At the 10th Annual Egg Scramble on Saturday, April 23, 2011 the festivities included a special baseball field dedication to celebrate the naming of the field as the Chief Fred Maas Baseball Field. At the November 18, 2010 City Commission meeting, Mayor Edelcup surprised Chief Maas with a resolution to name the baseball field in his honor for his excellent service and dedication to the City during his term as Police Chief in light of his impending retirement. The Commission approved this resolution unanimously. A few months later, much to everyone’s delight, Chief Maas rescinded his retirement but the Commission still believed the honor of naming the field after him was very well deserved and proceeded to plan the dedication.
Chief Maas was very surprised and humbled by the unveiling of the new scoreboard bearing his name. He addressed the large audience with sincere gratitude that a baseball field, a place where he spent many years and is partially credited with all of his successes, would be named after him. He told them that if it were not for baseball he may not have had the college education that he acquired while playing for Biscayne College (now St. Thomas University) which eventually, through a long career in Miami-Dade County Police Department, led him to the wonderful community of Sunny Isles Beach. Some advice to the children and parents he offered was that anything is possible when you set your mind to it and work hard as he did with both his career and his sports, baseball being his passion.
Be sure to look up at the scoreboard next time you are at Pelican Community Park and see the Chief Fred Maas Baseball Field sign. It has a way of bringing smiles to faces when you think of the man it honors.
