), although there is a lot of cross-over in personnel.
Today, Alameda Babe Ruth supports three
Leagues and provides organized, competitive baseball opportunities to
over 170 Alameda youth ball players:
