The "Where there's a ball field I'll be there" Story

St. Maarten Little League Baseball Stadium

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished making a visit to the St. Maarten Little League Stadium.  A few years ago I learned that the island had a Little League Organization and was building a new stadium.  Never heard any more about it until I opened the online Herald newspaper island edition the other morning and saw they were in the process of naming a team to represent St. Maarten in the Caribbean Division of the Little League World Series that is held in Williamsport, PA, a two hour ride from my home in Lancaster, PA.  The story in the Herald talked about a game between the Daily Herald and Photo Gumbs.  Seems the Photo team didn't have enough players to compete so a fun game was played anyway.  The newspaper listed the names of each pitcher and how many pitches they threw; listing strikes and balls with the percentage of strikes.  Pretty detailed report, but then I realized that in Little League Baseball, pitchers are only allowed to throw so many pitches in a game.  Depending upon the number of pitches thrown, that determines how many days must expire before they can pitch again.  Also, the article told that the previous day Scotiabank defeated Fire Department and Sagicor bested Windward Islands Bank.  Not quite sure how many teams may be in the tournament to determine the representative from St. Maarten.  When I found the stadium today, players were just arriving and warming up for a game.  Didn't need too long for warm-up since the temperature was close to 90 degrees and humid.  The stadium was really nice with a large seating area for fans, enclosed dugouts for the players and stadium lights for night games.  Field was very dry and dusty from lack of rain on the island for quite some time.  Took some photos to share with you, but couldn't stay to watch the game, since Carol was sitting in the parking lot in the car waiting for me.  I realize we are on vacation and I can watch baseball games at home, but I still get excited when I find a stadium and see and feel the excitement of the young boys preparing for the game.  Have never lost that excitement since I started playing, then coaching, Little League ball 56 years ago.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - In 2010 Carol and I as well as our traveling buddies Jerry and Just Sue took a cruise that took us to the Caribbean island of Curacao.  Upon arrival we saw the large Little League complex they had which was close to the cruise port.  Pretty impressive to say the least and Curacao has represented the Caribbean quite a few times in the last couple of years.  Maybe St. Maarten will someday have a team that excels in the game and will represent their island in the Little League World Series.  Best of luck to you!

Infield and outfield at the stadium.  Grass is very brown from lack of rain.

View of the interior of stadium from inside the left field fence