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Baltimore Youth Get 2 New Baseball Fields Thanks To Cal Ripken

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- When it comes to children, Baltimore's Iron Man has a heart of gold. Two new fields are opening this week, one is breaking ground, bearing the names of two baseball greats -- all thanks to the Cal Ripken Senior Foundation.

The dead-ball era may be long gone, but the field where Babe Ruth got his start as a kid is very much alive again -- thanks to Baltimore baseball legend Cal Ripken.

"When you do these fields and parks, it gives you a great feeling anyway. But there are some fields and parks that have that extra sort of feeling, and this is one of them," Ripken said.

The Cal Ripken Senior Foundation partnered with St. Agnes Healthcare to build Babe Ruth Field at Gibbons Common.

Kartalija: "How about the fact that this is number 60 for you guys?"

Ripken: "Blows me away. We call these youth development parks, but they're really safe, outdoor places for kids to experience things and learn."

The multi-sport synthetic field is a short distance from where the Ripken Foundation will break ground on the Eddie Murray Field at BGE Park -- soon to be the new home of James Moser Baseball, the oldest continuously operating African American youth baseball league in the country.

"I always feel good by using the platform that baseball gave me. Success in baseball gave me the opportunity to do good things," Ripken said. "It's an opportunity to serve kids and get them moving in the right direction, nudge them in the right direction."

The Cal Ripken Senior Foundation has given almost 240,000 children in 16 states a safe place to play.

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