About Us - Sandlot Sluggers

Baseball has the power to shape lives

Where kids learn to fail forward, work as a team, and discover that effort builds character.

A young baseball catcher in full gear crouches on the field, ready for action.

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Action shot of a young baseball player running fast on the field, wearing uniform and helmet.

Young player pitching in a youth baseball game on a sunny day.

At Sandlot Sluggers we’re bringing that magic back…

By creating free, inclusive tournaments where every child gets to play, learn, and fall in love with the game.

Youth baseball has lost its way, becoming too expensive and exclusive. We’re here to change that.

We give recreational teams the chance to experience travel baseball in an environment that celebrates effort over winning, character over elite status, and community over competition.

Because baseball doesn’t belong to a select few—it belongs to everyone.

We Believe in…

Play for All

Every child deserves real opportunities to step up to the plate, try new positions, and discover what they’re capable of.

Age-Appropriate Baseball

We protect young arms with healthy pitch counts, create schedules that prevent burnout, and focus on teaching kids to love the game for life.

Character First

The scoreboard will be forgotten, but the effort, resilience, teamwork, sportsmanship will continue to shape who these kids become.

Our Mission:

To Restore the Spirit of the Sandlot

Where the field is always open, the game teaches life lessons that matter, and every kid walks off the diamond proud.

Meet the Founder

Alex Tirado-Luciano

Alex is a litigation attorney and former college baseball player who grew up in a different version of youth baseball, one that wasn’t commercial. You showed up, worked hard, had fun, and learned the game the right way.

Watching his ten-year-old son navigate today’s landscape, Alex saw something troubling: academies, “select” teams, too much pressure, and too little emphasis on developing every kid. Some children rarely got a chance to play, while others were pushed beyond healthy limits—throwing too many pitches, playing too many games.

Kids labeled “elite” played nonstop while others barely saw the field. That wasn’t the game he loved.

So Alex started a team called the Iron Pigs to do it differently.

Every child played, tried positions they’d never get a chance to play elsewhere, and the baseball field was treated as a classroom for life, learning to handle failure, respond to adversity, work hard, and become a great teammate.

That spirit led Alex to create Sandlot Sluggers: a nonprofit that gives kids the chance to play travel baseball for free, in tournaments designed around fun, fair play, age-appropriate limits, and real teaching.

Alex’s vision is to partner with families and communities to remove financial barriers and bring back what youth baseball used to be… joyful, inclusive, and formative.

Ready to Join us?

Give your team the tournament experience they deserve, where every player matters, every game teaches something, and baseball is fun again. Best of all, it’s completely free.