Photos: Phillies MLB Urban Youth Academy Baseball Field in FDR Park with Ryan Howard

June 8, 2015 by HughE Dillon

Major League Baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies and the City of Philadelphia officially opened the Phillies MLB Urban Youth Academy during a special ceremony Thursday at the Academy’s brand-new
baseball field at Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Park in South Philadelphia.

The Phillies
MLB Urban Youth Academy will be the only existing multi-site Urban
Youth Academy, with both outdoor and indoor facilities to provide free,
year-round instruction to the more than 8,000 Phillies Reviving
Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) players in Philadelphia:

·
The outdoor location is at FDR Park, featuring a four-field facility that includes a brand-new baseball show field equipped with new bleacher seating for 450 spectators, dugouts, a scoreboard
and a press box. This is in addition to the existing Ashburn Baseball Field and two girls’ softball fields.

·
Indoor facilities will be at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center (740 South 17th
Street in Philadelphia). Construction will begin this summer for the
indoor portion, where
a 7,500 square-foot addition will be added to the existing facility to
create a new baseball and softball training center. Also, parts of the
Marian Anderson Recreation Center will be renovated to create adequate
space for fitness training as well as educational
and baseball vocational programs.

·
The overall project is supported by MLB, the Phillies, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF), the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

I pondered this question to authorities and my readers, with no satisfaction. How did the Panda become the official mascot of the Parks and Recreation Department?

The field is beautiful!!

There were treats for the guests, pretzels, popcorn and water.

“The partnership of Major League Baseball and the Phillies
with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation provides enriching new
opportunities
for youth throughout the city,” said Michael DiBerardinis, Deputy Mayor
for Environmental and Community Resources. “The City of Philadelphia
is fully committed to this collective effort of providing participants
with the skills and experiences that prepare
them for success both on and off the playing field.”

Krystal and Ryan Howard

Dick Allen – Phillies Legend; Seven-time MLB All-Star and
Mahlon Duckett – last surviving
member of the Philadelphia Stars Negro League baseball team

The crowd acknowledges Sarge

something happens and both Ryan and Sarge start cracking up

If only I were a fly on the wall

Kenyatta Johnson –
Philadelphia City Council – 2nd District chats about the great work Michael DiBerardinis – Deputy Mayor for Environmental
& Community Resources, City of Philadelphia, has done. And speaking for the future, when Johnson is Mayor, he said
DiBerardinis is the kind of guy he wants in his cabinet.

David Montgomery
– Chairperson, The Phillies chats about the upgrades happening at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center being funded by The Phillies along with the City. The
740 S. 17th St. center which has indoor/outdoor

Dan Baker – Announcer, The Phillies All-Star players from the Phillies Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) Teams Phillie Phanatic & Phillies Ballgirls