1952 - The Birth of WBLL - West Brownsville Little League

1952 - A Brownsville Herald Chronology

WEST BROWNSVILLE LITTLE LEAGUE
A 72-Year History Of Giving Back To Our Community
March 24, 2023

Celebrating our 72nd consecutive year of continuous operation in giving back to our community, our WBLL family has touched the lives of over 25,000 children over the years while trying our best to instill the values that we hold dear such as Good Sportsmanship, Honesty, Loyalty, Courage, and Respect for Authority. We have truly been blessed in so many ways through the volunteerism of over 10,000 parents, and community members, as well as great cooperation from our city, school, and community leaders.

With that being said, it’s important to acknowledge how we got our start. In 1952, West Brownsville Little League got started when the Brownsville Kiwanians Club got approval from Little League Headquarters to charter its first-ever Brownsville chapter. Brownsville Kiwanians set up a permanent committee, elected board members and officers, and adopted its first constitution in April of that year. They were approved to immediately begin taking player registrations from boys eight to twelve years old, and within two weeks nearly 400 applications were received.

Due to this overwhelming demand by so many players, Little League directed the board to divide itself into two leagues: West and East Brownsville with the dividing line set at East 7th Street. After tryouts, each league was allowed to begin with four fifteen-player teams and was allowed to begin an eighteen-game season. Teams in that first season for the East Brownsville league were sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, the Brownsville Herald, First National Bank, and the Mercury’s. Teams for West Brownsville were sponsored by the West Brownsville Lions Club, the Brownsville Shrimp Exchange, the Junior Service League, and Pan American Bank.

West Brownsville Officers elected that year were President Bill Montgomery, Vice President Noel Landreth, Secretary Phil Baldauf, and Treasurer A.P. Waugh. In those beginning days, both leagues played their games at Ringgold Park and another park located near St Francis St.

In the 1960s, West Brownsville Little League Park on Cottonwood Drive was born through a partnership with the Methodist Church which owned the property. The church ran the concession stand and used the profits to maintain the park while the league ran all the baseball activities. The partnership ran beautifully for over 30 years. However, in the 1990s, the Methodist Church decided it would like to donate the park to the city and have the city be responsible for its upkeep with the understanding that West Brownsville Little League be allowed to remain a permanent tenant of the park. So, with that said, the City of Brownsville became the new owner of our current park property. At that time, the park got a makeover that included new lights and new fences, amongst other amenities.

In 2012, we were the first Little League Chapter in the Rio Grande Valley to start a fully functional website to publish our Constitution, Bylaws, Schedules, and our history. That year, we also started our Facebook page as one additional way to spread our message to our community. In 2017, we were also among the first to create a fully functional online registration portal to make things easier for our parents to enroll their players without the need to fight the crowds in person.

That same year, a discussion amongst our board members began concerning the desire to give our children some of the same amenities as some of the more successful leagues in the state, such as adding a single batting cage. That idea quickly morphed into a much bigger picture after our first fundraiser and after receiving some large financial commitments from private and corporate donors and then a major commitment from the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC). All in all, we were able to raise nearly $200,000, plus another $300,000 from BCIC. All this money was ultimately invested in the park which technically wasn’t even ours. Graciously, the city agreed to fund the rest of our project.

So, construction began in 2018. Two years later, in 2020, the result was quite remarkable. Some of the most noticeable improvements included renovated dugouts, the relocation of our basketball court, new infield playing surfaces for our existing fields, a new Challenger Division field for children with mobility impairments, a brand new ADA-compliant bathroom, desperately needed drainage improvements, paved parking lots, additional playground equipment, more trees, and not one, but three new batting cages. Our renovated park now gives our community’s youth one of the prettiest youth sports parks in the entire Rio Grande Valley.

Over the last 72 years of existence, WBLL has been a constant with so many things to be proud of. Unlike other local leagues that operate as a profit center, we have operated as a 501c3 non-profit entity, one where everyone is a volunteer. We have had many players that have gone on to play in high school, and college, and even some that made it to play in the minor and major professional leagues. But, the most awesome accomplishment has been the positive impact on children’s lives. What we do at WBLL is transformational for many, and motivational for most. What we do best is impact young minds in a positive direction away from all of the negativity that surrounds us every day. We are hopeful that with our community’s continued help and cooperation, we will be around for many years to come.

Thank you to all of our community for supporting WBLL and especially to those of you who have contributed to our history.

Respectfully submitted,
Dino X Chavez
2023 Public Information Officer / Immediate Past President (2020-21) /
2018 Park Renovation Committee Chairperson

The attached articles are a week by week story of league activities that represent our founding days, as published by the Brownsville Herald. Enjoy discovering who were our founders, who was the first batter, who hit the first home run, who were our sponsors, who was chosen for our Allstar teams, and many other firsts.

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