Indians fan fashions ‘mini-jake’ for son, now 5

BROOKFIELD — Jason Kidd and his 3-year-old son were playing T-ball a couple of years ago when the little boy asked, “Can we have a baseball field in our backyard?”

Kidd at first ignored the request. A few days later, he started to think: Remove those trees, get rid of that hill.

“I realized there was enough room for a whiffle ball field,” Kidd, 36, said.

Kidd, who’s been an Indians fan since he was a child, decided to build his own Jacobs Field in his Brookfield backyard, about 70 miles southeast of Cleveland in Trumbull County.

“Like a lot of diehard Tribe fans, I keep referring to (the Cleveland ballfield) as the Jake, even though it’s Progressive Field,” he said.

He nicknamed his backyard baseball field the Re-jake. The field was completed last week after two years of planning. All in, the baseball field renovation cost about $30,000.

Kidd said he first learned about baseball at a young age and thinks the new field is a great way to teach his son the game.

His son is thrilled with his personal ball park.

“Oh my gosh, he flipped. He just loved it,” Kidd said. “The first thing he wanted to do was go run the bases, and have me hit ground balls to him, play catch.”

Though a couple neighbors raised concerns about the field initially, Kidd said he’s heard mostly positive buzz about the new ball field. When he’s out taking care of the field, people driving by stop to tell him how great it is.

“We’re looking forward to getting some games going,” Kidd said.