Monroe-Woodbury Little League: About Us

The mission of the Monroe-Woodbury Little League is to provide players with the opportunity to experience the game of baseball in a safe, supportive environment which stresses fun, sportsmanship, character building and learning

Welcome to the Monroe Woodbury Little League. Our league has over 900 players ranging in age from 5-18. We register annually in October and from October to April our Board of Directors are busy at work planning the upcoming season. 2013 will be our 62nd season of playing Little League Baseball and our second season of Little League Softball!  We hope this will be our best season yet. Play Ball!!!

Here is a little history of our league: On October 25, 1950, the Lions Club held their regular Wednesday lunchtime meeting. The guest speaker was Bo Gill (sports editor of the Newburgh Daily News) and his topic was Little League Baseball.

Now, it should be understood that Little League was still a new idea in 1950. Although the program had started 10 years earlier in Williamsport, PA, there was only one Little League in Orange County and that was the Newburgh organization that had been started by Mr. Gill during the previous year.

There is no record of what Mr. Gill said that afternoon, but he must have been convincing, because the next morning the Monroe Gazette reported that the Lions Club had decided to start a Little League of their own. The Lions applied to Williamsport for a charter and since this was issued in 1950, Williamsport recognizes the year 2000 as Monroe-Woodbury's 50th anniversary - even though games did not begin until 1951.

Murray Krasnoff (who owned a pharmacy on Lake Street in Monroe) directed the effort to get the league started. Among the many people who assisted him were Fred Newbury (the league's first treasurer) and Bill "Pop" Rogers (who became the leagues first president and was later the Supervisor of the Town of Monroe).

The challenges that faced these gentlemen and their colleagues were recruiting, fund-raising and finding a place to play.

Their attempt to attract players began immediately. By November 2nd (just on week after Bo Gill's address), a simple application appeared in the Monroe Gazzette. Boys between the ages of 8 and 12 who were interested in playing Little League Baseball were asked to supply their name, date of birth and home address. (It's interesting to note that there was no place provided for a parent's authorizing signature). These forms could be mailed to Mr. Krasnoff at his pharmacy or handed to him during business hours. They could also be submitted at the applicant's school.

While the title on the application read "Little League Baseball of Monroe, NY," membership was not restricted to residents of Monroe. Youngsters from Highland Mills and Central Valley were invited to join. It is likely that the founders were concerned that Monroe, by itself, would not have enough players to form a league.

Since, in those days, Monroe and Woodbury each had their own education system, the two towns were united as a Little League before they were joined together as a school district.

Soon, after the enrollment form appeared in the newspaper, it became available in schools and in Mr. Krasnoff's pharmacy. To stimulate interest in the project, the headquarters in Williamsport shipped two films (entitled "Little League Baseball" and "Little League World Series"). These were shown without charge the day after Christmas at the Monroe High School (which is now North Main Street School). The following Spring, the Colonial Theatre in Monroe offered a Grantland Rice short feature called "Little Big Leaguers." It was shown on three consecutive days and was well-attended.

By the time practice started on May 1, 1951, there were 138 boys signed up and only 72 openings for players.