West Tampa Little League refurbishes historic Little League field

Historic Little League Baseball field restored

The West Tampa Little League refurbished the historic field at St. Joseph's Catholic School. FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - The field at St. Joseph's Catholic School is ready for kids to play ball.

What we know:

The West Tampa Little League got together with community leaders to restore this little league field to its former glory.

Miguel Gonzalez is the community relationship board member for the West Tampa Little League.

"When I was a child and I played at West Tampa Little League, we also played baseball right here at the St. Joseph Field," Gonzalez said. "As a matter of fact, the St. Joseph's Field was where everybody played baseball prior to West Tampa Little League's inception."

The backstory:

The league went looking for a new place to hold games when it outgrew its other facilities. 

Gonzalez said this field saw some famous ball players through the years.

"Some of the famous players that have played on this Little League field are Tony LaRusso, Lou Piniella, Dave Magadan, Tino Martinez and a host of many others that have gone pro," Gonzalez said.

The restoration will allow students to have a better facility for recess and physical education classes, Tony Crafa, the school principal, said.

"We have a long history of baseball at this school, going back to the 50s and 60s," Crafa said. "And the field was in disrepair. So, I had a need to repair the field so that our kids could use it and play on it. So, it was just really a partnership that made sense for everyone involved."

What they're saying:

Crafa said the league approached him and handled the restoration.

"Teamwork both in West Tampa and with us as a school, is something we always want to instill in our students and give them an opportunity to do so on a beautiful baseball field like this is just very important," Crafa said. 

"It's exciting, especially with all the development going on in West Tampa, and this is just another exciting part of all of that and just making West Tampa a great place to work, play and live," Marybeth Anglin, the president and CEO of the West Tampa Chamber of Commerce, said.

By the numbers:

This field will now be the home of many Tampa Little League t-ball games; a need as interest in the league explodes.

"Now we're at a point where we're nearly 400 children playing baseball at West Tampa Little League, so we've outgrown the original facility," Gonzalez said.

And only time will tell if these players will join the ranks of the famous Tampa players to play on this diamond.

What we don't know:

The group restored the outside of the concession stand. It's unclear when the inside will be read for use.