On a sunny early summer Saturday morning in1975, one of Dave Talan’s neighbors on Santiago Street in the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood on the southside of Providence asked Dave if he would come with him to the J.T. Owens field over in the Huntington Industrial Park on Niantic Avenue. They were going to watch the neighbor’s son play in the Elmwood Little League.
One of the league officials, Pete McGuirl, started talking to Dave and asked him if he ever played baseball. Dave said, “Not in little league, but I did play pickup baseball growing up with my friends.” “That’s great,” said McGuirl, “I need an umpire today for one of the minor league games. Here’s a clicker to keep track of balls and strikes.” A little taken aback, 30 minutes later Dave wandered out behind the mound on the minor league field and shouted, “Play Ball!”
The very first pitch was a strike and Dave called “Strike one.” The manager of the team at bat came screaming out of the dugout yelling “That pitch was outside!” Dave gathered himself for a moment, let the manager rant for a few more moments, and understood that he was being tested. Time stood still for a few moments, as all the players and the fans stared at Dave. Finally, Talan calmly told the manager loud enough to be heard by all the players and fans “That was a strike, and if you don’t go back to your dugout, I will toss you out of the game.”
And so began Dave Talan’s 50-year commitment to the Elmwood LL and its players. Over the years Dave has worked with scores of dedicated parent volunteers to help run the largest little league and the largest youth sports program in Providence. He has worn many hats: umpire, coach, scorekeeper, annual report author, fundraiser, player agent, groundskeeper, and league President.
As league record keeper, he has team rosters from years ago and even some scorecards. City Councilman Jim Taylor contacted Dave when he was first running for Providence City Council to see if he had the rosters for teams that Taylor had coached 12 years prior. Dave, of course, had them and sent the names to Taylor who then contacted the players, now voting adults, to urge them to vote for him.
Dave, who has no children, when asked why he keeps participating in the Elmwood Little League after 50 years, responded: “Well, it’s gratifying to see the kids develop and to make friendships and have fun. The Elmwood Little League is more than teaching boys and girls on how to hit a ball or how to catch a flyball. We try to teach every player about teamwork, hard work, resilience, and commitment. Winning is nice of course, but it’s just the icing on the cake.”
The players in the Elmwood Little League have been blessed with many dedicated coaches. Dave mentioned the late Judy Speaks, who passed in 2004, and who coached one of the Elmwood LL girls’ softball teams. In her last coaching season she was very ill and coached every practice and every game from her wheelchair. Her very presence was powerful and it meant a huge amount to every player, not only on her team, but to every player in the league who witnessed her dedication.
One of Dave Talan’s fellow coaches, Chris Campbell, the father of several players in the Elmwood Little League, who coached the Contenti team with Dave this year, discussed Dave’s coaching style. “He really teaches the kids the fundamentals of the game. And he also gets to know each kid and to be a role model for them. Dave has taught me a lot about coaching young kids. His passion to teach youth and to care about the Elmwood community has inspired me to be a better coach and a better person.”
Over the years, the Elmwood Little League coaches also have done well in teaching the game of baseball. The league has had much success on the field, winning city championships, district and state championships, and even New England championships. It also has had a few of its players go on to fame outside of baseball in the NFL, notably Deon Anderson and Will Blackmon.
The league’s most famous baseball graduate is Jeremy Pena, who played in the Elmwood Little League in the 2007-2010 era, before starring at Classical High School, the University of Maine, and the Houston Astros. Pena was the MVP of the Astros’ American League Championship series win over the New York Yankees and their World Series win over Philadelphia in 2022. Talan remembers Pena’s dad, Geronimo Pena, a former major leaguer with the St. Louis Cardinals (1990-95), as just another dad helping out in the league like other parents. Talan also points out, “With Jeremy Pena’s success with the Astros, at least ten coaches in the Elmwood Little League have taken credit for his success!” Jeremy Pena remembers the 2010 Elmwood Little League team that won the city and district champions. “It was a great group of guys, and to this day, they’re some of my best friends.” (Boston Globe, 10/28/22)
Talan has a unique perspective about the Elmwood LL and its role in the community, “For me, the Elmwood Little League is also important as a neighborhood institution. The league connects parents and neighbors, not just kids, And some of these connections last into the next generation. I’m coaching kids now who are the children of kids I coached 20-30 years ago.”
Dave mentioned Ed Cooley, former Providence College basketball coach. Cooley played in the Elmwood Little League as a young boy, and it was no secret at the time that he had a troubled and dysfunctional home life. The father of one of Cooley’s little league teammates recognized the situation and brought Cooley into his family and raised him until Cooley went to college.
It is ironic how strong a role the Elmwood Little League now plays in the neighborhood. The location of its prime baseball complex, The J.T. Owens Fields, is in the Huntington Industrial Park off Niantic Avenue in Providence. The Industrial Park was created by the Providence Redevelopment Authority (PRA) in the 1960’s when it demolished a thriving but disheveled West Elmwood neighborhood, one of the many “slum clearance” efforts of the PRA in Providence in the 1960’s. West Elmwood was primarily populated by African American families who were forced to scatter to other areas of Providence.
The Elmwood Little League has changed with the times. It was one of the first little leagues in Providence to form softball teams for girls and the first league to allow girls on its previously all boys baseball teams. It also has had to adapt to a significant change in the youth sports landscape in the city. Before COVID, the Elmwood Little League had 800 players. Today it has less than 300. Fewer kids are playing baseball and some of the little leagues in Providence have folded or left the little league model for more informal play.
Because the Elmwood Little League serves Dominican neighborhoods in the city, it has been able to remain relatively healthy because of the Dominican love of baseball. Talan, himself, also has had to adapt to a league now predominantly made up of Hispanic players. He’s taken evening classes at CCRI to learn Spanish so he can communicate with the parents and the parent volunteers.
Running a little league in a relatively poor city like Providence is a tough job, mostly a thankless job. Never enough funds, volunteers, or parental support. Dave is just one little league hero in Providence. Richard Hemphill of the Silver Lake-Olneyville league was another one who recently retired. John Fargnoli still keeps the Elmhurst league running season after season. But the little leagues in Providence keep shrinking every year.
It is tempting to look at Dave Talan’s 50 years of commitment to the Elmwood Little League and measure his and the league’s success simply in numbers: the thousands of kids that are Elmwood LL “graduates”, the championships, the players who have gone on to success as baseball players in high school and college. Those figures don’t begin to measure, however, the values and dedication that are taught and witnessed on the baseball diamonds at the J.T. Owens fields on Niantic Avenue.
The Elmwood Little League is a prime example of a neighborhood institution that connects neighbors, much like neighborhood libraries, places of worship, bowling alleys, and neighborhood associations. These places and institutions bring us together and make us feel like we are part of a neighborhood.
The Elmwood Little League is also a reminder of the key role that our open spaces and parks can play in our city. Public spaces that are activated with sports leagues and programs bring neighbors together. They are part of the connective tissue that make us care about Providence and about each other.
S.J. Jackson is a lifelong baseball fan with great appreciation of youth sports activities and their role in building neighborhood connections. He has been a resident of Providence for over 40 years and is a fan of Providence parks and open spaces.
