Baseball scoreboard unveiled

Government, sports, and IT&E officials do the ceremonial ribbon cutting for the newly installed baseball scoreboard at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield yesterday. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The long wait for a scoreboard at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios is over.

IT&E installed the equipment last month and held a ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday with no less than Gov. Ralph DLG Torres attending the inauguration and was joined by Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, other government officials, and members and officers of the CNMI sports community.

“It’s long overdue and I am very sure our athletes will appreciate the new scoreboard. Thank you to IT&E for their continued support, not only to the local government, but also to the sports community,” said Torres.

“Thank you to IT&E for seeing the need to have a scoreboard at the ‘Tan Ko’ field. It’s nice to have a big board up there so people watching the game can understand what’s happening right away instead of checking the score sheets,” Apatang said. “I am sure ‘Tan Ko’ will be happy to find out that we have a scoreboard now.”

“Tan Ko” is the long-time statistician of baseball games at the pitch that is named after him. The CNMI Sports Hall of Famer’s grandson Rep. John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan) remembers how the old scoreboard was still functioning when his grandfather used to take stats of the matches.

“That was more than 20 years ago, I was still playing for the Hustlers in the Senior League. It’s always nice to check the scoreboard each time our team scores or our pitcher makes strikeouts. It makes the crowd loud, as they count and urge our pitcher to get the third out,” Sablan said.

For Michael White, president of Northern Marianas Sports Association, which manages and operates the baseball field and other facilities at the Oleai Sports Complex, the installation of the new scoreboard is very timely, as the CNMI will be hosting the Pacific Mini Games in 2021.

“Baseball, which is the island’s first love, will be our featured sports when we host the Mini Games in 2012 and the scoreboard will be the centerpiece of the competition,” White said. “Thank you IT&E for your generosity.”

IT&E chief executive officer James Oehlerking joined government and sports officials in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly installed baseball scoreboard and reiterated the company’s long-term commitment to the CNMI and its improvement projects, be it in sports or other areas.

“We are thrilled to finally get this installation done. We actively support a variety of sports in the CNMI, as well as other activities on the islands. We will continue to expand our contributions to the CNMI and remain committed to its various sports programs,” said Oehlerking, a Chicago Cubs fan.

IT&E Saipan general manager Rose Soledad echoed Oehlerking’s statements, saying the company will have more partnerships with the community. One of them is the NMI Museum of History and Culture, as IT&E will start coordinating with its management to find out how the telecommunication company could assist with the museum’s problems.