Youth baseball gets boost from Reds and St. Elizabeth
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Updated: 6:22 PM EST Jan 26, 2023
ONE OF THE COACHES TOLD ME THIS EVENT IS REALLY THE LIFEBLOOD OF LOCAL BASEBALL, ESPECIALLY YOUTH BASEBALL. LET ME SHOW YOU SOME OF THE GEAR THEY ARE GETTING. TALKING ABOUT BASEBALLS, THE ESSENTIALS -- GLOVES, BATS LIKE THIS. ABOUT $45,000 WORTH OF GEAR. BATTING HELMETS, CATCHERS GEAR AND ALL OF THE STUFF IS IN THE BALLPARK OF EXPENSIVE. FOR THOSE WHO GREW UP IN LUDLOW, THIS FIELD -- >> IT IS UNBELIEVABLE. IT IS UNBELIEVABLE. BRIAN: IS PRICELESS. EVEN IF IT IS A DIAMOND. >> BASEBALL HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BIG PART OF PART OF LUDLOW. BRIAN: WOODY MCMILLEN IS LUDLOW’S HEAD BASEBALL COACH AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR. HE SAYS THE REDS AND ST. ELIZABETH PITCHED IN TO BUILD THIS FIELD FOR LUDLOW LAST YEAR, BUT THOSE SAME SPONSORS ARE HELPING 19 BASEBALL ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING LUDLOW WITH ANOTHER BOOST. >> THEY PROVIDE SOME THINGS THAT WOULD BE VERY COSTLY AND TAKE A GOOD PERCENTAGE OF OUR BUDGET UP EACH YEAR, AND IT’S VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. BRIAN: AND SO IS THE APPEARANCE OF CURRENT AND FORMER REDS AT THE EVENT WHERE THE TEAMS GET THE GEAR. CATCHERS EQUIPMENT, BATTING HELMETS, EVERYTHING NEEDED, AND EVEN SOME SUPPORT FROM MR. RED. >> THIS IS THE SUPPLY ROOM. THIS IS THE STUFF WE HAVE AT THE GYM RIGHT NOW. BRIAN: ROBERT SANDERS, BASEBALL COACH AT BELLEVUE SHOWS US AROUND HIS LIMITED BASEBALL STOCK ROOM. THE HIGH COST OF PLAYING BASEBALL BEGINS WITH BUYING THEM. SO, IF YOU’RE BUYING BASEBALLS LIKE THIS, WHAT ARE THEY GOING FOR? >> THE BASEBALLS WE’RE USING FOR GAME ARE ABOUT $96 A DOZEN. BRIAN: AND THAT’S ABOUT ENOUGH FOR NINE INNINGS. ADD TO THAT ALL OF THE OTHER GEAR NEEDED, AND IT CAN BE A NIGHTMARE KEEPING UP WITH THE GAME PLAYED ON A FIELD OF DREAMS. >> AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED THERE IS NO OTHER GAME. , I MEAN, IT’S IT’S THE BEST GAME THERE IS. BUT IT’S A TOUGH GAME TO PLAY AND YOU GOT TO HAVE LOTS OF SPACE AND LOTS OF STUFF. SO THIS KIND OF SUPPORT IS KEY , TO KEEPING OUR GAME ALIVE. BRIAN: AS THE REDS AND ST. ELIZABETH PROVIDE THE ESSENTIALS IN A MAJOR LEAGUE EFFORT TO SUSTAIN BASEBALL. THIS MIGHT LOOK LIKE GEAR SITTING HERE, BUT LET ME GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF HOW THIS STACKS UP AS MONEY. THIS CATCHERS HELMET, MORE THAN $75. THESE BATS -- IF YOU HAVE NOT BOUGHT A BASEBALL BAT RECENTLY -- CAN GO FOR MORE THAN $500 -- EACH BAT. EVEN BASEBALL GLOVES NOWADAYS, SOME OF THESE ARE A COUPLE HUNDRED DOLLARS. BOXING IS USED TO THE GOLDEN GLOVES. IT IS LIKE MORE THAN EVER,
Youth baseball gets boost from Reds and St. Elizabeth
![WLWT logo]()
Updated: 6:22 PM EST Jan 26, 2023
Football season is getting all the headlines, but the focus is baseball for more than a dozen Northern Kentucky teams getting new gear.For the seventh year, the Cincinnati Reds and St. Elizabeth have teamed up to help local teams by donating $45,000 worth of baseball gear.“They provide some things that would be very costly and take a good percentage of our budget up each year, and it's very much appreciated,” said Ludlow baseball coach and athletic director Woody McMillen.The same sponsors built a state-of-the-art field in Ludlow last year and a few years earlier built a million-dollar field in Bellevue.“They're growing the game. I mean, we all love the game of baseball, and it's taken some hits in the last decade or so, but they're helping grow the game, particularly within the small schools in the inner cities,” said Bellevue head baseball coach Robert Sanders. “This kind of support is key to keeping our game alive."
Football season is getting all the headlines, but the focus is baseball for more than a dozen Northern Kentucky teams getting new gear.
For the seventh year, the Cincinnati Reds and St. Elizabeth have teamed up to help local teams by donating $45,000 worth of baseball gear.
“They provide some things that would be very costly and take a good percentage of our budget up each year, and it's very much appreciated,” said Ludlow baseball coach and athletic director Woody McMillen.
The same sponsors built a state-of-the-art field in Ludlow last year and a few years earlier built a million-dollar field in Bellevue.
“They're growing the game. I mean, we all love the game of baseball, and it's taken some hits in the last decade or so, but they're helping grow the game, particularly within the small schools in the inner cities,” said Bellevue head baseball coach Robert Sanders. “This kind of support is key to keeping our game alive."
