A brazen break, enter and theft has left the caretaker of the home of the Spruce City Men's Fastball League with a new and unwelcome task on his to-do list.
When Peter Ghostkeeper dropped by the facility at Carrie Jane Gray Park on Monday, March 21, he discovered an abandoned aluminum ladder and signs someone had used it to reach a window on the upper level of the scorers' booth.
Some old speakers no longer in use were stolen, as was an internet router. More troublesome, several cables were cut around the outside of the building in an apparent effort to steal the copper wiring.
It has left the SCMFL without the ability to turn on the lights and scoreboard and with a potentially-costly repair bill.
"It's upsetting and it's extra work. I think the City will maybe have to step in and do the repairs or somebody's got to do that. It's too much for us," said Ghostkeeper, who noted the SCMFL rents the diamond from the City.
Ghostkeeper said staff from the City will drop by on Monday afternoon to assess the damage.
Either way, Ghostkeeper said there is still some time before the season begins in May and is confident everything will be back in working order by then.
"We'll do something...even if we have to beg, borrow or steal," he joked. "We'll find a way."
The diamond has been the target of at least a half dozen thefts over the last five years or so. The SCMFL has responded by upgrading its security. Hard-to-cut locks wrapped in thick metal collars seemed to have been working until now.
Ghostkeeper said might now be time to install a full-blown alarm system complete with security cameras.
