On April 22, 1960 Perry Hyde, William Fierce, Glenn Jurs and Joseph Reading, Sr.’s charter was approved by National Babe Ruth to establish the Crystal Lake Babe Ruth League and started more than a half century of organized Babe Ruth Baseball in Crystal Lake.
Fifty-six years ago Babe Ruth had 5 teams and about 75 players and at that time we only had players from the Crystal Lake school district between the ages of 13 and 15 and we only played during the summer on the field at the top of the hill at Veteran Acres. Ormsby Motors is an original sponsor of our league and still sponsors today!
We accept all players regardless of playing ability or financial status, if a player wants to play
“WE HAVE A PLACE FOR THEM.”
In 1982 we formed the Prep League for 13 year old players only to help them make the adjustment from the Little League fields to the full size fields we play on at Babe Ruth. In 1991 we formed the Senior League to give players between 16 and 19 years old an additional opportunity to play after the high school season. In 1996 we expanded our charter to include all of McHenry County. Today we are the only Babe Ruth League in McHenry County and we are the largest in the state of Illinois.
In 1997 we formed our Fall League and today our Fall League is open to teams from all over McHenry County. In 1998 we began playing night games at Lippold Park, which is still the only full size lighted field in Crystal Lake. In 1999 we became a year round program when we established our Winter Workout Program. This program allows players to continue to develop baseball skills and remain active all winter long.
We also have a Tournament Program comprised of teams of players from our in-house that compete in additional games and highly competitive tournaments around the country.
1993 - 15 Year Old team (Original Host Team for the MCYSA Tournament)
2001 - 14 Year Old Team
2003 - 13 Year Old Team
We also partnered with Crystal Lake Little League in 2014 to create the Tournament Development Program (TDP) for 8U-12U In-House Little League players. These teams compete in similar tournaments and our partnership includes Winter Workouts and player/coach clinics for all Crystal Lake Little League players and parents.
We are a Crystal Lake Park District Affiliate and a member of the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce. We are also one of two original host team for the MCYSA Summer International Championship Tournament that is held in Crystal Lake every summer.