In the fall of 2007, Paul Stanley, a Junior at Greenhill School approached me with his vision to build a little league baseball diamond in Dallas. The game of baseball has been a huge part of Paul’s youth and has offered him life lessons only learned on the field and with a team. Paul wanted to offer children, who may never have the opportunity, the chance to learn the game of baseball and play on a real little league field.
I share Paul’s passion for baseball and helping children experience new challenges. I was thrilled to assist Paul in his quest to find a location, raise money and have his field built. The Andres family was even more enthusiastic about the project knowing that this was something our father would have loved to support. With an initial gift from the Andres Family, Paul’s vision is now a reality. The Dave Andres Ballpark sits on the campus of the JFK Learning Center on Henderson Avenue in East Dallas. With additional support of the Texas Rangers organization, DISD and many other generous contributors, the neighborhood children now have an amazing diamond to play on, spacious dugouts, an electronic scoreboard, a batting cage and covered bleachers for the crowds of parents cheering them on.
Some say that the game of baseball is like the game of life. We want to improve the lives of children throughout Dallas and will use this ballpark as the vehicle to initiate such change.
As Dallasite and Hall of Famer Ernie Banks would say, ‘It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame, let’s play two.’
- Marc Andres
