History of Grant Rea Park

and

other Montebello History

Topics I hope to include:

Why is it named Grant Rea Park.

Baseball Fields

Softball Field

Batting Cages

Barnyard Zoo

Go cart track

Bicycle Moto cross track

History of the organizations that use the Park. 

I will be adding as much info about the history of the park and Why it is named after Grant Rea.    If you have any info, please send it to me   at stevemanook@gmail.com

Grant Rea Park

is named in honor of a World War II hero , 

Lt. Grant Martel Rea,

1921-1944,

Pilot USAF SW S.W. Pacific.

The park  was a landfill and upon its closing was donated to the city for the express use of youth sports.

Here is a link to more information about Lt. Grant Rea and the crew of the Sky Tramp. 

https://www.pacificwrecks.com/units/usaaf/5bg/html/skytramp.html

Here is a photo of a Midgit car. They raced on a track in Grant Rea Park around the early 60's. 

For more info about the history of Montebello, Visit 

The Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe Mansion and the web site  of the 

Montebello Historical Society 

http://www.montebellohistoricalsociety.org/history.html

The Montebello Junior Baseball Association was incorporated in 1952 by a group of residents, for the youth of Montebello and its surrounding cities. The current facility “ Grant Rea Park” is named in honor of a World War II hero “ Grant Rea”. The park land was a landfill and upon its closing was donated to the city for the express use of youth sports.

Other areas used by the Association included the Standard Oil Field area north of Lincoln Ave., Montebello City Park, and Cantwell High School with each hosting an age level commiserate to their group.

In the beginning the Association was governed by Association Rules of Play. During the 1970 season the program was reincorporated and the name was shortened to its current name “ Montebello Baseball Association” and became a registered member of “Pony Baseball”.

Over the years thousands of Managers and Coaches have given their time and money to support a countless number of young athletes. As the program expanded additional playing fields were needed . Jointly, MBA and the City of Montebello built three additional fields at Grant Rea Park, the first field added was the diamond currently used by the Pinto and Mustang Divisions. In the mid 60’s the field used by the Mustang and Bronco was added and was the only diamond to have a grass infield. In the 70’s a T-Ball field was built and was eventually moved to its current location.

During the 60’s and 70’s a concessionaire served Grant Rea Park by the name of M’s Irish. M’s Irish today lives in the hearts of tens of thousands of youth that after each and every game would run to her truck for a soda everyone called a “suicide”. Which included a mix of all six sodas from the fountain service.  After the retirement of M’s Irish the city built a concession with restrooms. But once again the Association expanded and the concession stand was rebuilt. This time MBA members took the lead as fathers, mothers, athletes, grandparents, and almost anyone with an interest, built not only a new concession stand but an all-purpose room used today by Baseball, Football, and City Programs.

Over the years the Association was given many opportunities to host , present and promote many tournaments such as the Los Angeles County of Stars ( 100 teams). Teams from Japan and Philippines became sister programs giving our athletes opportunities never before dreamed of. MBA became a board member of the International Baseball Goodwill Tournament in the early 80’s; this tournament had participants from the United States , Canada, Japan, China, Philippines, and Mexico.

In 1982 MBA implemented its travel division “ Brewers”, the selection of name was very simple its initials replicated MBA, also blue and gold to match our official colors. They are no longer a part our Association.

Our MBA Travel/Tournament Baseball continues today with teams in all divisions that compete year round proudly representing the City of Montebello.

At the peak of our program (1970 thru 1990) MBA averaged 800-900 athletes in season and would have 500 -600 during Winter Baseball . That’s close to 1500 athletes annually.

This info was reprinted from the MBA web site.