A little pastime

COSTA MESA — He’s only 11, but Mickey Beliakoff already has nearly a decade of baseball under his belt — and a keen knowledge of the game’s history.

The Costa Mesa resident shares a first name with one of the New York Yankees’ great center fielders, and he’s aware of the connection, so much so that he requested Mickey Mantle’s number — 7 — for the back of his uniform.

Since Mickey’s team this season in the Costa Mesa American Little League is also named the Yankees, that only makes it more fitting.

When asked what he was most looking forward to this season, however, Mickey had a goal more modest than winning the batting title or hitting the pennant-winning home run.

“I like playing on the field with my friends,” he said.

Saturday morning, the Costa Mesa American and National little leagues and the Newport Beach Little League celebrated the first day of the 2008 season — and finishing first seemed to be the last thing on anybody’s mind.

Hundreds of players aged 3 to 12 gathered for their opening games, while representatives from the city councils, schools and churches stopped by to give speeches and toss out first balls.

“It’s activities like this that help make Costa Mesa a great city, and you should all be proud to be involved,” Mayor Eric Bever said at the Costa Mesa High School field, where the American league had its opening day.

A moment later, he joked, “This year, many of you will hit your first home run, turn your first double play, catch your first pop fly or make your first touchdown pass. Whoops, wrong sport. Just making sure you’re paying attention.”

The Costa Mesa leagues played their first games of the season Saturday — the American at Costa Mesa High, the National at TeWinkle Middle School.

The two leagues, which share many of the same team names, engage in interleague play throughout the year and pit their all-star teams against one another in the Mayor’s Cup tournament in July.

Matt Palma, the president of the National league, said it was strictly a friendly competition.

“There’s no rivalry,” he said. “It bonds the city together.”

The Newport Beach Little League didn’t play any games Saturday, but players and coaches gathered at Bonita Canyon Sports Park for a carnival and photo shoots.

Parent Lee Carter, who has two sons in the league, said his family had come to bond over baseball through the years.

“My wife’s not much of a sports fan, and watching our own kids play has made sports much more exciting for her,” he said.

For a slide show of pictures from Little League Opening Day ceremonies, click here.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.