Efforts Begin To Revive Brooklyn Center Youth Baseball
The grass grows tall along the chain link fencing that surrounds the baseball diamonds at Brooklyn Center’s Thurs Field.
Located at 6030 Vincent Ave., there’s no cleat marks in the batter’s box nor sunflower seeds in the concession stand. Dandelions dot the outfield.
It’s been at least two years since a Little League team has cheered from the dugouts at the field.
Kevin Pitman hates to see it. On a scorching hot July 3, he trimmed the grass with a John Deere lawn tractor.
“[I’m] just kind of lending my time and my lawnmower to try to get the fields in shape,” he said. “Our hope is to get them playable and then find some activities to kind of play off of the property.”
Pitman owns a lawn care business, but his passion is baseball. He coaches the Brooklyn Center High School baseball squad.
“When I started coaching it was about the baseball. And like, over the last decade, it’s really, it’s become about having an impact on the kids,” he said.
The same could be said for Jennifer Brenny. By 10:30 a.m., she’d already filled a bag with trash from one of the dugouts. A second bag was well on its way as she cleaned the parking lot.
“For us to not have the fields would take away one more opportunity that our kids deserve to have,” she said.
Brenny is the new president of Brooklyn Center Little League. When she’s not cleaning the grounds, she’s trying to get Brooklyn Center’s youth baseball back up and running.
“As our kids grew up, we had an amazing time on the field with friends, we built great relationships. And basically, baseball is a family,” she said.
Brooklyn Center hasn’t fielded a Little League baseball team for at least two years. But there’s a grassroots effort to give youth baseball in the city a second chance.
According to Brenny, volunteers and players started to move away from the league during the COVID pandemic.
In the coming years, there weren’t enough players to field a team or volunteers to keep the fields in good condition.
Likewise, Brooklyn Center Little League isn’t recognized by Little League International.
It’s unclear if it will rejoin the official Little League ranks or if it will morph into another form like a city-wide athletic organization.
Adding to the woes, the organization faces an unpaid $13,000 special assessment tax bill from the city.
But Brenny is hopeful that they can rebuild the program with what’s left.
“We need kids,” she said. “That’s the biggest thing, number one thing. We need kids that want to come out and play baseball, run around the fields, and just make it home again.”
With refreshed fields, they’re hoping to bring in 40-50 players.
“We’re not going to turn kids away. I’m just telling you right now. We’re not turning kids away,” Brenny said.
