Flushing Business Owner Starts Safe, Free Kids Baseball League

This isn't the first time he's done it, either.

Dale Harris is the owner of Skip's Come Back Inn in downtown Flushing, so he's already got a lot on his plate, but that's not stopping him. At the age of 70, he's once again started a pick-up summer baseball league for local kids.

He originally started it to get his son to practice. Soon after, he noticed that the game was attracting tons of kids from the surrounding neighborhoods. Eventually, it turned into a full-fledged league every summer.

Kids of all ages and all walks of life have joined the league, from the little ones to middle schoolers. There's no obligation for them to come to every game, and the league is 100% free for everybody.

“Any kid can just walk in and play. There’s no registration or fee, and we provide the baseballs, bats and bases. We play three outs an inning, but we don’t keep score. It’s the most fun a kid could have in two hours," Dale told the Flushing View.

Of course, because this year is different for everything, he's making sure that the kids give each other extra room on the bench and on the bases to socially distance.

As a kid who was forced by my mom to play baseball, I love this idea. Organized sports can be too expensive for a lot of kids' families and sometimes, they can be too intense. No obligations here, and it's all free. When does this guy find time to SLEEP?!

Thanks for being a positive force in our community, Dale!