Rec Sports
Whaling City Youth Baseball League celebrates 75 years
NEW BEDFORD — Peter Boswell has found memories of his mother watching him play baseball for the Whaling City Youth Baseball League in the late 1970s.
Now that he’s a grandfather, Boswell has moved to the outside of the fence at Brooklawn Park in the city’s North End.
“I remember my mother sitting in the outfield where I sit now,” said Boswell. “From playing to being a coach and watching my son play there to now my grandson being a bat boy, it’s incredible.”
The Boswells are just one of many families that have seen generations grow up playing baseball for Whaling City as the league enters its 75th year this spring with a special Opening Day ceremony on Sunday, May 4.
“Whaling City is about families,” said Whaling City president Dave Dumont. “I played there in the early 70s then my son and daughter played there and now my granddaughter plays there.
“That’s what keeps it going. People leave for a few years and they come back and they become coaches.”
Some people like Dumont have never left.
WHY DAVE DUMONT KEEPS COMING BACK?
Of his 30 years with the league, Dumont has been on the board for 29. He’s entering his 26th year as president.
“My son (Shane) was 7 years old and he wanted to play baseball,” said Dumont of how it started. “I went and signed him up. Somebody doing signups asked me if I wanted to coach and I was hooked.”
Even after his son, Shane, graduated from the league in 1999 and his daughter, Savannah, switched to Bay State softball, Dumont stuck around.
“The simple fact of helping out the community,” he said. “We have roughly between 400 and 450 kids every year. You’re giving back to the community.”
In addition to his duties as league president, Dumont continues to coach two teams: SouthCoast Towing Senior and SouthCoast Towing Instructional.
“It’s just phenomenal,” said league historian Steve Carreiro of Dumont. “He’s done it for 26 years; a third of the life of the league has had one president.”
BASEBALL A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR TOM VIERA
Another fixture at Whaling City has been Tom Viera, who is entering his 49th year in the league. He’s served on the board for four decades.
“Talk about dedication,” said Carreiro. “He coached and his son played and his grandson played too.”
Viera’s son, Tommy, wasn’t born until 1983, but he first began coaching at Whaling City in 1977 as he was following a “neighborhood kid” named Alan Roseman.
“He asked me to come down and watch and next thing I know I was inside the field,” recalled Viera, who coached for 19 years.
Not only did his son and stepsons play, his granddaughter, Avery Viera, graduated from the league and his grandsons, Landon Viera and Camdyn Messier, are currently playing.
“We bleed Whaling City blue,” Viera said. “It went full circle. My son played. It’s just something about the league. Now my grandkids came and I had to stick around and do a few more years.”
It was also at Whaling City where Viera met his wife, Kathie.
“Her kids were playing on a different team and I knew them,” said Viera, noting that they’ve been together for 35 years and married for the past 10. “I met my wife because of the league.”
Even though the Viera family now lives in Freetown, they spend most of their summer nights in New Bedford.
“Going from watching my son to watching my grandchildren and the friends we‘ve made are unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s the place you could go to socialize every night; it’s a community,” Boswell said. “It’s the quality and time people commit themselves. They put so much time and effort into making it run smoothly … 75 years, that’s a long time to run a league.
“Kudos to all the guys that put their heart and soul into the league.”
WHALING CITY ENJOYS GROWTH OVER THE YEARS
Established in 1951 as the Eagles Little League, it is one of the oldest youth baseball organizations in the state.
“They decided to start a league for kids,” said Carreiro. “There were leagues for adults. Adults have a league; why don’t the kids have a league?”
There were eight teams the first year and it grew to 14 the following season and has stuck with that number consistently over the years.
Now with tee ball and instructional included, Whaling City features 30 teams for children ranging in age from 4 to 12 years old.
“It provides an organized structure to play baseball,” Carreiro said. “When I was a kid, you’d play baseball all of the time in the sandlot. If it wasn’t for organized leagues, kids would be playing baseball on their own or not at all.”
“It’s been very important for the city,” Viera said. “We put 400 kids on the field almost every year.”
When the league started, there was just one field at Brooklawn Park. Now there are three fields, bullpens and batting cages.
“The complex has changed tremendously,” Carreiro said. “The facility has had so much improvement from when I played. Now they have bullpens and batting cages and new lights. The fields are wonderfully done.”
DeBROSS OIL ENJOYS HISTORIC 2024 SEASON
Since 1956, the City Championship has taken place 44 times with Greater New Bedford winning 8 times and the South End victorious 17 times. Whaling City has won the City Championship 19 times, including in 2024 by DeBross Oil.
Last fall DeBross Oil capped off a perfect season by sweeping Farland Corp of the South End for the team’s second City Championship and first since 1982.
DeBross became just the ninth Whaling City team to go undefeated for a season (33-0) and outscored the competition a combined 354-42.
Team members included Max Mutnansky, Parker Pacheco, Logan Pacheco, Easton Souza, Jonathan DaSilva, Christian Carvalho, Michael Galarza, Austin Rodrigues, Ben Bedard, Aaliyah Alfonso, Max Borges, Nico Costa, Logan Sargent, Jax Thomas, Cameron Copeland, Cole Galarza and Camden Harrison. The DeBross staff featured manager Jeff Pacheco and coaches Kyle Alfonso, Jaime Carvalho, Bruce David, Matt Mutnansky and Ryan Rodrigues.
LEAGUE TIDBITS
- Diamond 4 at Brooklawn Park is named Ladetto Field after former president Lee Ladetto.
- The league has had 14 presidents over the 75 years.
- Starting in 1981, the league has given out scholarships annually to former players going off to college.
- Whaling City baseball has sent one player — Tom McCarthy — to the Major Leagues. McCarthy was drafted by the Red Sox in 1979 and went on to play for the White Sox.
- One franchise — Table 8, which got its start at Parent’s Variety — has fielded a team every year since 1951.
- The great, great grandson of Milton T. Weaver, one of the league’s three founders, will be at the Opening Day ceremonies.
OPENING DAY
The parade featuring all of the league’s teams will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 4 on Acushnet Avenue. The Opening Day ceremony will start at 10 a.m. on Diamond 4 at Brooklawn Park.