Well Tammy and I have been back from Jamaica for about a week. I apologize for not blogging sooner. Really wanted to, but after being gone for eight days I had some catching up to do.
I find it strange that as athletic as the Jamaicans are that they don't play baseball well not predominantly. Perfect weather all year and they play soccer, cricket, golf and of course bobsled. Thanks to Disney and John Candy for Cool Runnings, I would have never known. So I decided to Google Jamaicans and Baseball and there have been 4 MLB players from Jamaica. Chili Davis, Justin Masterson, Rolando Roomes and Devin White. Pretty cool. Love that Google...it knows everything! I remember Davis and White pretty well. How cool would it be to have a Champions Baseball School in Jamaica. I mean you wouldn't need a building just a field. It would be like Spring Break Camp everyday. I know in May and October its pretty rainy there but the rest of the year is 80 degrees and sunny. Haha! Jamaica Little League Baseball and Softball does exist and I only wish that some of our youth could see the facilities that the Jamaican players have compared to what our little league aged players get to play. I found the above picture on the Jamaica Little League Baseball and Softball Facebook page. The youth players in Lexington have it made compared to there. I didn't even see any grass...not even in the outfield.
This gets me thinking about all our local leagues. They have all probably had or are going to have a spring cleaning day at the park. I remember when Ryan was out Southeastern we would have a cleaning day every spring and we would put up sponsor signs, put down mulch and other park beautification projects. I also remember that it was like pulling teeth to get people to come help. Baseball Leagues are like Church where 10% of the people do about 95% of the work. Here is my challenge to all my friends that are playing league ball. Get out there and help. When the league or your son or daughter's team needs volunteers get in there. Don't buy your way out or ignore it just say yes and get in there and help. We want our children to play in a nice clean park but I guess most of us expect that someone else will clean it up. The more you do the more pride you will have for your team, league, and community. Like the sign say put trash in its place. I don't know how many nights we would leave the park and the amount of trash that would be left behind was embarrassing. Really, how hard is it to throw away your food wrappers.
Help your league continue to be awesome. See where you can help. If nobody asks you to help then you should ask the league where you can help. What can I do for the league? Its not that hard and the reward is to continue to have a beautiful place to play. I am familiar with all the leagues so if you want to help and don't know who to ask just give me a call. Good luck to all the teams and leagues. Hopefully this will be another banner year for youth baseball in the greater Lexington area.
