Chow Time

PPBA Opens 2023 Season with Pancake Breakfast March 11 at Field of Dreams

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Pacific Palisades Baseball Association will usher in its Spring 2023 season with the traditional pancake breakfast next Saturday, March 11, at the Palisades Recreation Center’s “Field of Dreams” complex.

“We have close to 500 players this year across five divisions,” Commissioner Bob Benton reports. “We have four Pony teams (ages 13-14), six Bronco teams (ages 11-12), 10 Mustang teams (ages 9-10), 10 Pinto  teams (ages 7-9) and eight Shetland teams (ages 6-8).”

The chairwoman for this year’s breakfast is Meridith Hill. The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by actor/producer Rob McElhenney and singing the national anthem will be 12-year-old Reagan Whalen, a local resident and seventh-grader at Calvary Christian School who played in the Red Sox organization last year.

McElhenney’s credits include the role of Ronald “Mac” McDonald on the FX/FXX comedy series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” a show he co-created with Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton and on which he continues as an executive producer and writer. He is also known for portraying Ian Grimm on the Apple TV+ comedy series “Mythic Quest,”  which he also co-created.

Whalen has been a member of the audition-based National Youth OAKE Choir for the last three years and has performed all over the country.  In addition to singing, she loves to act and is a regular in the musical theater program at Calvary Christian. When she is not singing or acting, Whalen can be found rocking out on her guitar, on the slopes skiing and snowboarding, or playing soccer for her club team United.

The pancake breakfast will also include a gear swap with bats, batting gloves, cleats, mitts, catcher’s gear, helmets, belts and clean baseball pants. Bring your donations to the breakfast between 7 and 7:30 a.m. and give new life to your perfectly worn in mitts and pants that you have outgrown. Take what you need and use it with pride. You have  re-purposed for another season swp with your buddies. As part of their as part of their service learning project, the Batter-Up Swap Committee consists of PPBA players Duke Badt, Ford Casady, Tommy Geraty and Boone Casady. Reach out to them or email Staci Woo at STACI@ILOVEWOO.COM to arrange for an eartly drop-off site location or with any other questions.

There are no games on Easter weekend, April 8-9. Playoffs will begin in May and Closing Ceremonies are June 3. The PPBA has been providing baseball instruction to Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, and Santa Monica youth since 1954 and currently participates in a PONY Baseball league. The PPBA is a volunteer organization, not a club, with all teams coached by parents allowing no paid coaching. PONY Baseball scales the size of its diamonds to match the physical capabilities of the players within each age division: 60-foot bases for Pinto and Mustang; 70-foot bases for Bronco; and 80-foot bases for Pony.