More fields needed

[Baseball=Life]

hey Ken, great job generating the aerials.....

Now we need to confirm their accessibility........ some of the best fields are unable to be accessed, so that's crucial information. Is there a gate that's always open? Maybe a hole in the fence, a la DeFremery?

And, of course, how much in demand are they, any way to tell? Lines on the fields indicating recent use?

Finally, are they adequate size, both in terms of infield size, outfield proportions, and adequate cage behind home and on the foul lines to catch stray balls we hit?

If you get a chance, please help answer these questions for these fields, or at least some of them. Anyone in the berkeley, el cerrito, richmond area please help with the scouting and research of these fields!

In the meantime, since that will take a while, let's go with the plan mentioned before of Curt Flood / Franklin this Sunday at 11:00.

And to any of those lukewarm on paying a few bucks per game, please! For the price of a coffee, you get 9 innings of baseball. That's the best entertainment $3 can buy you, so let's not hear any hesitation!

[Rob C]

I for one would like to see it kept in or closer to Oakland. Surely we can find somewhere nearby. I'd rather pay a couple of bucks rather that fight the I8O traffic between the maze & Berkeley.

Seeing as how it really hasnt been a problem all along until this one group decided reserve the field for football, it may not be an issue after April.

Actually you'd think the Oakland Parks would at least require that baseball/softball be played on a ball field. There are plenty of other more suitable places to practice football. But thats a whole different topic I guess.

[Tayster]

Glendale-La Loma park is a really beautiful park, with a great view of the bay. It's also way the fuck up in North Berkeley hills. And I mean waaaaaaaaay the fuck up there. It has a really short fence, comes up to about the hip, and after a little grassy area, it's a steep hill, so even if we do decide to play there, we'd lose quite a few balls. Spectacular view though.

James Kenney, Willard and Grove are all used for league play (Willard is where Ken and I went of to on sunday, some little league game was going off there, and Grove is the official park for the Berkeley Softball league, and I believe James Kenney is used for hard-ball leagues). Not sure about King, other than the fact that it has no right and center field fences, and it's pretty far up in the hills as well.

That's about all I know about berkeley parks.

[AntMoOAK]

Just one more field to throw on the Bar-B. I know Richmond is not popular as we all come from all over... but here are 2 fields that are near BART and 580 that I've never seen in use by baseball players ( I see impromptu soccer being palyed here). the address is Lavonya Dejean Middle School @ 3400 MacDonald in Richmond

http://www.terraserver-usa.com/addressi ... c+CA+94805

[Southpaw Slim]

I've scoped that field out on my way to work before. I think it's a fully acceptable park less location issues.

[tallguy]

Just measured from a printout, there are two infields on the photo I used; I assumed we would use the larger of the two, the one with the grass inside the infield.

Left field foul line is 273', left center (halfway to deep center corner) is 336' and that deep center corner is (gulp) 450'.

The right field is interesting because it has a short corner of just 220' that then slopes quickly away to 389'. So if you can hit it just inside the 1B line you could hit a 225' homer! But, aiming for this would be tricky, so I don't think lefties will have an advantage.

[Southpaw Slim]

Almost like the Pesky Pole