With less than three months until opening day, the largest local youth baseball program in the northwest Bronx has no place to play. Because of construction projects in many of the borough’s parks, the city says everyone, even the kids, are going to have to sacrifice playing time this year.

“Every time we reconstruct a ball field, somebody gets displaced,” said Hector Aponte, the Bronx parks commissioner. “We are going through this unprecedented period of construction right now.”

This construction stems from the $240 million in park restoration money that the borough received in exchange for letting the city build a massive water treatment plant on the grounds of Van Cortlandt Park in the northwest Bronx. Aponte said about 16 of the Bronx’s 118 ball fields will be renovated this year.

Because that money is written into legislation, Aponte said, they must use it all by 2009 or risk losing it. That’s why many of the fields are being renovated at the same time.

The construction glut leaves the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) Little League, which accommodates about 800 young ball players annually, scrambling to find a place to play.

Don Bluestone, the community center’s executive director, is not happy about the situation. Last spring, Bluestone was worried something like this might happen. But after voicing his concerns, Bluestone said the Parks Department assured him the renovation projects would be staggered and his league would have a place to play.

Bluestone’s teams normally split games between Harris Field, across the street from Lehman College in Bedford Park, and Shandler Field in Van Cortlandt Park. The league’s backup field is Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood, which doesn’t have a traditional baseball field, though parts of it can be converted for baseball use in a pinch.

Unfortunately, all three potential sites are booked for renovations this spring. (Aponte said Harris Field will actually have two of its six fields open because they are rotating the construction schedule there.)

Construction at Shandler Field was originally slated to begin next fall, in September 2008, Bluestone said. Aponte said to his knowledge the date was never that late in the year.

“All (Aponte) cares about is construction,” Bluestone said.

Bluestone said he found out about Shandler’s status second-hand about a month ago and is furious about the situation. He’s sent two letters to the Parks Department requesting a meeting to discuss the situation, but has yet to receive a response. He has also written to Council Member Oliver Koppell and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, whom he hopes will help plead his case.

From his perspective, the Parks Department is essentially telling his 800 young baseball players to ‘drop dead,’ Bluestone said. "(The Parks Department’s) attitude is: Well, what do you want us to do about it?"

Aponte said the teams will simply have to make adjustments this season. “The reality and the bottom line is that leagues will have to reduce their playing time,” Aponte said. “This isn’t the major leagues, you know,” he added later.

In an interview on Tuesday, Koppell said he was happy to hear that at least two fields at Harris will be open. He said he was concerned, but that Aponte was probably right in saying that everyone is going to have to sacrifice while the construction is going on.

Bluestone realizes the city is not going to halt construction for his little leaguers, but he hopes the Parks Department calls a meeting to bring all the leagues together so they can figure out how they’re going to weather the coming field crunch.

Aponte said such a meeting is already in the works, though no date or location has been set.