Ban Lifted, Dad Can See His Son Play Ball Again

The is over—and the father is now free to watch his son play baseball.

That's according to a statement from the PTWLL's disciplinary committee:

Par-Troy West Little League received its first written letter of apology from Scott Dean on June 26 via e-mail.  No prior written letter was e-mailed or sent via U.S. mail.  Anything said to the contrary is false. 

As such the disciplinary committee reviewed his apology and it has been decided that Mr. Dean's letter satisfactorily acknowledges his misdeeds and appears to also convey a sincere apology for the inconveniences he brought upon the board with his erroneous assertions of financial impropriety.

Mr. Dean is now permitted to watch his son play in league-sanctioned games. 

As Mr. Dean pointed out in his  letter, the audit conducted at his behest clearly bore out what everyone in town already knew: that we run a clean program for the children in our community.

Patch studied a number of missives sent from Dean to the league this year that do contain apologies. These letters, however, do not acknowledge guilt for making accusations against PTWLL that leaders—and an audit—said were false. The league from the dispute's start insisted that in addition to an apology, the banned father had to say outright that the league had done nothing wrong. 

In 2011, the , who raised questions over PTWLL leadership's handling on league monies after its board rejected the man's application to serve as a team coach. Under the ban, the father was not permitted to step foot on PTWLL property, which is leased from the town.

The promised penalty for noncompliance was threatened arrest by .

The dispute became heated as Dean and the league traded accusations and each side charged the other with attempted character assassination. 

Throughout, the league insisted Dean's charges were specious and that his words damaged the organization's reputation unfairly. The board insisted that Dean apologize formally and state explicitly that his statements were false, something he for a time refused to do.

After a year of back-and-forth, in order to try and elicit government support for his cause on the basis that because the league leased the land for the PTWLL complex, it had no right to bar entry to any resident.

The council told Dean on more than one occasion that and that the league had the right to have him arrested for trespassing if he showed up for a game in violation of the ban.

But behind the scenes, Council President Brian Stanton and Councilman Paul Carifi Jr. went to bat for Dean with league leadership, according to Dean.

Stanton told Patch a few weeks ago that he was acting as a mediator not for Dean's benefit, but in the best interests of Dean's 10-year-old son.

Eventually, the warring sides came to a rapprochement, and Dean sent the league a written apology along with a long-awaited mea culpa. The final letters are dated in May, but they apparently did not reach league leadership until June 26.

"I am very happy to know that I will be able to watch my son play in the future," Dean told Patch. "Special thanks to Mr. Stanton and Mr. Carifi from the Town Council, who cared enough to help broker this repeal of the ban."

What do you think? Let us know in comments and take the .