Batter Up! Baseball Dreams Come True

Tink. Tink. The sound of aluminum bats hitting baseballs can be heard seven days a week at East Cobb Baseball (ECB) Complex on Lee Waters Road across from Carlton J. Kell High School.

Boys and young men, ages 9 to 18 and their parents, coaches, and ECB professional staff play ball, have fun and sharpen game skills on the eight baseball fields and indoor, climate controlled, practice spaces. Lush landscaping of the orange Georgia clay infields and cut green grass adds the finishing touch of the well designed 30-acre site.

ECB started in 1985. The 501(c)3 organization receives private funds only. It's an owner-operated complex that developed on private land and opened in 2000.

"When people ask how much I make, I joke and say $1.82 an hour," coach, founder and ECB president Guerry Baldwin said.

The Kennesaw resident is at the facility daily and plans to keep his work schedule.

"I get to coach baseball, be in a beautiful place, and I get to be around young people. I have a lot of fun. Why would I quit?" he said.

Baldwin realized his calling to help players be their best when he was a teenager growing up in Atlanta, teaching his younger brothers the game.

While young, he organized and coached a neighborhood team that played other neighborhoods. He also enjoyed victories as a player in high school and college.

In 1985, Baldwin began organizing tournaments and coaching travel teams at East Cobb's Mount Bethel Park in a partnership with what is now the Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department. ECB offers programs at the public field to date.

80 travel teams call ECB home. If you visit the parking lot on a Saturday morning you'll see license plates from Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, and all corners of Georgia.

Angie Graham, mother of pitcher, Preston Graham, 16, said that she drives from Gainesville to the facility and volunteers at the park because her son has aspirations of playing professional ball.

When asked why she brings her teen to ECB, she smiled and said, "It's the only place my son considered. This place has a great reputation for developing high caliber players."

Preston is a team member of the ECB Astros, the only team Baldwin coaches.

Baldwin takes interest in the players. "Until you're making money at the game, you're doing it for fun. And that's what we stress, especially with the younger kids, we stress having fun and getting better at playing the game," he said.

Powerhouse hitter and Atlanta Braves right-fielder Jason Heyward is an ECB alumnus from Henry county.

Jacob, Heyward's 16-year-old brother, has been playing at ECB since he was 11. He's also on Baldwin's Astros.

Laura Heyward, mother of the young sportsmen, said that they don't get to all of the Braves home games because her and husband, Eugene, are committed to putting their youngest son's schedule first. "Now, it's Jacob's turn," she said.

Another alumnus is Woodstock native, Nick Markakis who has played as outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles since 2006. He signed a new, 6-year, $66.1 million contract with Baltimore, according to www.baseball-reference.com.
 
Becoming an instant millionaire is one of the attractions to playing baseball, according to Baldwin.

Baldwin said that ECB teaches kids to reach the highest level of playing that they are capable of. ECB is honest with young players. Some guys, high school baseball is their top. Some players, it's college baseball.

"Here, we emphasize going to college before professional ball. We tell the players and parents that you need a high grade point. Good grades are important because baseball programs are a lot harder to get into than football. All universities use a sliding scale based on the revenue that the sport brings in. Football brings in a lot and receives most of the schools' scholarship funds," Baldwin said.

ECB has a corporate funded travel ball scholarship program for players who have the skill level to make a team and have a financial need.

The club fee is $175 annual per team. The parents of each team decide, as a group, how many games they want to play, which travel games, uniform design, and more. They plan a budget and raise the money.

According to Baldwin, team budget setting is unique to ECB as compared to other travel team baseball programs.

Baldwin doesn't track the economic impact of his baseball organization, but he said that in 2007 a Cobb county representative told him that ECB generated $34 million for the county economy.

A number of corporate sponsors, including Reebok and Rawlings, have been part of ECB since about 1996. Baldwin said Coca-Cola has renewed an agreement, for the 11th year, to sell products at the complex and pay a sponsorship fee.

Sponsors get association with the notoriety of the park and product sales as return for their investments.

To learn more about ECB and view the list of high-profile professional and college players who started at ECB, visit www.eastcobbbaseball.com.