Officials estimate between 30-40 teams from around the southeast will be taking part in the event. Already confirmed are teams from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Virginia.
That includes two Jackson County teams and one from Jefferson.
The tournament is for Dizzy Dean 11-year-old league teams from 13 states. The league is named in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean, who went on to become a broadcaster after his playing career.
The main venues for the World Series will be the fields at Lamar Murphy Park and East Jackson Park.
Jackson County Park and Recreation director Rick Sanders says he and his staff have been preparing for the event since last fall.
“On the fields, we’ve been beefing up our turf a little with some fertilizer and trying to get our fields in tip top shape,” Sanders said. “They always stay in good shape, but they’re going to take a pounding on those five days. You’re talking about six or seven games per day on each field. We’re building clay mounds for the World Series.”
Sanders said that he and his staff have been meeting every couple of weeks to make sure they are on the same page. They’ve discussed concession menus, logistics, plans for the opening ceremonies, design of the World Series logo, the event program and answering questions.
“It’s a lot of planning,” he said. “It’s a little bit different from planning a regular recreation program. These teams are coming from out of the area, so there’s a lot more involved as far as directions, information, using the web correctly and communicating with people who don’t know anything about our community. It’s really a lot more disseminating information than anything else.”
Sanders said that preparation for the event has taken about three to four times the planning that a normal recreation program would take.
The logo for the 11-year-old Dizzy Dean World Series.
Sanders said his department has worked for the last six to eight months to inform businesses in Jackson County about the influx of business the World Series will bring to the area.
“We’ve been working with the motels some in the area about accommodations. The hotel reservations are a big thing. This is going to benefit (the businesses), and in turn, benefit the community. The big beneficiaries will be the hotels, the restaurants and some of the shops up at the Tanger outlets, at Jefferson and some of the convenience stores. Those are the big winners.”
Sanders said hosting the event brings a lot of excitement for the area.
“It’s exciting for me because we get to show off our community, our parks and what a great place Jackson County is to live,” he said. “Some of the folks that come in might decide to relocate here, or maybe a business might choose to come here.”
“The exciting part is first getting to help the local community that supports us and also showing off our programs here,” he added.
The Dizzy Dean World Series is the first of this type to be held in the county in about 23 years, Sanders said.
“Commerce held a Babe Ruth World Series back in 1986, I believe,” he said. “So it’s been since then that we’ve had an event of this size. We’ve had some state tournaments and some district tournaments, but nothing like a World Series like this.”
Jackson County Park and Recreation has worked with Dizzy Dean for the last five years, hosting district and state tournaments.
And the community is lending their support. Gresham Motorsports Park, formerly Peach State Speedway, announced that they were coming onboard as the presenting sponsor of the event.
“It is great to have Gresham Motorsports Park as our presenting sponsor and we look forward to working with them on this event as well as others in the future,” Sanders said in a press release last week.
Any businesses interested in the sponsorship program can contact Sanders at 706-367-6350. Individual sponsorships are also available for $25, which will get the sponsor a tournament pass and recognition in the program.
Sanders said volunteers are also needed.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Commerce News.
