By Amy Yensi
NYCity News Service
A Hunts Point Express profile
Margarita Benitez Villegas wanted to see her father’s name everywhere—on banners, posters, and stitched onto baseball jerseys throughout the South Bronx.
She wanted to make sure that the late evenings he spent at St. Mary’s Park playing baseball with neighborhood kids would continue. So she became the president of the Little League chapter he founded.
On April 28, 24 youngsters from Hunts Point and Longwood stepped proudly down Bruckner Boulevard to Colgate Close Park to begin a new season of the Arturo Benitez Little League. Eight teams make up the league of 8 to 12 year olds. These pint-sized Derek Jeters and Alex Rodriguezes may not know it, but their opportunity to play baseball is a token of the love of a daughter for her father.
“He used to dress in white. And I remember they used to call him Benitez. He was like God or something in the park,” said Villegas, 54.
But Arturo Benitez’ dedication to the ambitions of kids in Hunts Point came at a price. When parents didn’t have money to buy their kids’ uniforms, Benitez reached for his wallet. When a coach had to miss practice, Benitez would fill in. And after spending long hours at the park, Benitez would face the resentment of his wife who felt that there wasn’t enough of him to go around.
After 30 years of presiding over the baseball diamond, Benitez was showing his age. Yet he had no intention of quitting.
“I remember having a conversation with him, saying, ‘You know you’re getting old and it’s difficult for you to walk. Maybe I should get you one of those little cars.’ And I remember him saying, ‘Oh yeah, that would be good because I’m never going to leave the park,’” his daughter said.
After Benitez passed away in 1999, his league partner, Ramon “Chompy” Jimenez, took the reigns of the United Parents Baseball Little League. Jimenez ran the league for two years until he started having health problems of his own. That’s when Villegas decided to pitch in. She quickly realized how close her father’s league was to falling apart.
“The insurance wasn’t happening for the kids in the park. The parents weren’t getting the attention they needed to get. The managers didn’t have any leadership. There was an animosity between the parents and the managers. The coaches weren’t getting the games done,” said Villegas.
She feared that if she didn’t become more involved, her father would be forgotten. So in 2001, she became the president and named the league after her father.
“When I think about all the time and effort my father put in, I’m proud of what it is today. Because I know that it keeps going,” said Villegas.
To preserve her father’s legacy, she trekked to Williamsport, Pennsylvania to register the local league as an official member of the Little League.
“It was like a whole different world than the South Bronx,” she found. “These guys had everything set up. They had rosters, insurance, a registration process, tournaments, and ways for the kids to learn sportsmanship and teamwork.”
To be on par with the competition, Villegas needed a deeper bench. She chose her friend Bill Flores, as vice president and enlisted Erica Hatton and Ray Rodriguez, as secretary and team manager, respectively. Hatton and Rodriguez each had a child playing in the league, sometimes against each other. Eventually the rivals became a couple.
“We always joke that we’re going to have a wedding in third base,” said Villegas, who points to her friends as an example of the family environment that is crucial for the league’s success.
She says parents have to be shown “that they can stay in the Bronx but do the right thing—and that their kids are just as deserving as all the other kids.” She adds that it’s easy for kids to fall into the wrong hands if there are no activities to keep them busy.
“Keeping them out of the streets, that’s my main concern,” says Hatton. Her husband believes that league not only improves the kids’ athletic abilities, it also builds character.
“My passion is to try to make gentlemen out of these kids,” said Rodriguez.
“It brings out the best in me,” said 12-year-old Efren Madera. “You get dirty and hit home runs. It’s such an awesome game.” It’s a sentiment echoed by his teammates.
“I don’t have boys, I have two girls. I don’t have to do this, but my dad put so much love into it,” said Villegas. While she has thought of stepping aside, the memory of her father inspires her to keep going.
“Every time I look at his picture and I say you know what, all that time you spent in the park. Look,” she said pointing to the kids on the field. “When we do the parade sometimes I just cry because they’re shouting his name.”
A version of this story appeared in the June issue of The Hunts Point Express.