City limits adult baseball to county residents|[7/6/06]

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 6, 2006

The coach of a Port Gibson-based adult baseball team that played in the Vicksburg league last year is crying foul because his team has been denied entry this year.

Port Gibson Stompers coach Ronnie Mackey said rules handed to him at the 2-year-old league’s organizational meeting said nothing of denying a team from Port Gibson.

Yet City of Vicksburg officials, who operate the league through the Parks and Recreation Department, said Port Gibson residents live too far away and the rules he was given amounted to little more than a piece of paper.

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The league rules and regulations sheet that Mackey received states, &#8220no player is eligible that lives outside of a 30-mile radius of Vicksburg.” From downtown Vicksburg to downtown Port Gibson is slightly less than 30 miles.

The Stompers should not have been allowed to play last year, said South Ward Alderman and former Parks and Recreation Director Sid Beauman, because the baseball rules and regulations had been devised without board knowledge or approval.

&#8220Those rules aren’t worth the paper they are printed on,” Beauman said.

Mackey said the rules were changed and approved after he attended the coaches’ meeting.

&#8220I went to the coaching meeting on June 6 and filled out all of the paperwork,” Mackey said. Parks and Recreation Director &#8220Joe Graves called me the next day and said we couldn’t play because the league was limited to Warren County teams.”

Graves said he appeared before the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen to change the rules at the June 19 meeting.

&#8220We changed it to Warren County teams only,” Graves said. &#8220It was just something I had to do.”

Beauman was parks and recreation director from 1993 until 2001 before being elected alderman. He said rules devised and board-ratified during his directorship limited participation to Warren County residents.

His replacement, Craig Upton, changed some of the rules without asking for board approval and Graves went by the rec department’s rules and regulations he had been left when he took over the position nearly two years ago.

Beauman said the first he heard of the rule sheet, which included the 30-mile stipulation, was when Mackey appeared before the board on June 9.

&#8220I told him if he wanted to play in the league, he needed to move to Vicksburg,” Beauman said.

The new rule sheet, with the 30-mile provision taken out, was adopted at the June 19 meeting.

The Stompers finished second to the Nationals during last year’s inaugural season.

&#8220I don’t know if it’s because we are a predominantly black team or not,” Mackey said. &#8220I know that our guys looked forward to playing in the league again.”

Beauman said the team should not have played last year and that their participation &#8220slipped under the table.”

&#8220It’s the same as youth baseball,” Beauman said. &#8220We get calls from people 50, 60, 80 miles away wanting to play. But we can’t have taxpayers here paying for someone else.”

Although the league is operated by the City of Vicksburg, Warren County residents are eligible to participate. A $5 non-resident fee for each player who lives in the county is added to the sign-up costs.

The adult league has expanded to eight teams this year, and play was scheduled to begin tonight at Bazinsky Field, but heavy rains forced a postponement. Games will be played four nights per week.

&#8220The league was very positive with a great atmosphere,” Mackey said.