Sportscaster Bryant Gumbel once said, "The other sports are just sports. Baseball is love."

It is obvious that Dan Wynn and Paul Staruch of Lansford feel this way. The two have a combined 105 years of dedication and participation with youth baseball in Lansford.On Saturday April 29, the two men were presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards during the official opening of Lansford Little League Baseball.The league marked the opening with a 60th anniversary program for youth baseball in the community.Long-time commitmentWynn and Staruch were given the honor of tossing the first pitches. They were then presented with Lifetime Achievement Award plaques by John Rickert, president of the league, and Mindy Turrano, vice president.Wynn became involved in 1958 when organized baseball started in Lansford. "I was a player that first year and I stayed," he said.He went from player to coach to umpire to league officer. At age 67, he still volunteers in the concession stand on a regular basis.Staruch's got hooked on baseball when his son, Thomas, played Little League in 1971. He remained a volunteer for four-and-a-half decades, still serving as concession stand manager.John Tucker, the league's announcer who emceed the opening day events, said, "Dedication, honesty, integrity, perseverance, loyalty, are just a few of the words that describe both of these gentlemen. But most of all, the best word that describes Paulie and Danny is the word 'friend.' They have been a friend to Lansford Little League Baseball and to the thousands of kids who passed through and prospered in our program."Tenure in an organization such as this does not exist in today's society. Surely they are part of the reason that our program exists and thrives today."Staruch, when asked why he remained with the little league program, said, "They needed help."If you build itBoth men agreed that the most impressive accomplishment with the league in the past 60 years was construction of the present multi-field complex in the 900 block of East Bertsch Street.Wynn gave a lot of praise to Staruch for his contributions to the field construction project, which occurred in the 1970s. He recalled Staruch manually pushing wheelbarrows full of stone and dirt the full distance of the complex during the heat of summer in an effort to help make it a reality.Staruch said the biggest problem with the construction project was finding the finances. "This was a coal bank," he said.Wynn added that when the coal was removed, clay earth was exposed. "It's tough planting grass and controlling drainage on clay," he said.Both agreed the field was a necessity if a baseball program was to survive in Lansford."They didn't have fields when we were growing up," Wynn said. "Money was tight. We built this field ourselves. We manually built this field."We had to get our own field. We played in the school district stadium. We were put out twice and had to move our games to Coaldale."Work on the Bertsch Street field was started in 1972 and the first game was played in 1976, Wynn said.Helping outStaruch started the concession stand when the new field opened. He was the concession stand's first manager 40 years ago.Wynn, a lifelong resident of Lansford, served as the borough tax collector for 32 years.Staruch also is a lifelong Lansford resident, who ran the East End Athletic Association in town for over 50 years.Rickert, who is in his eighth year as a volunteer with the Lansford program, said of the honorees, "If it wasn't for them, and people like them, we wouldn't be here."The Lansford program has grown to the extent that a youngster can start playing T-Ball at age four and remain playing on Lansford's fields until they are 19 years old.The Little League Association has six teams under its charter - two T-ball teams, one 7-and-8 year old team, one 9-and-10 year old team, one 11-and-12 year old team and one girls' softball team. The fields are also used by Junior Babe Ruth and Senior Babe Ruth team.History lessonTucker presented a history of the league, narrating a first person viewpoint with the voice being that of the league."My name is Mr. Lansford Little League Baseball, or Mr. LLLB to all my friends," he said.He said, "As a kid growing up we didn't have a lot of money, so I lived in rental properties and had to move around quite a bit," referring to the various fields used for the baseball program. "I lived in the west end of town, in the east end of town, I moved back to the west end, I even lived in Coaldale for a few months. This became very tiresome and nerve racking."He continued, "It wasn't until 1976 that I moved into my permanent home in the 900 block of East Bertsch Street here in Lansford. It took a lot of work and sacrifice, but the new place turned out A-OK."Tucker mentioned the expansions to the field since then, and the addition of girls softball in the 1970s."I love being here and being a member of your community," Tucker said as though he was the field talking. "I love all of you for being my friends and enjoying the game of baseball with me. Together I hope we can continue to enjoy the warm sunshine and pleasant memories for years to come."Special guestsAttending were various local, county and state officials, including Jean Papay, the staff manager for State Representative Doyle Heffley, and Carbon County Commissioner William O'Gurek.Angelo Nardini sang the National Anthem.Players from all the Lansford Little League teams assembled on the field and were introduced individually.Many of the several hundred people who attended had gone through the Lansford Little League program, which at one time was called the Ed "Cut" Gildea League.Joseph Kalista and Don Gildea were among those who attended.Kalista, who now lives in Barnesville, said he was number 141 of 200 youngsters to register for baseball in the league's first year.He played in the first game in Lansford and Don Gildea umpired.Kalista, who was only 9 when his father died in the military, recalled how younsters shared gloves and bats in the early days of the league. The uniforms were made of wool "and very hot," he said.Kalista had photos from the early days of Lansford baseball that he displayed.Robert Dobosh of Lansford had copies of the programs from some of the first banquets held by the league.The old times recalled that among the stars who attended the banquets were Rocky Colavito, a major league baseball player with the Cleveland Indians, and Chris Short, a pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies.