Letter to the Editor: Why Tolls Affect the Baseball Leagues

To the editor: 

This pending toll is going to harm so many things that people don’t even think about. Like baseball. I play in the George Donnelly Sunset League in Newport, which is the oldest living amateur league in the country.

The league has been playing down at Cardines Field since 1919. The Sunset League mainly consists of current college players and has always had teams/players from all around the state and also the Fall River area and even Eastern CT. Since E-ZPass came to the Pell bridge and the cash toll doubled, our off island teams have suffered. Teams from Cranston, Providence, North Kingstown etc. have all had issues with this. This was a problem when filling a slot in the league. The prospective teams saying they would have problems getting guys down to Newport because of the toll.

Which brings me to my further point: The Sakonnet toll.

We have a team that is 99% from Fall River, Westport, Dartmouth. If this toll is at $4 for OOS (out of state) vehicles, these kids would be paying $8 x 25 games which is $200. The average league fee is $150 depending on fundraising. So you’re telling me that each car that comes to play from over there is going to be paying more than a league fee just to show up. RIDICULOUS!

This tax is going to keep some of the best amateur ball players from being able to play in the best league in the area. That’s without parking too...People will tell them to car pool. I get it. Makes sense right? But that’s not all that easy sometimes. My roommate and I play on 2 teams together and rarely get to ride with each other because of work schedules etc.

The Fall River boys are very good ball players. The league would take a big hit without them. I know this won’t matter to most but it matters to all of us. I just hope that the people making these decisions see how far these decisions actually go.   

- Matt Borges