Sports: County's PAL baseball team is back

County's PAL baseball team is back

By BOB PUTNAM, Times Staff Writer

Pinellas County had a county-record four teams play in the state baseball tournament last week.

This summer, many of the players on those teams -- Dunedin, Clearwater Central Catholic, Northside Christian and East Lake -- will join forces. The St. Petersburg Police Athletic League 16-and-under team, which won six national titles from 1989-98, is back after a three-year hiatus. The team is comprised of 15- and 16-year-olds who were recommended by their high school coaches.

"I knew there was a lot of talent in the area and I thought it would be good to start showcasing it again," said coach Jim Vigue, who has managed each PAL baseball team since the program's inception.

During the 10 years the St. Petersburg PAL played baseball, Vigue estimated that 90 percent of the players continued their careers after high school, and nearly two dozen reached the professional ranks, most notably former Northeast standout Jeff D'Amico, now with the Mets.

Despite the success, Vigue's interest started to wane once the team shifted from a group of local standouts to the biggest collection of Division I-caliber players in the state. The all-star squad then played in one tournament a year.

"It just didn't feel like a team anymore," Vigue said. "In 1998, we had two players who were eventual first-round draft picks (Seminole's Casey Kotchman and Gibbs' Boof Bonser) and we had six players who were drafted in the top 10 rounds.

"We had all these great players and had two weeks to prepare for one tournament. And we didn't win a national title."

Once the PAL team stopped playing, Vigue took time off to watch his son, John, a pitcher for South Florida who now plays for the Charleston RiverDogs, the Devil Rays' Class A affiliate. John also played PAL for his father.

"I watched John and saw that he still kept in contact with some of the guys we had played PAL with," Jim Vigue said. "I thought that was neat and wanted to create that type of atmosphere again, where you develop a bond with the players that can last a lifetime."

Vigue talked with Jerry Babcock, who led the St. Petersburg PAL program for 13 years, about bringing the baseball team back. Babcock came out of retirement to direct the county effort that is being funded by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office is donating $30,000, a plus for Vigue, who had to do most of the fundraising himself during the 10 years the team existed. Also contributing are the Dunedin Blue Jays, who donated uniforms and are allowing the team to use the Engelbert Complex as its home field. The PAL team will also play some games at the Devil Rays' Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg.

Vigue will be joined in the dugout by East Lake coach Lee Byers and his son and assistant, Brad, who both coached on previous PAL teams, along with Steve Ford, the pitching coach at St. Petersburg College who was on the PAL's first national championship team.

Each of the 20 players on the team paid $100 to play. The team will play a few games against American Legion squads to prepare for three tournaments in July: the Sunshine State Games, the Junior Olympics and the PAL national tournament.

"This should be a good team and many of the players will get noticed," Vigue said.