WITH OPENING DAY FAST APPROACHING, THE HARD AND DIRTY WORK OF GETTING OUR EQUIPMENT READY FOR THE UPCOMING 2018 SEASON HAS BEGUN
A photo collage chronicling a small assortment of the House League and Select baseball gear that was organized and cataloged over the past number of weeks at the TP Baseball Equipment Rooms at Christie Pits and Bickford Park during our annual equipment inventory process.
With only 49 days left before Opening Day, the Toronto Playgrounds Baseball Committee has begun the laborious task of getting its equipment prepared for the upcoming 2018 House League and Select Baseball season.
For the ninth consecutive year, TP Baseball Equipment Coordinator Paul Hum has been busy as a beaver during the past number of weeks emptying out a mountain load of equipment bags at our respective storage facilities at Christie Pits and Bickford Park in preparation for the annual equipment inventory report.
This volunteer driven offseason initiative began in 2010 and is the genesis of our annual “State of Good Repair’ equipment inventory program whereby the committee organizes and takes stock of all of its baseball gear. By taking full account of our equipment (bats, batting helmets, gloves, catcher’s masks, chest protectors & shins, uniforms, pants, caps, umpire accessories, bases, etc.), we determine which gear is still useful, needs tender loving care and repair, or decommissioned.
The detailed inventory data that is collected allows the committee to determine where to allocate its limited financial resources with regards to the purchase of new baseball equipment and to get more bang from our precious dollars and cents.
As a committee member for over a decade, Paul fully concedes that the equipment inventory process that he undertakes every year is a dirty, laborious and thankless task:
“Taking inventory is hard and dirty work. However, I feel that it’s important that someone in the community steps up to the plate to do this job. The yearly inventory equipment initiative has allowed us to make better investments in gear that benefits our players and coaches at both the House League and Select levels. It results in a better baseball experience and performance on and off the diamond for everyone involved. The task is undoubtedly insane at times, but I continue to do it for the love of the game.”