Baseball City takes a final at bat

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers FASTBALL—Agoura Hills resident Eric Corsello gets his licks in.

It has been about a month since baseball fans learned that the quaint, outoftheway business in Agoura Hills known simply as "the batting cages" would be closing.

 

On the final day—July 31—a stream of regulars couldn't help but stop by one last time to bid owners Sol and Dottie Ickovitz and manager John Tata a final farewell.

Baseball City—which served a generation of boys and girls who relished anything that had to do with a ball and a bat—opened in 1986 on Agoura Road in Agoura Hills. Sol and Dottie purchased the business in 1988 and over the years turned the operation into more than just a place for kids to smack baseballs and softballs. A small practice diamond for hitting and fielding instruction was added, along with an arcade and a shop that sold baseballrelated equipment.

Alex Weiss began his weekly trek to the cages with his dad, Carl, when he was 4 years old. Now 12, Alex said the closure of his favorite place is "a hard pill to swallow."

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers BATTER UP—Joey Ruotolo wears the familiar Baseball City helmet.

Because Alex was such a loyal customer the owners gave him the Baseball City sign as a souvenir.

Now batting

Since the property was tucked next to the Whizin's Shopping Center at such an odd location— the front was facing the side of the old Lumber City, now the Do-it Center hardware store—the owners were allowed to lease the land at a low rate, said Bill Tucker, owner of Tucker Investment Group in Calabasas.

Tucker, who purchased the Whizin's mall in 2007 for $26.2 million, made the unpopular decision to end the Baseball City lease and begin redevelopment of the site as part of the Agoura Village residential and commercial project.

"I knew it was coming; I just didn't know when," Sol Ickovitz said. "(Tucker) has been very nice, a gentleman. . . . In his mind it's just a business decision. He holds all the cards; we have no leverage."

Tucker said he, too, has enjoyed the batting cages over the years, but that the property is destined for future development.

"I took my boys there," he said. "I'd love to find a new home for (Ickovitz)."

Tucker even enlisted city officials in the hunt for a new batting cages location, but land is expensive and scarce, he said. The ideal spot would have to be too "remote," he said.

"If we had some vacant land to lease out, that would be an option, but we don't have that," Tucker said. "Unfortunately, he's gotten a great lease because it was off to the side. It worked out to be a good use there, but because that location is changing, it's no longer a profitable business."

"Right now (we have an) ideal place, behind the Do-it Center, away from everything," Sol Ickovitz said.

Baseball City was never intended to be a high-profit business, said Sol's wife.

"Our son was playing Little League," she said. "Sol (just) wanted to get something else going."

Strike three

The search for another location hasn't been successful.

"There's not that many good locations for the type of business we have," Sol Ickovitz said. "Unfortunately, they're not around, and it's expensive to move."

Ickovitz, who's 62, added that even if he and his wife did find another location at a reasonable price they'd more than likely have to petition the city for a zoning change. He said it's difficult to find the right combination of location size and cost.

"We're not moving; we're closing down," said Tata, manager of Baseball City for 20 years.

Michael Shearer, a director for Agoura Pony Baseball, said Baseball City was a place where many local kids grew up, measuring each passing year with a step up in skills. When they're young they can could hit the 40 mph pitches; as they got older they could pop 70.

"It's part of the community," Shearer said. New York City has Yankee Stadium. Agoura Hills has The Batting Cages.

The long goodbye

Thurs., July 31, Moms, dads, children—even a bus carrying the Agoura Bronco all-star team— stopped by for a final day at the cages and one last swing for the fences.

Paul Holcomb, a parent of the one of the all-stars, said he's been coming to Baseball City for years.

"We decided to hit here one last time before they close it," Holcomb said. "All our kids grew up in these cages."

John Scheuerman has come to Baseball City every week for 18 years to keep his skills sharp for a men's senior league. The West Hills resident said batting is a great way to relieve stress.

Michael and Brenda Shearer and their children also stopped to say goodbye and get in a few final licks.

"I'm devastated," Brenda Shearer said.

And, from Henry Baker, 13: "I'm really sad. I come here a lot— two to three times a week. It's basically where I learned how to hit."

On Aug. 2, as the weekend be began, the batting cages stood silent.

New game in town?

Tucker said he's considering several alternatives for the land, including a parking lot or a building.

"(Whizin's) itself can't stay in the state it is in," Tucker said. "It will be vastly improved. It will evolve."

Like the new and improved Yankee Stadium, Tucker's plans for the old shopping center—and Baseball City—are going high tech.

"We want to make it a very pedestrianfriendly neighborhood—an urban living room."

He plans on maintaining the historical ambiance of the Whizin's arcade building, but change the "dark, dreary and dusty" appearance into a "white, bright and light" area.

As for Dottie and Sol Ickovitz, well, they're not ready to hang up their cleats just yet. Dottie wants her husband to find a new home for Baseball City, because, she says, "He plays here."