THE Saipan Baseball League is hoping that a baseball field will be ready to accommodate next year’s baseball season and the CNMI men’s team which is preparing for the Pacific Mini Games that Saipan will host in July 2022.
The Francisco Tanko Palacios Baseball Field in Susupe, the home of the SBL and the Saipan Little League, has not been completely restored since it was damaged by Super Typhoon Yutu in Oct. 2018. The bleachers are still roofless, a new press box needs to be constructed and the baseball field itself needs a new fence.
The nearby Tange Ballfield, the home of the Little League major division, also needs major repairs.
In a press briefing last week, SBL President Jay Santos said they are grateful to the Northern Marianas Sports Association for accommodating the national team in its selection of players and practice sessions. He said once a 20-man team is completed they will practice in the evening as well.
Despite the present condition of the baseball field, Santos said he has been given “all the assurances in the world” that it will be ready for the mini games next year.
He, however, has expressed concern about the national team’s practice sessions which should be held at the baseball field.
He noted that the permitting process and the actual repair work on the baseball field will take time.
But he reiterated that SBL is hopeful that long before July next year, the new baseball field will be available for the CNMI team’s practice sessions.
For now, as SBL begins the tryouts for the team, “we are going to make do with what we have,” Santos said.
Saipan Baseball League President Jay Santos, third right, gestures as he speaks during the press briefing on Thursday last week in the Northern Marianas Sports Association conference room.
The Tange Baseball Field in Susupe.
