Athletics' Winning Grant Will Refurbish McClymonds High Field
Raimondi Park, the home field for Oakland’s McClymonds High, has been selected by the Oakland A’s to be refurbished this summer.
The A’s Community Fund was named an award recipient of the Scotts Field Refurbishment Program, an initial of Major League Baseball and the Scotts Company in which teams can refurbish baseball and softball fields to four communities of need.
Having earned the award, worth about $50,000, the A’s selected McClymonds High in West Oakland for the upgrade.
“Oakland has a rich tradition of baseball and the A’s are excited to join Scotts and Major League Baseball to provide a quality, safe place for youth to play the game that we love,” A’s President Dave Kaval said in a statement. “We’re proud to continue to support McClymonds High School and the surrounding communities that will use this field, and we look forward to unveiling it later this year.”
There were nearly 500 grant applications submitted from 400 cities in 48 states for the 2020 installment of the program, and the four winning programs were selected by a panel that included three-time All-Star Ryan Howard, Olympic Gold Medal pitcher Jennie Finch, and MLB Network analyst and former outfielder Cliff Floyd, among others.
The other winners were the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana (Gary, Ind.), City of Memphis Parks and Neighborhoods (Memphis) and Ferguson Parks and Recreation (Ferguson, Mo.).
The plan is for the refurbishments at Raimondi Park to begin later this summer and are expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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