Woodbridge baseball diamond gets makeover – Detroit Free Press
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UAW-Ford donated $1.8 million for the newly renovated ballpark at William Clay Ford Field at the Woodbridge Community Youth Center. A ribbon cutting features city officials and Bill Ford and Martha Firestone Ford. Mandi Wright/DFP
A baseball field in Detroit’s Woodbridge neighborhood reopened today with a $1.8 million makeover courtesy of the UAW and Ford.
The field was renamed the William Clay Ford Field in honor of the late Ford Motor executive and Detroit Lions owner. The renovations include pitching and batting cages, new bleachers, a new digital scoreboard, landscaping, lighting and restrooms.
The late Ford’s son, Bill Ford, attended the reopening along with his mother, Martha Firestone Ford. Bill Ford said the tribute was fitting because his father was an athlete.
“This couldn’t have been a more perfect event to honor him,” Ford said. “One of the reasons he loved sports was because he felt sports was a great equalizer. It didn’t matter where you came from or what your name was; if you were good and you were talented and you worked hard, you would succeed.”
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The UAW-Ford partnership donated the money for the renovations as part of ongoing efforts with community organizations, including the Woodbridge Community Youth Center, to strengthen neighborhoods where members live.
Mayor Mike Duggan, who attended the ribbon-cutting along with City Council President Brenda Jones and several other council members, told the crowd that he looked forward to attending a game at the new field “and maybe we’ll see the next Willie Horton playing right on this field.”
Horton, the Detroit Tigers great, also came for the ceremony. UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said the field was the place where Horton hit his first home run as a youth.
Duggan said afterward that the new field represents higher aspirations for what Detroit provides its young people.
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“This is the kind of field that kids in the suburbs are playing in every day, and we need to raise the expectations for the kinds of facilities the children of Detroit have,” Duggan said. “And what the UAW-Ford did here is wonderful. It’s just a beautiful field; it’s as good as any you’ll find anywhere in the region.”
Kyle Fitzgerald, 11, shared that assessment of the field, proclaiming it “beautiful.” He’s a pitcher on the Woodbridge Eagles youth baseball team at the Woodbridge Baseball Academy, housed nearby. He threw out the first pitch to teammate Greg Pace, 10.
“I’m glad that it’s in the City of Detroit because more people need fields like this,” Fitzgerald said.
Mike Wilson, executive director of the Woodbridge Community Youth Center’s Abundant Care Training Services, which provides services to at-risk children, said the new field has become a community centerpiece.
“It has infused an enormous amount of excitement, fresh conversation and constant traffic,” he said. “I believe the facility will motivate and captivate a new generation of baseball players and enthusiasts throughout our community for many decades to come.”
Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @matthelms.
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