Bring baseball back to Bailey Park
Word that Uniontown officials are planning an overhaul of Bailey Park is welcome news. But it’s like my father used to say, “a day late and a dollar short.” Or you could say it’s like painting an abandoned building. The problem is that despite the renovations, there is still no organized youth baseball being played on either of the legendary park’s two fields. The demise of the various leagues is simply a crying shame. Talk about bringing in baseball teams from other leagues and coaxing adult co-ed softball teams to play at Bailey Park is missing the point. The fields should be for Uniontown kids. They should be the ones playing there, having fun and, most importantly, keeping busy instead of roaming the streets finding trouble, which isn’t hard these days. It could be argued that recreation has never been more important for kids, and the fact that there’s no youth baseball being played at Bailey Park is troublesome.
For many people, the idea of not having baseball at Bailey Park is kind of like not having summer. Baseball and summer at Bailey Park went hand in hand, going back 60 years or more.
Bailey Park, back in the day, had the best and biggest youth baseball leagues in the area. All the Uniontown sports legends over the years played there, as did, Terry Muholland, who pitched for many years in the Major Leagues.
For many future sports stars, it was their first taste of competition and started them on their various athletic endeavors.
Over the years, other youth baseball leagues started in the surrounding townships and the number of kids playing at Bailey Park declined. But as recently as a decade ago, there were hundreds of kids playing in various leagues all day at the park. There was a morning league for kids ages 6-8 with eight teams, a noon league for kids ages 9-10 with six teams, a night league for kids ages 11-13 with eight teams and another night league for teens ages 14-17 with six teams. Figuring that most teams had somewhere around 13-15 players, you had approximately 300 kids playing in the various leagues.
While there were plenty of talented kids playing, baseball at Bailey Park was about much more than the games and who won or lost. Bailey Park was the place to be in the summer with hundreds of parents and kids coming to the park everyday. It was a great place to watch some baseball and at the same time, a meeting place, where people from all over the community could come together to mingle and have some fun.
It was the same way on the fields. The kids came from all over the area. There was a great mixture of kids with diverse backgrounds. Some were upper class, some were middle class and some were poor. Some were white, some were black. And for the most part, everyone got along great. It was the true melting pot of Uniontown. It was great for both kids and parents and in the end, the entire city benefited.
But now it’s gone. So, what happened and who’s to blame? Well, the Bailey Park program was always run by the city, so the buck has to stop with Uniontown Mayor Ed Fike. While he shouldn’t have to take full responsibility, there’s no denying that the demise happened on his watch, and it’s a strike against his regime.
And for all councilman Joby Palumbo’s talk about improving recreation for city youths, it rings hollow as long as the baseball fields at Bailey Park remain unused.
While it’s too late for this summer, city officials would be well advised to do everything possible to try and revive the leagues for next season. Neighboring communities back their youth baseball leagues to the hilt. The city needs to step up to the plate and get the job done.
And it can be done. After all, the city did it for over 60 years until last summer.
One thing’s for sure, if they’re looking for some help, there’s no shortage of people who could give them some advice on how to get things back up and running. For starters, there’s Ken Misiak, who did a terrific job running the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for over 30 years before retiring several years ago. Another good person to talk to would be Harold Bell, who managed teams for many years at Bailey Park before succeeding Misiak.
Or the city could turn to Colleen Watson, who worked countless hours as a volunteer at Bailey Park for many years. I’m certain they, along with many other people could help city officials interested in reviving the program.
But it’s up to city officials to show some concern and try to get the leagues going again. City kids and parents must also do their part by participating in the leagues.
While things may never be as active as they once were, there’s no reason why Bailey Park can’t once again go hand in hand with summer and baseball.
Mark O’Keefe is the executive editor of the Herald-Standard. He can be reached by phone at 724-439-7569, by e-mail at mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com or by regular mail at 8-18 Church St., Uniontown, Pa., 15401.