Residents Remembering Lemay Baseball Assoc.

We all have many fond memories of Heine Meinie Field and our days playing baseball there both in the LBA league and the senior league. I am glad that there will be some consistency in the maintenance of this field and that a school district now owns it. Men like Joe Schoenberger, Art Rogers, Ralph Heulsabush, John Carney, Percy Anders, Art Hartmann, Jack Bender, Bob Borders, Ed Chard and Rich Paul made the LBA their pride and joy and were excited to see all of the young teams competing. The leadership of men in those communities has not come forward to continue the great tradition. From my information there are only half as many teams competing as there were when we were playing.

Apparently, the lack of interest in baseball in the Lemay/Bayless/Hancock/Mehlville areas has led to the downfall of the LBA. I'm sure the demographics of these areas has had major influence on the participation of young athletes. In addition, there are so many select teams in these school districts that travel all over the state which take away from the local scene.

Let's hope the Hancock School District will provide an excellent opportunity for young baseball players to compete on a great field.

One note: I remember when the entire field was six feet under water and these men mentioned earlier got the fields back in shape in no time. Awesome.