"Herb Sellers - Class of 1968"

"I'm busy now. Time to get started," says Herb Sellers, all lean energy bordering on desperation as he surveys the Field of Dreams at Long Meadow Park on Liberty Street.

The two fields are shaggy, but green with promise. Advertisers' signs need to be strung along fences topped with yellow padding. The concrete block dugouts and two-story press box/concession stand need a touch up of white paint and Durham Bulls blue. A few shredded asphalt shingles from a dugout roof dot one of the clay infields.

That's just the top of Sellers' to-do list as he races toward the Saturday, April 12, opening day when about 400 boys and girls, ages 5 to 12, will don new uniforms to play baseball in the Durham Bulls Youth Athletic League. The league is a joint effort by the Durham Bulls and the Durham Parks and Recreation Department, with an assist from private donations. The league gives low-income children from impoverished North East Central Durham a chance to play the American pastime for free.

"What I see is that [the kids] actually get introduced to structured activities that [carry] a benefit down the line, especially in the discipline, teamwork and responsibility," says Frank Jacobs Jr., a youth coach for more than 25 years. "It's an absolute need in our environment.  So many will be lost without baseball.”

But before the first ball is teed up, before the first crisp new ballcap swallows a young head, Sellers is jumping as the league chairman. The deadline for signing up players has passed, but Sellers encourages registrants to get on the waiting list. Earlier this week, players were drafted for the 30 teams.

Today from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., there will be a field cleanup that includes edging the infield, smoothing out holes around the bases and picking up trash and hanging 10 advertising signs. Volunteers can contact Sellers.

The Bulls have sponsored the league since 1995 as a nonprofit with a current annual budget of $20,000 to $25,000. About 90 percent of the budget comes from the Bulls' $8,000 donation and its solicitation of local businesses.

An additional five percent is generated from Bulls' initiatives such as jersey and souvenir auctions and the $10 charge for posting a birthday on the Blue Monster scoreboard at games. The remaining five percent results from community fundraisers like the fish fries initiated by Sellers and his group.