BANGOR, Maine — Among those with a keen interest in this year’s Senior League World Series was Dennis Lewin, chairman of the Little League board of directors.
As was the case for thousands of other baseball fans in the region, the run of the host Bangor All-Stars to the SLWS championship game might have represented perfect casting for Lewin — a summer resident of Toddy Pond in Orland — in his former professional life as a broadcast executive with ABC Sports and the National Football League.
“For it to come down to the host city is incredible,” Lewin said Saturday just before the SLWS final televised lived by ESPNU and set to be re-aired at noon Wednesday on ESPN2.
And while Bangor fell in Saturday’s title game to San Nicolas, Aruba, before 3,000 fans at Mansfield Stadium, the community’s support of the home team through its tournament experience was not lost on Lewin.
“I’m incredibly prejudiced in terms of Bangor being a host site,” said Lewin, whose wife is from Bucksport. “This is almost like a home game for me as well.
“It’s hard to believe there is a better facility anywhere in the country. I’ve been to a lot of facilities around the country, and very few can equal this one. Clearly you look for the facility, but you also look for the community support and through the years this has been an incredible community for support, and [tournament director] Mike Brooker and his staff just put on an incredible event.”
Of course, the moment one tournament ends, whether it’s the Little League championship in Williamsport, Pa.; the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mich.; the Big League tourney in Easley, S.C., or Bangor, the work begins hosting next year’s event.
“They’re in constant need of help from the community for sponsorships, et cetera, because people forget that it costs a lot of money to put these events on,” said Lewin. “And the reality is it is a two-way street for any town, because the money they pour into an event like this comes back to them through the spectators that come through here and the money they spend, and through our most recent Little League television deal this event now gets national television exposure, which you couldn’t pay for.
“It’s a two-way street, but one of the obvious parts that’s needed is local commercial support because it costs money to put this tournament on.”
And while Bangor’s tournament coffers are likely to get a boost this year due to the increased gate receipts fostered by Bangor’s advancement to the championship game, Lewin also hopes the excitement generated by this year’s event will translate into added sponsorship for the SLWS in 2011 and beyond.
“It’s a challenge anywhere,” he said. “It’s hard for people to understand the money that comes back in. They see the money going out, but the fact is the money does come back in, and the fact is these communities do benefit a great deal by having these tournaments played at these sites.”
Lewin cited the example of Warner Robins, Ga., which recently built a new facility to host Southeast regional tournaments for Little League Baseball.
“They understand the value of what it takes, and I think through the years the people here in Bangor have, too,” said Lewin. “We’ve all gone through some tough economic times during the last few years everywhere in the country, so it’s become more difficult to raise money.
“But people need money to stage these events. It costs money for housing, it costs money for transportation, it costs money for food. Hopefully this will continue as it has here for years to come, and hopefully Michael will get the support he needs from the community.”
With 4,800 leagues worldwide, not only is Senior League baseball thriving around Bangor, Maine, but it remains a stable component of the larger Little League franchise, Lewin said.
“Senior League is holding its own,” he said. “Team sports in general are not an area of growth in this country, but Senior League clearly is holding its own, and we’re seeing a lot of growth internationally. Most of the growth we’re seeing in Little League is internationally, which is great for the sport of baseball.”
