Mike Kindle

Mike Kindle and Mick Manning were invited by Dodger President Peter O’Malley to visit Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida in March, 1996. They were both players and coaches for the Irish Baseball and Softball Association and played an important role in Peter’s interest in privately building two baseball fields (for adult and youth) in Ireland. Kindle, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, served for years as President, Baseball Ireland. Kindle arranged for the first Peter O’Malley International Invitational Baseball Tournament played at Corkagh Demesne Park in Clondalkin, West Dublin, Ireland from July 12-14, 2013. The tournament was officially sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF).

Named for O’Malley, the four-team tournament featured the host Irish National Baseball Team, Rota Blue Devils, representing the United States Navy, British Baseball League entrant Liverpool Trojans and Los Barbaros, a team comprised of international players who had traveled from all over the world to compete in the tournament. “We are very excited to have Peter O’Malley return to the site of O’Malley and Dodger Fields, which he built in 1998,” said Kindle in 2013. “We appreciate Peter’s generosity and foresight in helping baseball to grow in Ireland. The fields he built for youth (O’Malley Little League) and adults (Dodger Baseball) have touched many lives in the past 15 years. Peter is in constant contact with us and is very interested in the development of baseball in Ireland and indeed, the world.” Kindle is still active in Baseball Ireland, which added a year-round indoor baseball facility in Dublin.

In 2024, Kindle provided an impressive report, “Baseball in Ireland has continued to go from strength to strength since Peter O’Malley’s Fields of Dreams were first opened in 1998. There are now nearly 1,000 players in Ireland, which includes over 500 youth players in clubs throughout the island, including Belfast in Northern Ireland. There is a fully functioning and growing Academy Programme that focuses on developing some of Ireland’s most dedicated young players. Six young men that have grown up within the Baseball Ireland programme and developed their baseball skills their entire lives in Ireland, have recently been awarded scholarships to play baseball at universities in the United States.”