Babe Ruth Opening Day

by Rick · March 4, 2015

The Winter Park Babe Ruth 2015 spring season opened on February 21 with a memorable Opening Day ceremony at Ward Park. After a couple of days of very chilly temperatures, on Opening Day the weather turned gorgeous as the baseball gods intervened on behalf of the 630 players registered in the league. The president of Winter Park Babe Ruth, George McGowan, presided over the ceremony and presentations, which included recognizing two District Champions (in baseball the first-ever district champion for the league from the Juniors age group, and in softball the 12U district champions which also participated in the Babe Ruth world series). The league also boasted of several other District Runners-up from both baseball and softball. The fields at Ward Park are filling up with District Championship banners!

: Mayor Ken Bradley’s ceremonial first pitch (c) Rick Cable – The Park Press

: State Representative Mike Miller – (c) Rick Cable – The Park Press

: Ceremonia first pitch ball crew – (c) Rick Cable – The Park Press

The ceremony included a rousing rendition of the National Anthem played on solo trumpet by UCF student Alex Lewis while the City of Winter Park Honor Guard presented our nation’s colors. Outgoing Mayor Ken Bradley of Winter Park and newly-elected State Representative Mike Miller threw out first pitches for the baseball divisions and long-time softball volunteer Willson McBurney threw out the first pitch for the softball divisions. A wonderful invocation was made by Pastor Custer of St. Andrews United Methodist Church.

Opening Day was a rousing success and a great event to “kick-off” the season for all the players and their families. The league president also stressed in his remarks that the league could not be made possible without the hard work of many volunteers and the dedication of the members of the board of directors. Of course, the ceremonies ended with a rousing call of “Play Ball!”