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The New York-Penn League season may be over, but there was a great baseball story in Coney Island on Sunday at Keyspan Park. Army major, and Bensonhurst native, Doug LeVien Jr. organized a baseball game between Xavier High School alumni against current players from Xavier's baseball team. The reason for the game? A celebration of LeVien's safe return from Iraq. LeVien retuned home from Iraq on September 11th and earned a Bronze Star for his work in Iraq as an Army logistics officer where he helped plan air drops of supplies as an alternative to the dangerous roads in the region.
When asked about the game, LeVien told the Daily News, "It's a great way to have a homecoming. There's no better place to play baseball or be a baseball fan than right here in Brooklyn." LeVien's mother said that her son spent more than $5000 of his own money to rent the stadium and started organizing the game while he was still in Iraq.
In case you're wondering, the Xavier alums won the game, 7-4 and the 34 year-old LeVien was 3-5 with a double and an RBI. Not a bad game for his homecoming.
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I was one of the Xavier alums who played in the game. I also had the pleasure of playing with Doug when we were at Xavier - he is a year ahead of me. Doug paid out of his pocket to rent the stadium (it wasn't cheap) and asked for nothing in return except an opportunity to play ball again with his classmates and teammates. Truly a selfless guy, I hope Doug thoroughly enjoyed the day at Keyspan Park and the camraderie of being a ballplayer again. Thanks, Doug, for all that you did to organize this event, and thanks for your service to the nation. See you on the high ground!
John Giordano
Major, U. S. Army