North Adams and the North End play at Joe Wolfe Field in a previous matchup. The LaFesta Baseball Exchange is marking its 25th year this weekend.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Twenty-five years ago in the Boston's North End, the minds of North Adams' George Canales, John Lipa, and Tony Abuisi, and Boston's John Romano, Joe Scarano, and Carl Fitner met. As a result, both communities are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the LaFesta Baseball Exchange this weekend.

 

Back in 1990, North Adams had the LaFesta fair that took place every summer; across the commonwealth in the North End, there was an annual street fair taking place as well. The six men they decided they wanted to find a way to get young people into the action.

 

"We said, 'How do we get our youth involved?'" Canales said. "Being that I coached for quite a few years I said, 'You have a Babe Ruth league, we have one, why don't we try to have an exchange between the kids?' So in 1991, we started and twenty-five years later we're still playing the exchange."

 

Through the 25 years more than 700 players have participated through the exchange between the Boston teams and the North Adams teams. Eight of those players have signed Major League contracts, and four have come from Berkshire County: Ryan Cameron of Mount Greylock, who was drafted to the Colorado Rockies in 1998 in the 11th round; Tim Flaherty of Mount Greylock, who was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 1997 in the 30th round; Sean McGrath of Drury, who was drafted by the New York Mets in 1997; and Peter Greenbush of Drury, who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 29th round in 2001.

 

Over the years, the participation in the Babe Ruth League has declined, but the exchange has combined its forces and has taken in players from Adams, Williamstown, Hancock, Stamford, Vt., and Rowe to give the youth in nearby communities the opportunity to participate.

 

Each year when the team is selected, the board tries to involve as many new players as possible without having repeat players, to ensure the opportunity for as many kids to be involved and have the experience that the exchange brings to the youth.

 

This year, 15 players on the North Adams team will participate — first this weekend in the Steeple City and next month in Beantown.

 

"You would be shocked to see how many kids, at least from our area that have never been to Boston," Canales said. "I take them down there and they get out off the bus and are amazed by the buildings and all of the people."

 

"And then when the Boston team comes here, they go through Greenfield and it takes them about an hour and a half to get over the mountain because the kids are seeing things that they just don't see in the city."

 

This year when the Boston team comes over the Mohawk Trail, they will be heading straight to Windsor Lake, where there will be a cookout and both teams will be participating in the ROPES course under the direction of the North Adams Police Department.

 

The cookout is the kickoff to the weekend, during which the teams have a chance to meet each other, the coaches and board members to catch up, and to give the players a chance to bond with one another. Over the years that has become one of the most valuable parts of the exchange; the friendships that are created and the true values of sportsmanship that each team displays through their weekends of play against one another.

 

"What we're trying to do is bring sportsmanship back; over the last couple of years it has really died in high school play and in college, too," Canales said. 

 

Through the LaFesta exchange Canales has hope that they can keep the sportsmanship alive; over the years, he has seen between the two teams whether they win or lose. Friendships are built throughout the two weekends that the teams meet and he explained that each team is always congratulating each other on a good play or an awesome hit.

 

There is one moment that sticks in the back of his mind. About two years back, North Adams turned a triple play, the first he has ever seen in his many years of coaching.

 

"I've never in my 36 years of coaching seen a triple play," he said. "And we pulled it off and won the game 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning. The players from Boston, even though they lost, ran out on the field screaming and yelling 'Tremendous play!'

 

"It was breath taking."

 

To mark the 25th year, there will be a special opening ceremony prior to the game Saturday evening, July 25, at Joe Wolfe Field, which will involve the announcing of former players who have come back for the game, introduction of each team, the umpires who have donated their time, a color guard from Williamstown, and the singing of the national anthem by McCann Technical School student Kelly Burns.

 

This will all begin at 6 p.m. with the game to begin right after. The two teams will then play again Sunday morning at 11, when Canales' 10-year-old granddaughter Samantha Canales will sing the national anthem. At the completion of Sunday's game, there will be an Most Valuable Player Award given in memory of Robert J. "Bobby" DeCristoforo.

 

DeCristoforo, a North End native, donated most of his money to the youth programs there and contributed a lot to the youth athletics. The former Charlestown High School teacher and civic leader also spent more than 40 years as a ticket taker and usher for the Red Sox, and more than 10 working for the Bruins and Celtics.

 

He died at age 61 in 2010 while vacationing.

 

Canales wanted to honor what he did for the youth in the North End of Boston by naming the MVP award after him.

 

"When he passed, that's when I decided to make the Bobby DeCristoforo Award for MVP," he said. "Because of the nature of what he did for the kids, that's why I made this MVP in his name."

 

Each year, North Adams awards Boston with the MVP and Boston does the same when North Adams travels to the North End. Boston's MVP award is named after Tony Conigliaro, who played for the Red Sox and was hit in the face by a pitch, causing a severe eye injury that derailed his career back in 1967.

 

This year's LaFesta exchange will conclude in the North End the weekend of Aug. 1 and 2. Games will be played at 5 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 Sunday. Following the final game Sunday, the Boston team will be hosting a closing cookout on the waterfront; free to all parents and guests who attend the game.