B-Buzz Baseball League returns to its field of dreams after 45 years CLEVELAND, OH (July 3, 2014) – Saturday, July 12 won’t be the typical family reunion. This particular family grew up on the baseball diamonds of Cleveland’s southeast side. The Lee-Harvard-Miles Community Festival will welcome home close to 100 alumni, coaches, and parents from the B-Buzz Baseball League to celebrate its 45th anniversary on the field of what is now known as Frederick Douglass Park (E. 151st & Miles Ave.). This celebration will include an alumni softball game with two purposes. One, to promote men’s health and the importance of actively maintaining good health. The other to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association Cleveland Area Chapter. For each run scored, $25 will be donated up to $500. B-Buzz alum are traveling from all over the U.S. including Atlanta, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, North Carolina, as well as northeast Ohio. The game is sponsored by Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute for their Men Against Cancer (MAC initiative. Men Against Cancer (MAC) at Cleveland Clinic provides community-based programs to inform men about facts and myths associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment. Led by physicians or allied health professionals, sessions are designed for community leaders, business owners, and their male patrons. The goal is to inform men in the community about modifiable risk factors related to cancer. Additional sponsor support is provided by Cleveland-based Zin Technologies, Inc. About B-Buzz Formed in the late 1950s by a local Beekeeper, the B-Buzz Baseball League was an integral part of many young men’s lives in the Lee-Harvard community. Fast forward to 1969 – Lee-Harvard’s rapid transformation to a predominantly Black middle-class neighborhood prompted a group of parents and community members to continue the league long after its original participants moved away. For more than 15 years after relocating to Charles W. Eliot field in 1969, five leagues comprised of young men ages 8 to 21, played almost every day during the summer. The highly regarded Colts won two city tournaments in 1976. And at one time, close to 300 youth participated in B-Buzz. By the late 1980s the league dissolved and the young men were on their way to becoming community leaders, professional athletes, and successful businessmen. B-Buzz alumni includes local luminaries: Silas Buchanan, State Farm agent Kenny Gray, Owner, Gray Barrel and Drum Brian Gresham, Owner, Take5 Rhythm & Jazz Tapas Lounge Kevin Chill Heard, Managing Editor, Call & Post newspaper Dr. Dale A. Kates, DDS, Kates Orthodontics Daryl Z. Laisure, President and CEO, Zin Technologies, Inc. Councilman Zack Reed, Ward 2 (Warrensville Heights) Mayor Bradley D. Sellers Jeffrey Thomas, Owner, Carl’s Barbershop Craig Thompson, former L.A. Dodger Participating members also includes 13 sets of brothers and many lifelong friends. WHAT: B-Buzz Baseball League reunion WHEN: Saturday, July 12, 2PM WHERE: Frederick Douglass Park, East 151st & Miles Ave., Diamond 1
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 14:17:59 +0000
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