In April of 1998, business leader John Ourisman and former Montgomery County Councilmember Bruce Adams founded the Bethesda Community Base Ball Club (BCBBC) with a mission to raise money to improve youth baseball and softball fields. Bethesda Community Base Ball Club entered a partnership with Montgomery Parks to construct Shirley Povich Field in Cabin John Regional Park and placed the Bethesda Big Train team in the Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League. The Big Train team is composed of talented college players from across the country who come to Bethesda each June and July for a summer of highly competitive wooden bat baseball. In 2005, the Big Train became an inaugural member of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League. In 2012, the Bethesda Community Base Ball Club turned stewardship of the Big Train over to Bethesda Chevy Chase Baseball, a youth baseball organization founded in the 1990s. BCC Baseball continued the Big Train’s traditions of championship baseball and service to community for eight seasons. In 2020, the Bethesda Community Base Ball Club was reestablished, and BCC Baseball returned stewardship of the Big Train to BCBBC.
With a goal of providing affordable family entertainment close to home, the Big Train has been a hit on and off the field right from the start. The Washington Post described Big Train baseball at Shirley Povich Field as “the ultimate small town fantasy.” Big Train baseball is one of the nation’s most highly regarded summer college baseball programs. The baseball history is exceptional — with ten Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League championships, 23 alumni making it to the major leagues, and a ranking as the top team in all of summer college baseball in 2011.
Baseball is our platform, but building a stronger community is our purpose. The Bethesda Community Base Ball Club has raised more than $600,000 to improve youth fields from Germantown to Anacostia. We provide free tickets and meals for 25 community heroes from a different community nonprofit at each home game. We showcase our multicultural community at our games through our Juneteenth Classic honoring Montgomery’s Black sandlots, Tribute to Latino Baseball, Jewish Baseball Heritage Night, Pride Night, and Sister Cities Night. We are committed to helping build an ethic of service in our community. We have collected more than 18,000 pounds of food for the Manna Food Center. Big Train players, fans, interns, and staff volunteer at different community organizations across Montgomery County during our annual Roberto Clemente Community Service Day.
