All news

Culture

Erwin 'Baco' Richardson: the Little League pioneer behind Philipsburg's baseball stadium

A short profile of Erwin 'Baco' Richardson, whose name is on the Little League stadium in Philipsburg and who, according to the government, started the Sint Maarten Little League Association in 1977.

By SXM Daily · October 23, 2026

The Little League stadium on Pond Island in Philipsburg, the Erwin "Baco" Richardson Stadium, is named after the St. Maarten baseball figure Erwin "Baco" Richardson. According to the Government of Sint Maarten, he started the Sint Maarten Little League Association in 1977.

Illustrative photo: Richie Diesterheft, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The stadium

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport's "We Story: The Collection" series, published in February 2022, notes that the stadium in Philipsburg bears his name, and The Daily Herald reported in 2023 that the Little League season opened at the Erwin "Baco" Richardson Stadium.

Little League

The government's "We Story" release says Richardson started the Sint Maarten Little League Association in 1977 after seeing children play baseball in Puerto Rico, and brought in Camille Baly and Arnold Brown. The same release, which refers to him as "the late Mr. Erwin 'Baco' Richardson", says he was named a baseball "Legend" at the 2015 Brown Pelican Sports awards.

Sources

• https://www.721news.com/2022/02/we-story-the-collection-presents-erwin-baco-richardson-st-maarten-little-league-pioneer/
• https://www.thedailyherald.sx/sport/local-sports/st-maarten-little-league-lights-up-its-new-scoreboard-for-start-of-the-new-season

Source: https://www.721news.com/2022/02/we-story-the-collection-presents-erwin-baco-richardson-st-maarten-little-league-pioneer/