Vandalism - My Ball Diamond

CoachB25,
I feel for you.

For a couple of year's are league field's SaniSans/PortaPotti's
were taking a Beating.

You no what an M-80 firecracker can do.
Well this were like M-1000's

All Plastic wall's were flat on the Ground,
And the Top Roof Lid was 40yard's in the middle of the outfield.

Coach B - I'm sorry too to hear about the vandalism! My son's former HS had to battle a couple of instances this past year. When this sort of thing happens, it's almost always teenagers. The thing with teenagers is they like to brag on their "accomplishments". Chances are that the authorities will be able to figure out quickly who did the deed.

Good luck at your camp.

Sorry to hear it Coach. Keep a good attitude-sounds like you have. Vandals poured gasoline in our "new" home dugout and destroyed the boxes that were custom built and donated by a dad(dugout was concrete block as was the bench seat but the fire was so hot it burned out areas in the concrete).

Thats too bad

My HS,a magnet High School,is in the absolute worst area in town.There was one day you could hear gunshots going off.My HS was the first HS in Oklahoma to break segregation,thus its in a rough rough area.This sadly happens alot with us.

Hope all goes well with your situation

Really a shame... kids are really just hurting other kids with this kind of thing...

Hope it is a one time incident rather than the first of a series...

Hi All,

Seems this kind of thing will go on no matter what will do or how we try to protect the fields & equipment.

In our town, it ranges from from people taking a car onto the feild and ripping it up by spinning "donuts" to people deciding that a baseball field is a good place to take their dog and let him c_rap all over the place.

The HS field here is a town field, and as such was always open (no surrounding fences) until this year. One young player & his mom fought city hall, and final got approval to put up a fence. The got donated materials & manpower and now the field at least should be near impossible to get a car on.

Yesterday, I took my son there to get in a bullpen session, and wow, what do i see ?
A family with a dog, and the dog is taking a c_rap!!! They look over at me, and then i see the dad walk off and come back with a bag to pick it up. He didn't have one with him. I am very sure that if i had not stood there and stared at them, they would have just left it lying there.

It is just amazing the way people feel they can treat these facilities.

NHFundamentalsDad,

Speaking about dog's on the Field.
We had a 300', completely fenced yard, with gate's.
They would bring there adopted grayhound's to the field and let them run.
They would run the complete outside of the warning track.
Like a 1.6 60yd dash.
and a little dog trying to keep up on the infield.
It was fun to watch, for a couple minute's.

CoachB25:

Thanks for letting us know about the vandalism...maybe with the word out there it will help to solve the case as lafmom suggests. Why anyone would do this is a mystery.

It reminds me of the vandalism that was reported here on the HSBBW down in Marietta last summer following all of that rain from Hurricane Dennis(?). I recall someone messed up a high school field that was being used in the tournament...after all of that rain someone flooded a recovering field by vandalizing the irrigation system. That remains a mystery also.

At our high school damage occurs and unfortunately it is not a mystery at all! The field is owned by a zoo and they allow overflow parking to use our outfield to park on. It doesn't occur often, but when it does, it is always on an unseasonably warm, early spring Tuesday. Tuesdays, being free admission, always bring out a big crowd on warm days in the spring. Sometimes it seems like we have a parking program instead of a baseball program! It's almost like vandalism by design or endorsement. Our program, if that is what you can call it, deserves much better than that!

You've got a great program going because you're the leader...I have a feeling that you and your program will be even stronger after recovering from this act of vandalism. That's the kind of organization you run and the loyalty that you instill.

If the case should be solved, please share with us the results so that the punishment that is meted out can serve as a deterrent.

I walked some of the boys that are helping with the camp over to see one of their screens torn up. I then told them what was done to their field. I'd take a bet that in a week we will know who did what. Of importance was that right away this morning, my Principal was out there. He/the administration cares very much for all of the programs here and they take an interest in helping us out. I showed him our torn screen and I'm betting that it gets replaced. Thanks for all of the kind words. It is terrible that someone feels the need to do this vandalism. It picked up my spirits knowing our administration's concern and that we all work together to have a program here.

Your story should be a wakeup call for any group that has outdoor facilities.

The #1 way to prevent this from happening often is prosecuting the initial offenders to the maximum degree with restitution. In the mean time make sure that there is adaquent insurance on your property and inventory with photographs your capital equipment. CoachB made a great move by walking some of the guys through the "crime scene". Vandals are not professional criminals and also not the smartest link on the food chain. It won't be long before they shoot their mouth off and brag of their accomplishment. Put a $200 dollar bounty on their head and let the rest of the world know that if you're going to trash my property you're going to get burned.

A few years ago, someone poured salt on the infield of my son's hs ballfield. It had just been redone and the coach kept (and keeps) the field in pristine condition. Fortunately, the sprinklers had not come on and it was coarse grain salt so you could see it. Before the game, every person in the stands as well as the team was out picking up every piece to save the infield. Nearest I ever saw to the coach tearing up. Don't think they ever found out who did it - what losers.

I my area, lots of this happens. At a school in our area, they just got a new turf field at the beginning of this year, and someone went and spray painted a picture of a certain part of male anatomy on the outfield turf, and now it won't come out. I have also heard of spray painting things on the concrete, then covering it with concrete sealer, so it is impossible to get up. I also know of some people that went to a different high school, dug a hole in the center of the pitchers mound, and then stuck a ton of firecrackers in it and exploded the mound. It wasn't a total loss, but it took them several hours of hard work to repair it. I have never done this, just heard stories from older guys on my team, and from other teams.