FREEHOLD — Luke Ray has not seen photos of himself playing Little League baseball in years, but an announcement about a 60th anniversary reunion weekend for the Freehold Little League prompted him to take a trip up to his attic where the memorabilia he had collected over the years sat waiting to be revived.
“I’m 225 pounds now,” said Ray, 72, of Brick Township, Ocean County. “I have severe heart disease and I can barely walk, but looking at those pictures makes me feel like a little athlete all over again.”
The 60th anniversary reunion for the Freehold Little League will take place on April 8-9. A reunion party is planned at the American Legion on West Main Street, Freehold Borough, on April 8 at 7 p.m.
Plans are also in the works to include league alumni in the annual opening day parade, according to Kevin Coyne, who is a member of the league’s Board of Directors and a coach.
Coyne, who is the borough’s historian, said the Freehold Little League is one of 27 Little League charters in New Jersey that are 60 years old or older. The league’s playing fields are on Center Street.
“The Little League was a postwar (World War II) phenomenon,” he explained. “Freehold High School was where everyone who lived in the area (not just Freehold Borough) went and Freehold Little League was what everyone around here played.”
In its early days the Freehold Little League enrolled players who lived in Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Colts Neck and other surrounding towns. Today, most municipalities in the area have their own Little League charters.
Freehold Borough native Bruce Springsteen played in the league and memorialized his team, the Indians, in his song “Blinded by the Light,” when he sang, “Madman drummers, bummers and Indians in the summer…”
Most people in Freehold knew Jim Mavroleon as Jimmy Leon back in the day when baseball ruled the schedule of almost every boy in town.
Mavroleon said his Greek name was too difficult for people to remember so his dad, Manny, shortened it to Leon.
Mavroleon, 62, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 and played minor league ball in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Tampa, Fla. His baseball career started in the Freehold Little League when he played for the Cardinals from 1958-61.
He credits his Little League coaches Bill Bresnahan and Barney DiBenedetto as two important people in his life who helped to nurture his baseball dreams.
“They were heroes to me,” Mavroleon said. “We came in last place and we came in first place and I remember having as much fun either way. They made it fun for us.”
Mavroleon, who is a member of the league’s Board of Directors, said the men were the inspiration that prompted him to coach in the league and to give back to the community as they had done.
Mavroleon still plays baseball in the Jersey Shore League in Lincroft. He has been coaching Little League for years. His son, Manny, is a freshman at Freehold High School and plans to try out for the Colonials’ baseball team.
Mavroleon is working with Coyne, Rich Matteo, Monique Piscopo and Carol Schreier on the reunion committee. He said he is looking forward to the reunion and to a planned alumni game.
“I know we’ll all have our own ‘Glory Days’ stories, just like Bruce said in his song,” he said with good-natured humor.
The upcoming reunion has prompted people who have not spoken about Little League baseball for years to pump up their spirits and resurrect memories of those happy times.
“Lukie” Ray remembers it all very well. He was raised in Freehold Borough and played for the Cardinals in the first Freehold Little League game in 1951.
In fact, he has a claim to fame that can never be topped. Ray hit the first home run in the history of the league during a game at Parker Field on Broad Street.
Dr. Paul Honig, 71, a pediatric dermatologist and professor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, remembers that game well. Honig pitched the first game and recalled that he gave up the first home run up to Lukie Ray.
Honig, who lives in Mount Laurel and winters inArizona, said he would love to attend the reunion, but must be present at a pediatric medical conference.
“Otherwise, I would be there,” he said, adding that “the most exciting memory I have of my Little League days was getting my uniform.”
Honig stayed with baseball and moved on to the Babe Ruth League for players between the ages of 13 and 15. He recalled his time in the Freehold Little League as “some of the happiest times in my life.”
When Ray was asked if he is planning to attend the April reunion, he replied, “Oh God, yes.”
Although his memories of those days are 60 years old, they are still quite vivid as he recounts the friends he made, and kept, over the years.
“We had a terrific infield,” he said, mentioning players like the late former Mayor Jack McGackin, who played third base, and Jack Scott, who played shortstop.
“We didn’t have wrestling or soccer. We had baseball and football,” Ray said.
Baseball was an important part of Ray’s life, so much so that 20 years ago his daughter, Betty Ann Durante, of Brick Township, made it her mission to obtain copies of any and all newspaper references about the Freehold Little League and her dad.
Ray recalled that a Freehold Transcript photographer took a picture of him crossing home plate after hitting that first home run. He treasures his copy of that newspaper photo.
“Look at me,” he said as he scanned the photos of himself and his childhood buddies. “I’m a skinny little kid.”
Ray said he might not be able to swing a bat or run to first base today, “but when I see all these pictures and remember those memories, I almost feel like I could.”
Former Mayor Roger Kane played for the Cardinals in the Freehold Little League in 1952. His younger brother, Richard, also played in the league.
Kane remembers the importance that baseball had in the lives of Freehold’s young people.
“We lived a block away from Lincoln Field (on Lincoln Place) and not a day went by that we didn’t go over there and have a pick-up game,” he said. “We also had our organized Little League teams at Parker Field. It was the thing to do. It was a summer happening and it was expected by your buddies that you would play baseball.”
Kane said friends he made in Little League, like Ron Griffiths andAugust Daesener, all still his close friends today.
He noted that Parker Field was built by the parents of the players, including his father, John.
“They all used their own special skills to build it. We had carpenters to build the clubhouse, landscapers to work on the fields, everyone pooled their skills to make it happen,” he said. “You know, like the movie, ‘Field of Dreams.’ If you build it, they will come. They built it and they did come.”
Kane is looking forward to the reunion in April and to catching up with his old friends, some of whom he has not seen in years. He keeps a team picture from 1952 in his office.
“Every time I look at it, it brings a smile to my face,” he said, adding that those days were “some of the happiest” he remembers.
For the 2011 season, there are 142 children registered to play in the Little League. There are three teams for children ages 10, 11 and 12; three teams for children ages 8 and 9; five T-Ball teams for children ages 4- 7; and one team for children ages 13-14 that plays teams from other towns.
League President Rich Matteo said although there may not be as many teams in the league as there have been in the past, “Baseball is still America’s favorite pastime and baseball is alive and well in Freehold Borough.”
He said that years ago, baseball did not have the competition it has today from sports such as basketball, hockey, soccer and lacrosse, and he added, “Nor did we have the Xbox or PlayStation.”
He said that through the Urban Initiative Program, children who might not be able to afford the registration fee can be provided with financial assistance so that they may participate.
Tickets for the reunion are $10. Proceeds will be used to assist players who cannot afford the league’s registration fee.
For further information about the Freehold Little League reunion, call Kevin Coyne at 732-462-4984 or send an email to [email protected]; Jim Mavroleon at 732-513-2801 or email [email protected]; or Rich Matteo at 732-845-0256 or email [email protected].