CINCINNATI (AP) -- Neglected neighborhood baseball fields, once rutted with tire tracks and strewn with rocks and broken glass, are being made more player-friendly, thanks to money from the Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Neglected neighborhood baseball fields, once rutted with tire tracks and strewn with rocks and broken glass, are being made more player-friendly, thanks to money from the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund.
Eighteen diamonds, used by some 1,300 youths on 85 inner-city teams, are being reworked to make them safer, more enjoyable and more durable.
New Reds owner Bob Castellini has pushed for the organization to be more community-oriented, so the nonprofit arm of the Reds donated $15,000 this spring so the Cincinnati Recreation Commission could get the unsightly fields ready for play in April.
When it became clear that wouldn't be enough for permanent upgrades, the Reds Community Fund added $115,000 to the project.
"We want these fields to become so good that they become the staple for the 130 other CRC fields," said Bill Blevins, the city's supervisor of outdoor maintenance.
Before the Reds Community Fund came along, the commission couldn't afford to regularly maintain the fields, which now are dragged smooth and clean of debris.
"You used to get cut on your legs if you slid," said Ivan Powell, 12, of the Walnut Hills Six Men Tigers. "I wore shorts so I would know not to slide. But now they fixed it so the fields are nice and you can slide into the base."
Charles Kelly, who has been coaching youth baseball in Cincinnati for 29 years, is impressed.
"These fields haven't looked this good in 25 years," Kelly said. "The kids are loving it. They can go for a ground ball now without having to worry about getting hit in the face with a ball. They're still a little gun-shy because they're used to getting busted lips and black eyes from bad hops on bad fields."
About $60,000 of the grant will be spent on new clay to allow fields to dry more quickly. Some $20,000 will go toward paying overtime to maintain the fields.
The Reds Community Fund is relying on Blevins' expertise to keep the fields in top shape with preventive maintenance. Costs are projected to be lower each year, allowing future donations to go toward rehabbing other fields.
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com