Mayfield Softball League

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History of MSL

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History of Mayfield Softball League

written by Eugene John Canuto | August 28, 2004

our success is your success.....

It must of been sometime in the Fall of 2003, when the weather was beginning to become too cold to play anymore pick-up softball games that year. Lo Sukhram and Danny Santiago brought up the idea to me about potentially
starting a small softball league the following year as sort of a developmental league to improve players skills and bring out whatever potential they may have. Danny actually thought up the idea after we played a few Mets fans versusYankees fans pick-up games, which he noticed were very competitive, yet extremely fun and exciting.

Let's fast forward to Monday, February 2, 2004. Rather than letting this idea become a would-have/could-have/should-have idea, Lo, Danny, and I decided to meet up at Sly Fox Inn on Union Turnpike in Queens, NY to break ground and make this idea into a reality. I made up an itinerary of what we would be discussing in our meeting, and over dinner, a softball league was born. But, what were we going to name the league? Initially, it was going to be the E.Y. Invitational Softball League, but I did not want to have my name in the spotlight. So, a few days later, after a few minutes of brainstorming, I came up with the acronym M.A.Y.F.I.E.L.D., which stands for Mets And Yankee Fans Introduced by Eugene, Lo, and Danny. The five teams that would be participating in the MAYFIELD Softball League would be the Black Sox, Cack Attack, Mastabatters, Spankees, and Tribe.

On Sunday, June 6, 2004, after many more meetings and difficult decisions, many potential stumbling blocks, and plenty of fieldwork, Opening Day of the MAYFIELD Softball League happened as scheduled and planned at Cypress Hill Houses Park in East New York, Brooklyn. The first-ever game in league history was between the Mastabatters and the Black Sox, two teams that are pretty much siblings due to the fact that 30 friends had to be divided into 2 teams via a draft because the roster limit was set to 15 players. The first pitch came from myself to Rene Barro, who happens to be one of the people who probably didn't know 95% of the people in this league until I asked him to play pick-up softball with us the year before.

Lo, Danny, and I cannot be any prouder of what we have started and hope continues for many, many years to come. The season did have its share of difficulties and flaws, but what first-year venture, whether it be a league or business or what have you, do you know went flawless its inaugural year. Lo, Danny, and I believe we handled this league to the best of our ability and that the decisions we made were to the best interest of the majority of the league. God knows that you can't please everyone. We definitely learned that this year. On February 2nd, we did not foresee how much of time out of our daily lives this league would require, but we do not see that as a burden, rather a labor of love. We did and continue to do everything for the masses: for the players and fans that come out every Sunday. Words cannot express how happy and proud we are. We've changed the face of an entire housing project
community, which people would probably have been afraid to even drive by until we introduced MSL into the
community. We have brought people of all different backgrounds together, from Filipino to Guyanese to Puerto Rican to Palestinian to Chinese to Greek to Irish to Italian to African-American to Cambodian, to bond in a game that we all love, a game that has no color or sexual barriers. We started a network of people that can not only help each other in the game of softball, but can potentially help each other in each other's career and business goals, as well as family goals. We can help each other know more about cultures that we otherwise would not know about. Maybe, we can even put a positive influence on the life of at least one struggling "project kid" that would otherwise be headed toward a dark, evil future. Who knows what the future holds for this league? But, we do know that this league has exceeded the expectations of many, including Lo, Danny, and myself, and this league has been a positive light in what has been dark days since September 11, 2001. Thank you to all the players, fans, and supporters that made this all possible. Words cannot express how grateful we are to you all.