Pirates Open Community Baseball Center
by
Joe Hamrahi
on Fri 09 Feb 2007 01:46 AM EST
The Pittsburgh Pirates take a lot of criticism for their baseball decisions, and I'm not about to defend any of those moves. But, I wanted to share this little piece about something that goes beyond the playing field...
The Pirates have officially opened the new Community Baseball Center. The complex has been transformed from a dilapidated indoor swimming pool located in the Shadyside/East Liberty Boys & Girls Club into a state-of-the-art, year-round youth baseball and softball training facility. The facility represents the first completed project of the Pirates newly defined philanthropic arm, Pirates Charities.
Pirates Charities partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund and the Roberto Clemente Foundation to reenergize the previously unusable community facility into a complex that features two batting cages with automatic pitching machines, skill stations, multi-media training rooms, administrative offices, equipment storage rooms, new restroom facilities and more.
The complex will give area youth throughout the region a safe place to focus on wholesome and healthy activities year-round, according to Bob Nutting, Pirates Chairman of the Board.
“The Pirates Community Baseball Center will have a widespread positive impact on youth throughout the region by giving them a place to focus on productive activities and positive interaction with their peers and coaches,” Nutting said. “It demonstrates Pirates Charities’ mission as it is a positive addition to our community that will help improve the lives of the thousands of youth who will use this facility for many years to come.”
The Pirates Community Baseball Center will become home to Pittsburgh’s Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) youth outreach program, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania baseball and softball programs and serve as a training complex for the CitiParks Big League baseball and softball programs.
I bring this up because I got to witness Pittsburgh generosity first hand. Last year when I ran a little Christmas drive for poor families in my community, the Pirates were one of the first organizations to jump in and donate toys, souvenirs, and memorabilia. From top to bottom they displayed the utmost professionalism and class. So say what you will about their on-field antics, the Bucs do a number of things right, and a lot of those things count more than just wins on the diamond.
