A Special Opening Day

The 90-degree sun blazed down on the thirsty, dusty field. As each player strode up for a turn at bat, there was a combination of excitement and apprehension. This was, after all, opening day, ushering in the spring and long, light-drenched days. A new season stretched ahead, limitless in its possibilities Decked out his new brand new blue Dodgers shirt, #5 looked out at the crowd in the bleachers, seeking the approval of familiar faces.

Okay, so it wasn’t the National Baseball League, and the venue was the local park, not Dodger Stadium. But it was Opening Day of the new Beverly Hills Little League Challenger Division (partnered with Buddy Baseball) and it was the first time our son with special needs got to play baseball with peers, rounding the bases next to his new “buddy” while using his walker, and beaming ear to ear when he was cheered on. While it took some coaxing (and a bribe of a Coke) to get him up to the T-ball to bat the first time, after that, he was more than ready each time his turn came around.

The players were diverse, from younger kids to guys sporting a beard, with a wide range of disabilities. Some had previous experience playing baseball, and a few even went through the full pre-batting ritual from tapping the bat on the plate to kicking dirt off their tennis shoes. For others, this was their very first game, ever.

The Challenger Division was established in 1989 as a separate division of Little League to enable kids, teens and young adults with physical and intellectual disabilities to enjoy the game of baseball.

Played as more recreation than a competitive sport, every batter hits once every inning, is paired with a volunteer “buddy” to help with batting and fielding, there are never any outs and each half-inning ends in a home run. During the traditional seven-inning stretch, everyone gathers together to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. There’s a great positive energy as each player is cheered on by everyone else. And best of all, no one keeps score.

Under the leadership of a caring young couple, Brooke and Jonathan Goldberg, who both grew up as volunteers of a similar program, Buddy Baseball in Chicago, this is the first time that Challenger Division baseball has been offered anywhere in the Westside of Los Angeles. Brooke was a Co-Creator of Buddy Baseball in Chicago, has a degree in Special Education and is now teaching in Los Angeles; Jonathan is in the entertainment business, currently developing and producing reality television programming.

By the end of that first 90-minute game, we welcomed the slight breeze coming from the west, and after the final cheer, family members, volunteers and players streamed out and went their separate ways. As Ray Kinsella famously said in the movie, “Field of Dreams” –“If you build it, he will come”. Thanks to Brooke and Jonathan for bringing this fun program to our community.