Blue Wahoos Staff Helps Restore Area Youth League Field

Carefully balancing himself Friday on the top step of a ladder, Blue Wahoos president Jonathan Griffith completed fastening new netting for the batting cage area at the Bill Bond League youth baseball fields.

“You know, I’ve never done this before,” he said, laughing.

It looked like he had done this a lot.

Griffith’s direction was part of a team effort from the Blue Wahoos front office and Waste Management to help prepare the Bill Bond fields at Roger Scott Athletic Center for a delayed start to the 2020 season.

It’s the ninth year the Blue Wahoos and Waste Management have selected a field in the two-county area to help restore in a day of community service work. Griffith has been part of the project every season.

The past three years, the Blue Wahoos have gone to fields in Century, Cantonment and Walnut Hill.

“It’s nice to do one again within the city,” said Anna Striano, the Blue Wahoos merchandise and community relations manager. “We came on Tuesday to check things out and meet with (Bill Bond League officials). The big thing here with five fields was picking some things to prioritize that we can get done in a day.”

Pensacola mayor Grover Robinson is hoping to announce May 30 that youth baseball leagues like Bill Bond can begin their season at the City of Pensacola maintained ball fields. Earlier this week, Escambia County gave a go-ahead for its facilities, including those at the Perdido Bay Youth Sports Association.

Everything related to sports and recreation has been in limbo with concerns from the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home order that lasted through April.

With that in mind, the Blue Wahoos staff was able to work in two shifts for eight hours Friday to help with renovations at the Bill Bond fields. The league has been operating since 1967 and its youth baseball alumni include former Major League baseball stars Jay Bell, Phil Hiatt and Travis Fryman.

”This is huge for us,” said Bill Bond league director Donald Krehely. “To have the support of the Wahoos organization means a lot. Jonathan has been great working with us. And to have (Blue Wahoos owner) Mr. (Quint) Studer’s support and Bubba Watson’s support behind youth sports in this area….it means more than anything to help get the kids back on the field.”

Rachel Gilmore, outgoing president of the Bill Bond League, said she’s is expecting around 200-plus youth players to participate in the various age groups in a summer league.

That’s down from a normal 300-350 if the season had begun earlier in the year.

“They are dying to play,” said Gilmore, an attorney with the Levin Law Firm and mother of two sons playing baseball in the Bill Bond League. “Parents want to play, kids want to play. They have been blowing up our website with emails, Facebook as to when can we get back out there.

“Obviously the health and safety of everyone has been the number one priority, but when we can get the go-ahead to play, I just think the mental aspect of getting kids back on the field and out of the houses and safety together is going to be a huge benefit.”

The Blue Wahoos staff pulled weeds, rebuilt the bullpen areas, raked areas, took down old batting cage netting and opened rolls of newly-purchased netting to install, as well as other tasks. Moe’s Southwest Grill, a Blue Wahoos and Bill Bond partner, supplied lunch.

The City of Pensacola maintenance staff helps keep the five fields in shape throughout the year.

“The actual fields are in pretty good shape,” said Dustin Hannah, the Blue Wahoos head groundskeeper, who brought his hand-held power tools and other equipment to use. “You can play baseball right now on them, because they are in pretty good shape.

“It is more about some of the other facilities. The bullpen areas were grassed over, we cleaned it up and now it’s a usable bullpen. And the biggest project is hanging the batting cage netting.”

Among the 35 or so members from the Blue Wahoos contingent, former Major League Baseball pitcher and Pensacola native Kevin Saucier helped with cleanup. He used a Weed Eater to help clean the sidewalk areas throughout the facility.

“It’s been a while, well a long while, since I did this,” said Saucier, laughing, who rose from youth baseball in Pensacola to winning a World Series championship in 1980 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He is now working as the Blue Wahoos concierge for all MLB scouts who visit the ballpark.

Griffith, also a youth baseball coach, whose young son plays, said the day-long project, which was originally planned in March, is part of the Blue Wahoos mission to give back to the community and improve quality of life.

“The good thing here is we know they will have baseball and that’s exciting,” he said. “We know we can help get these kids started. You figure we have 30 some people working in two shifts, so that’s a full day of work with 30 some people on these fields.”

The Bill Bond League had a Zoom call with its 17 managers Thursday night. The expectation is that league play could begin the first week of June.

“We have been in close contact with Mayor Robinson along with Brian Cooper of the (City of Pensacola) Parks and Recreation department. They are very supportive. Mayor Robinson’s focus is on that May 30, June 1 time frame for us to be out here in an official capacity.

“We typically put anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000 back into the park every year. We put every dime back into the fields. Having the Wahoos out here to help us has been so great.”