Hayward Playground

This review is for the Softball Diamonds (Know as Lang field diamond 1 and 2).
I’ve played at this park for over 10 years and they by far have the best infields in the city. However it does have some issues as well. Like having outfields overlap with both fields being used. That can make for a very dangerous situation. I do like this park because they put the lower leagues here (the fences in each right field are about 240), which is good cause the fences are short in the right field of both diamonds. And for those who don’t know James P. Lang was a former park and rec commissioner who was also the national president of the Amateur Softball Association in the 50’s.

Two tennis courts. Pretty good condition… except for the graffiti.

This rev is strictly for the playground. It is big! It was pretty easy to contain 3 kids here too, which is a huge plus at inner city parks that are on the corner of busy streets. Thanks Margaret.
There is a little urban garden here, which is pretty interesting, considering it isn’t kept away from the playground, but directly attached to it. Educational? Tempting? yes, both. There are two main play structures, both of which can be wildly entertaining, if you fit on them. There is also a large swingset, which I haven’t found a lot of in the city yet. We had fun on the monkey bars, large rings, horizontal bars, long/​fast slides, and padding everywhere!
The kids really had a lot of fun here, and they even got to play some football (soccer to the American) on the medium sized lawn adjacent to the swingset.
I think if we are ever near the School District building again, we will most likely stop by to have a load of sand filled fun. Best thing about this review? Down below, while I’m writing it, one of the buttons is asking me: Good for Kids: yes/​no/​not sure. The jury is still out on that one. Just jokin’. I said YES. get outta here and have fun.

This review is for the tennis courts.
Well, these are prototypical urban tennis courts. Surrounded by (i) a beautiful park across the street (Turk), (ii) playground, (iii) large building, and (iv) housing projects, the two tennis courts at the Margaret Hayward Playground scream «public courts.»
But the surface is fine (although I did sprain my ankle — my fault), net cords are in place, gates have latches, and there is even a drinking fountain on the edge of one court. There are even a few benches so that the throngs can come in and admire your skillz — «…how many tournaments have I won? Oh, I don’t need to be all competitive — I just enjoy the game, and being outside.»
So get out there and play some more tennis*!
* I’m trying to do my part on Unilocal by reviewing one of the only topics I know — tennis. Please search my other posts for more courts…

Used to watch my brother practice baseball here while doing homework or making daisy chains. It was decent, not too dirty, but nothing to brag about really.
My high school track and field team would come here to run occasionally, it had grass so we were happy?
It’s not really a place I’d want to be hanging out in after dark, but during the day it’s a pretty nice place.

Me and the neighborhood kids became MLB stars in the making on the softball field here. Back then, we had to scale the fence just to play but the kids these days are a lot more sharp… they just cut a hole in it and climb right through.
And now that I’m grown, it is here where you’ll find me every M-​F doin’ my thug thang, servin’ up adults and KIDS alike who dare interrupt my shooting sessions on the bball court. On most days, there isn’t much action. Friday is definitely the day to come if you’re looking for full court action but the competition is full of stiffs. That’s not a typo… the competition is full of stiffs, NOT «the competition is stiff.» During the school year, there were a group of students from the Culinary Academy (go figure) who would come here after class and they were straight BALLERS. I loved running with them but ever since summer break started, they haven’t been around.
I usually go here early afternoon before people start showing up so I could get my training in and have a full court to myself. Otherwise, once those kids from the rec center show up on their skateboards they’ll want to play Horse or even 1-​on-​1, in which case I show em no mercy. You should see the looks on their faces when I swat their shots across court and let out an emphatic, «GET THAT SHIT OUTTA HERE!» But watch out for this kid Tiondre… he looks like a 6-​year old Chris Rock with the voice to match. That dude CHEATS like none other. I’ve never seen so many rules made up on the spot in a game of All Around the World.
The courts are good, blacktops still in decent shape. Up until a month ago, all four hoops had nets but one was torn on center court so the bandits took one off of the other rims.
Softball field is in good shape. The grass gets watered everyday, there are some dead patches in the outfield but compared to other SF fields it’s not that bad.
Oh and that gargantuan building lurking in the background is 911. Imagine the disappointment when it was built 5 – 6 years ago, thinking it was a new indoor gym, only to find out it’s emergency dispatch.

This is a playground best suited for older kids (preschool and up). There was a lot of trash here, and most of the activity took place on the baseball field next to the playground. Not one of my favorites.