
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 15, 1994                   TAG: 9405150027
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: E-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

BALLPLAYER REMEMBERED WITH A FIELD IN HIS NAME

A refurbished baseball diamond was named in memory of a 9-year-old who died in his team's dugout at McIntyre Park.

The field was named Brian C. Korbon field during dedication ceremonies after a picnic Saturday.

"We're pleased that the town wants to honor him in this way," said Brian's mother, Kathryn. "It remembers him. And it will allow the children to remember him, too."

Brian's father, Gregg Korbon, said his son would have liked having a baseball field named in his honor.

"He had only played for two weeks and he did seem to enjoy it," Korbon, an anesthesiologist, said Friday. "He wasn't a good athlete, but he was very bright."

Brian collapsed during a Dixie Little League game on May 8, 1993. His father tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.

Brian had a heart defect as an infant. He was afraid he would die before he was 10 and refused to celebrate his ninth birthday because it would bring him closer to dying, his father said. But Brian eventually resolved his fear and held a belated birthday party on the day he died.

He was the littlest and slowest Little Leaguer, but he tore around the bases that day after hitting a triple. The next batter drove him home. It was Brian's first run ever.

He smiled at his dad as he ran and high-fived his teammates after crossing the plate. Then he sat down and died. His mother said that Brian's heart "burst with joy."

"He was out there hustling and charging after the ball that day," Gregg Korbon said. "He was really psyched. The week before he had been stranded at third, and when we were going to the park that day he said he wanted to score a run more than anything."

With the Korbons' permission, the Little League solicited donations and volunteer labor from Virginia Power, Spring/Centel and State Farm Insurance as well as from smaller companies and individuals. Thousands of dollars were collected and hundreds of hours were spent renovating the field and installing lights, a scoreboard and improved bleachers.

"A lot of people really rallied around this," said Kay Laurick, president of the Dixie Little League. "It was friends of children, friends of the Little League and friends of the Korbons."

by CNB