Tony Comden, a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, remembers sitting inside PNC Park in Pittsburgh prior to a Tigers-Pirates interleague matchup during the summer of 2009 and being moved to tears by a presentation on the outfield scoreboard honoring the founder of a Miracle League field for handicapped children.
It inspired a passion deep inside him to bring the Miracle League closer to home.
He hoped to create a sanctuary where his son, Jed, who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor just shy of his 3rd birthday, and other children with disabilities might experience the same thrills as Little Leaguers everywhere.
Almost three years later, Comden, 42, of Zeeland, has a commitment from the West Michigan Sports Commission to include a privately funded turf field for special-needs children as part of the 12-field championship baseball and softball complex at 10 Mile Road and U.S. 131 in Plainfield Township.
“It just spoke to me,” Comden said of the Miracle League concept. “I remember when Jeddy got out of the hospital following his surgery, he couldn't even sit up by himself. They removed a golf-ball-sized tumor that was partially embedded in his brain stem. He had trouble sitting, walking, talking.
“It affected his gross and fine motor skills. I didn't know that I would ever have the opportunity to play catch with him.”
Since his operation, Jed has made miraculous progress.