The baseball field on San Juan Drive, a lot or two west of Pablo Road, was a Club amenity, and it was beginning to get some much-needed early March attention. The double-high chain-link fence behind home plate required monitoring, and so did the wooden benches along the baseline between home and third. The clay around home plate needed addressing, and the pitcher’s mound needed some work as well. But overall, this PV diamond was generally ready for play, and in the early 1970s, the Ponte Vedra Tigers were at it again.
The Tigers were Ponte Vedra’s Little League team, sponsored by the Ponte Vedra Community Association and the Club. In 1972, boys were again getting involved with this team that had deep roots in the community, but which had ebbed and flowed through the ’50s and ’60s, depending on how many families living full-time in PV had boys of playing age. If there were enough for a team, the games were on. A generation earlier, the players excelled with talent, but those boys had left for school, and the team was put on hiatus. Now, some of those players had started their own families. With the promises of the 1970s ahead, there were enough boys of the right age, and fathers to coach them, that regular practices launched.
Player dues and the Ponte Vedra Community Association paid for the Kelly-green and white uniforms that year. Previously, older jerseys had read “Ponte Vedra Beach,” but this year, the association’s full name would be added, albeit abbreviated. The PV Tigers probably led the Beaches League in the number of letters any single jersey could hold and still spell out a sponsor’s name. “Ponte Vedra” was spelled out in its entirety, but “Community” and “Association” were shortened by the supplier to fit, centered, on the front of the shirts. This led to a serious hiccup in how the name was read by other teams. It was a little confusing, but there wasn’t much anyone could do about it once the uniforms were delivered. We persevered.
As a team, we started the practice season by helping get the field in shape. This signaled to other residents-at-large that the Tigers were back. Golf Course Maintenance and Mr. McCormick’s men had kept the field mowed on a regular basis, but many newcomers, had no idea of the history behind this PV diamond in the rough. The leisure amenity had dissolved into the landscape and was disappearing. Two large cabbage palms had sprouted up six feet tall near the home plate fence, and Spanish bayonets were beginning to encroach on the home team bench. The Club sent over a few men to help on that first day’s clean-up, and a few older Scouts from Troop 277, back from college, came over as well. The infield was mostly clover and rye, but the outfield hosted sandspurs, beggar’s lice and an assortment of other well-formed weeds that stuck to our socks and shoelaces. Deep left field touched the rough edges of the golf course near the hole behind the Bowers’ house.
Regular practices were Tuesday nights, 5:30 to 7 p.m. John Veal would bring the bats, cloth bases and other equipment packed in an old and sturdy green “U.S. NAVY” duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Parents would often attend the practices, and the dads would usually end up continuing to play until around 8:30, and we’d all be home by nine. It was clear by the dads’ dedication that Tuesday night on San Juan in PV was the place to be for evening recreation.
League games were never hosted on our field. We would join other teams in the Beach League up on Penman Road behind the theaters at Jax Beach. Our ranking as a team never broke records, but some players performed so well that they carried us all with their leadership and skill. More than one went on to play for their high school teams, and one in-particular excelled at pitching for Bishop Kenny before taking up cross country.
Eventually, the Tuesday night slot on San Juan was taken over by Troop 277 at Christ Church when interest in baseball began to dwindle. A few dads kept the effort going for a while, moving the practices to the new field at PV/PV Elementary. The amenity on San Juan returned to greenspace as the home plate fence was finally taken down, the benches removed, and the palms and Spanish bayonets allowed to grow.
The PV youth experience in the 1970s was always group-oriented, and it was an opportunity to develop excellence no matter what the season. If it wasn’t baseball, it was swimming, and that certain something that helped reengage the PV Tigers became the backbone of the Ponte Vedra Polar Bears swim team, as well. It was dedicated community spirit, team spirit, the one amenity of all amenities that defined leisure in this smartly casual place of all places, Ponte Vedra Beach.
