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Hank Towns waded into discussions about upgrades to Chambersburg athletic fields with a rework of famous Chicago Cubs baseball star Ernie Banks’ “Let’s Play Two”.
“Why can’t we have both — baseball and soccer. And basketball. I can’t believe they’re getting rid of the baseball field,” Towns, former manager of American Legion’s Mitchell Davis Post 182, said. Towns guided Mitchell Davis to the 1987 New Jersey state finals.
His resume includes 34 years as head equipment manager at Princeton University, a position he retired from in 2003. Towns, a standout athlete at Trenton Central High School, played football at Grambling for legendary coach Eddie Robinson.
Towns agreed that a city plan to turn two small baseball fields at Unity Square Park into soccer pitches seems short-sighted.
“If the people making these decisions haven’t noticed, a lot of (Latinos) play baseball. Have they looked at Major League Baseball lately?,”Towns asked.
More than two dozen playgrounds and parks will receive upgrades, some as minor as having mulch added to playgrounds. Unity Square Park in Chambersburg can expect $250,000 in upgrades, including new playground equipment and two small soccer fields.
Currently, young members of America Infantil Trenton, N.J. aka Team America, practices and plays soccer on former Little League baseball fields that have been turned into dirt surfaces from overuse. Jose Cabrera runs a program that attracts an estimated 400 youth.
If the city plans to present natural grass fields in this makeover, those surfaces will eventually turn to dust. Significant space is needed for Cabrera’s efforts to succeed.
The worn baseball fields occurred as hundreds of soccer players rampaged during practices and games. Unless officials install synthetic surfaces then they will turn to dirt in time. Upgrades to city parks ranks as typical agendas for politicians.
In 2013, Trenton Mayor Tony Mack sparked an initiative to rehab 24 capital city parks including Breunig Avenue Park, Lipinski Park, Rutherford Avenue, Edgewood Avenue, Columbus Park and numerous others.
Then Council President George Muschal argued that the city should be focused on public safety and filling 105 police vacancies.
“We got 67 parks right now that we can’t maintain so why are we going to put more money into parks,” Muschal asked about Mack’s plan. “Parks and recreation should be put on the back burner because we don’t have the manpower right now to maintain it.”
‘We got 67 parks right now that we can’t maintain so why are we going to put more money into int parks,’ Muschal said of the mayor’s plan. ‘Parks and recreation should be put on the back burner because we don’t have the manpower right now to maintain it.’
Maintenance remains critical for success of this youth soccer program. City employees charged with lawn and field maintenance struggle to keep up. On Friday, a four-man crew worked hours to prepare a Hetzel Field baseball field for a weekend tournament. Attendance there meant that George Page Park did not have grass cut.
A reader via email added these thoughts and ideas.
“I don’t understand why that baseball field must be destroyed. Is it cursed land? Are there evil spirits lurking about? It has been a baseball field for more than a half a century. That means over the decades, truck loads of special clay bearing dirt has been compacted onto the playing field. It is solid. The baseball field should be left alone. The Chambersburg Little League Baseball was an athletic starting point for multiple generations of youngsters,” he explained.
“Unity Square Park, the former Chestnut St. Park is plenty big enough to accommodate both baseball and soccer fields. This is the USA. Why can’t we have both? Trenton should encourage newly arrived immigrant children to be welcomed and also acclimated into American Culture and our original national sport. I don’t like this blatant catering to tribalism. It is Un-American. We are supposed to be unique from other countries by being a melting pot. Instead today’s politics seems to demand instantaneous contortion to one group’s preferences or another.”
A personal preference would have welcomed a community discussion on this project. Plus, money exists in the private sector for youth athletic programs and initiatives. Infantil already receives emotional support from MLS member New York Red Bulls.
Major League Baseball supports several youth baseball and softball efforts. Here’s another idea that needs investigation — why not move the youth soccer program to Trenton Central High School fields just off Hamilton Ave.?
Keep the baseball field and build a small area for some soccer play. Just thinking out loud here and anyone out there can send their ideas. Not that it will make any difference as politicians make decisions without asking for public input.
L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@Trentonian.com.
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