BUDDY BASEBALL

Story and Photos By Jim Hague

What started as a small idea has morphed into a spectacular event that brings the city together for needy kids.

Since Pete Amadeo took over as Bayonne’s supervisor of recreation, he’s looked for ways to benefit children with special needs.

“We were doing sports for special needs on a monthly basis,” Amadeo said. “We were having clinics for basketball, soccer, hockey, you name it. We were working well with the Board of Education organizing the events.”

In 2015, a parent suggested a baseball league, much like Little League, for children with special needs.

“Let’s do it,’” Amadeo said. That’s how Bayonne Buddy Baseball was born.

The pandemic wiped out Buddy Baseball for 2020, but the league came roaring back in 2021, complete with an Opening Day parade in early May, where some100 boys and girls marched from 8th Street along Broadway to the field on 11th Street and Avenue E, aptly named “Bayonne’s Field of Dreams,” a dirt and grass field.

The Bayonne High School marching band led the way, residents lined the streets and cheered, much like the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but not as green.

Hearing the cheers, the kids felt the love and embraced the support.

The Bayonne Police Department and Fire Department volunteer. The Bayonne High School athletic teams instruct and help.

The parade kicks off a five-week season.

“It’s been a home run,” said Amadeo, who played baseball at St. Peter’s Prep and New Jersey City University. “It’s great to see everyone coming out to chip

Bayonne Supervisor of Recreation Pete Amadeo shows off the personalized bricks in Monument Park as part of Bayonne’s Buddy Baseball League.

in. I was really excited that we could do it.”

The league fields six teams, ages 3 to 21, that play Saturday mornings.

“We take everybody who wants to play,” Amadeo said. “We have different age groups. We play two innings, and everyone gets a turn at bat, hitting off a tee and then running base to base. We have a couple of kids in wheelchairs.”

“The kids just love to get dirty,” Amadeo said.

The Field of Dreams has a monument park, just like Yankee Stadium. The kids’ names are on bricks, much like CitiField, where the Mets play. Every kid who has played in Buddy Baseball has his or her name on a brick. Proud sponsors have bricks where the American flag flies.

In 2019, the television network SNY, owned and operated by the New York Mets, provided the program with a $5,000 grant.

Maureen Brown is the principal at Woodrow Wilson School, which has a program for autistic children, many of whom play Buddy Baseball.

“You meet the parents of these kids, and you hear what they want,” said Brown, who has spent the last 12 years at Wilson, first as vice principal and then principal. “The parents just want their children to be treated equally.”

Tom Jacobson is director of health, physical education and nursing vocational for the Bayonne Board of Education.

Amadeo and Brown met with Jacobson to see if Buddy Baseball could become a reality.

“Maureen and Pete just ran with it,” Jacobson said. “Dave Hoffmann wanted to get his kids involved.” Hoffman is head baseball coach.

Kelly Cullen wears her pink Buddy Baseball T-Shirt with her daughter Angelica Romero. Colin Schaefer (left) manager and player for the Bayonne High School baseball team is also a player in the Bayonne Buddy Baseball program. (Right) Bayonne High head baseball coach Dave Hoffmann.

Jacobson was floored by the community support.

“When we started this, I didn’t know how it would be received,” Jacobson said. “But it just started to grow more and more. The parents have interest, the kids obviously love it. It really is an example of what can happen when people truly want to work together.”

Brown agreed. “It makes me so proud and happy to contribute in some small way,” she said. “You can’t teach passion, and these kids have passion to play baseball.”

Kelly Cullen, an athlete at the nowclosed Holy Family Academy, has a daughter, Angelica Romero, 22, who’s autistic. Romero, a diehard New York Yankees fan, counts the days for the parade and the Buddy Baseball season.

“She actually checks the weather to see if it’s going to rain or not,” Cullen said. “The smile never leaves her face.”

Angelica loves the parade and the marching band. When the games begin, she said there’s one thing she looks forward to.

“I love when they call my name,” Angelica said. “And I like when I can throw the ball. I get happy and excited when I play.”

Cullen loves what the games do for her daughter.

“She’s a sports girl,” Cullen said. “She wishes the season was longer. It makes her feel special. She gets treated like any other kid and gets the same opportunity as others. It’s really something for those kids to look forward to. We all look forward to it. When you go to a Buddy Baseball game, it’s a cordial wonderful experience. And Pete treats those kids like they’re his own.”

Taylor Redondo was born with cerebral palsy and has been using a wheelchair since he was a toddler.

“I grew up in a sports family,” said Melissa Redondo, Taylor’s mother. “When I was told my baby would never play sports, I was devastated. But Buddy Baseball allowed my son to be part of a team.”

Taylor’s jersey has special meaning.

“He knows when I take it out, he’s going to see Pete,” Redondo says. “Every time I get ready to take him to the Field, my eyes well.”

Redondo is especially appreciative of Bayonne police officers Kevin Occino, Ricky Killmer, and Melissa Morales.

“Since day one, they’ve been there for Taylor,” Redondo said. “Now, they’re part of our family.”

Colin Schaefer, 15, is also autistic. He has his own weather channel and provides weather reports for Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis.

Schaefer is manager for the Bayonne High baseball team. Head Coach Hoffmann finds a variety of tasks for him.

“Coach Hoffmann is great with me,” Schaefer said. “We’ve been working together for a long time.”

But everyone knows where Colin is on Saturday mornings. “It’s something I look forward to,” said aspiring meteorologist Schaefer. “It’s great to hear the crowd cheering. This means everything to me to be able to play.” And what is Schaefer’s position of choice? “I play everywhere,” he said.

Dad Rich Schaefer, who works for the Board of Education’s custodial staff, said, “Sometimes, there are things that are not for Colin. But the way he’s treated and these kids are treated, words can’t describe.”

Rich Schaefer had his doubts in the beginning.

“Getting all these kids together, I thought was going to be tough,” he said. “But when you show these kids that you want to be here helping them, it’s a joyous moment. It’s like the World Series. And it just keeps getting better and better. I think I can speak for the other parents, well, you can’t describe what it means to us.”

Amadeo agreed.

“It’s hard to put into words how you feel,” he said. “The way the kids play together and help each other, it’s the best program we have.”—BLP