GREENFIELD, Ohio (May 23, 2009)--Memorial Day weekend often signals the start of youth baseball, and it almost didn't happen this year in the Ohio town of Greenfield, where the sputtering auto industry choked off money for recreation.

Over the years, the town has become increasingly reliant on auto suppliers, and when the auto industry went into a tailspin, residents began to get pink slips.

By this October, 500 auto-related jobs, which represent 70 percent of the town's industrial employment, are expected to be gone.

Public funding for baseball was all but stopped when tax revenues fell, but residents took a page from their famous son, "Take This Job and Shove It" singer Johnny Paycheck, and went their own way by raising money, fixing up fields, scrounging for equipment and signing up 450 kids to play.

The season opens Tuesday.