Youth Baseball Celebrates a Local Legend

Locals think of great Italian food when they see or hear the name s. The Universal City and Hollywood family-owned restaurants have served Los Angeles for 62 years. In the world of youth baseball, mention the name Frank Miceli and you'll get a similarly positive reaction. 

Miceli smiles as he recalls moments of being recognized.  “Kids come back, one guy remembered me from Valley College from 1981. I got pulled over by a cop who identified himself as Officer Mike Brose and he said, ‘You used to coach me at Toluca Baseball. I just wanted to say hi.’”

When a fire started in a snack stand at East Valley, a fireman stopped with hose in hand and shouted, “Hey!  Frank Miceli!” Miceli coached him at Toluca Baseball.

On another occasion, Miceli recalled, “I caught a kid stealing a car. We had him on the ground and I had a baseball bat on his chest for leverage, he was a big kid and he’s screaming, ‘It’s cool!  It’s cool!  It’s cool!' He stares right at me and says, 'You’re Frank Miceli!’”

Miceli briefly attended USC for architecture, threw what he refers to as “batting practice for half-a-season at Valley College” before leaving to attend San Francisco’s Culinary Academy. When he returned home, Miceli and his friend, ex-Tijuana Yankees pro-ball player Bob Westland, were approached by Toluca League members (then known as Toluca City Senior Citizen’s League) at South Cahuenga Park while playing ball.  They asked Miceli to coach them.“I told them we’d love to coach. My goal was to keep Bob in baseball.  I signed up to play at 10 years old and 26 years later, I’m still here.”

After coaching, Miceli went on to become president of the senior league. At Toluca Baseball, where the permit was all-year round, Miceli and his supporters decided to get younger players used to moving to larger fields by having Fall Ball implemented in 1988. Travel teams became the next hot ticket. 

But there were obstacles to be overcome. Some fields would fall into disrepair, while others would be shut down or demolished (like the one in North Weddington). This prompted teams to move to other fields and play within the Valley. In 2002, some kids showed up to his practice sessions, and Miceli wanted to know why they weren’t at their own field.  It was because their own, San Val, was having major problems.

He decided to help out, and joined the San Val board to help implement changes. In 2004, he got a call from Senator Richard Alarcon od the State Assembly, asking him to help out with his fledgling field at Whitsett Avenue and Strathern Street. The permit had run out, and park upkeep was expensive.

Miceli persuaded the Department of Recreation and Parks to reinstate the permit.  By the time the 2005 season rollled around, work still needed to be done at the East Valley field on the corner of Whitsett Avenue and Strathern Street. With a budget of $10,000, the arduous work began. 

Gophers ruled the fields. Graffiti was everywhere, the sunken dugouts were filled with syringes, and older kids were hiding out smoking marijuana and drinking. As the dugouts were leveled and the parking lot was repaved, neighbors started honking as they drove past, and some came to thank Miceli for cleaning up their neighborhood. 

Help was also at hand in the form of a partnership with Ira Liebowitz’s religious league, Blue Star, which was formed in 2006. Between the two leagues at East Valley, the park has become an amazing site used by over 400 kids.

Frank explained how many of the field's improvements were made. “With permission to hook up the sewers we’d have real bathrooms with free labor from the people in our league who do that for a living. We can build three new fields in one year if we raise our league fees (the lowest in the Valley) for only one year, which won’t cost the Department of Recreations and Parks a dime.” In terms of future plans, Miceli said he would like to rebuild the snack stand and add a meeting room and community space. 

Miceli once told a struggling widow, “If money is the only thing keeping your son from playing ball, I’m not hearing a problem.  Anyone with a desire to play has that right.” That was my son, eight years ago, and the number of children sponsored or given scholarships in youth baseball is enormous. On top of that, Miceli’s restaurants have donated food to good causes for years.