Doug Miller
09-13-2007, 05:20 PM
Made the trip to Philly and Pittsburgh last weekend. After starting in Philly, we made the drive over to Pittsburgh to catch two games before flying out. One of the things I made a note to do was check out the old Negro League park markers, and West Field, which is still standing (although in serious disrepair.)
A few observations before I get to the pictures. In Homestead there's a great looking marker, in a part of Homestead that is really cleaned up and updated with a new shopping center. There's still an old train station across the street from the marker. I was really surprised at the difference between that marker and what I would find about 2 miles away -- Driving up through Homestead to Munhall, I pulled up to old West Field. If you haven't read that it's there, you'll never know, and you certainly wouldn't know why it was important.
The first thing that hit me about West Field, besides the rough shape it was in, was the smell. The whole park, stands, dugouts... everything smelled like an old overly molded juice cup. Everthing in the park was dirty, cracked, or rusted. The steps to the bleachers were missing huge chunks where you could see years of layers of patched concrete. Both dugouts, while painted in the last few years, were tagged with graffitti. The dark hallways to the locker room doors were littered with graffitti, smelled like urine, and had handprints of God knows what on the walls.
I went down the chorridors to both of the old locker rooms, stood at the door, took a deep breath and pushed. Both doors were locked tight. I was by myself, wanting to go down to the old locker rooms, but at the same time, a little nervous about what I would find.
Along the side of the third base side dugout there was an old wooden man-door sized panel -- and it was wide open. I looked inside to see a room full of junk; old road signs, fired hoses, rebar, etc. Tracing the lines of the old stands, I could tell I was looking into a portion of the old locker room. I climbed in the door and tried to walk around, but without a flashlight, it was just too dark. There's a scrapyard behind the back of the park, so I walked down and checked the back doors, but they were all locked too.
If you're wondering why I was so obsessed with the locker room, here's the deal. The guy at the front desk of my hotel said that his kid had played at the field a few years back, and had gone into the old locker room. He said the lockers were there, just dusty. Let me tell you, that guy was full of ****, there hasn't been anyone in there in a really long time. But I had to try.
The field itself was like rock. I had to chip at the dirt with my heel. The field is Little League sized now, but doesn't look like it's seen any action for a few years by the looks of the bird tracks left in the dirt, and the amount of bird ****.
It was just too bad to see how beat this park is. It seems like for $20,000-$50,000 they could completely clean it up, and clean out the old locker rooms, repaint, etc. Pittsburgh and Philly both had a ton of really interesting historical markers -- this seems like a natural extension of the history to the town and neighborhood.
I also hit the site for Ammon Field. It's right next to a church in a pretty good neighborhood. It was Sunday morning, so people were coming and going from church. Everyone that passed me shared a polite hello and/or a nod. Where Greenlee Field was, was a polar opposite. I was quick in and out of my car at that stop. You can tell they are trying to clean up the town -- signs soliciting minority and women owners were up all over the place. There was an old theatre that must have been something in it's day.
A very interesting few hours before a game. Here are the pics.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield1.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield2.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield3.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield4.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield5.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield8.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield9.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield10.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield11.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/homestead.jpg
Doug
A few observations before I get to the pictures. In Homestead there's a great looking marker, in a part of Homestead that is really cleaned up and updated with a new shopping center. There's still an old train station across the street from the marker. I was really surprised at the difference between that marker and what I would find about 2 miles away -- Driving up through Homestead to Munhall, I pulled up to old West Field. If you haven't read that it's there, you'll never know, and you certainly wouldn't know why it was important.
The first thing that hit me about West Field, besides the rough shape it was in, was the smell. The whole park, stands, dugouts... everything smelled like an old overly molded juice cup. Everthing in the park was dirty, cracked, or rusted. The steps to the bleachers were missing huge chunks where you could see years of layers of patched concrete. Both dugouts, while painted in the last few years, were tagged with graffitti. The dark hallways to the locker room doors were littered with graffitti, smelled like urine, and had handprints of God knows what on the walls.
I went down the chorridors to both of the old locker rooms, stood at the door, took a deep breath and pushed. Both doors were locked tight. I was by myself, wanting to go down to the old locker rooms, but at the same time, a little nervous about what I would find.
Along the side of the third base side dugout there was an old wooden man-door sized panel -- and it was wide open. I looked inside to see a room full of junk; old road signs, fired hoses, rebar, etc. Tracing the lines of the old stands, I could tell I was looking into a portion of the old locker room. I climbed in the door and tried to walk around, but without a flashlight, it was just too dark. There's a scrapyard behind the back of the park, so I walked down and checked the back doors, but they were all locked too.
If you're wondering why I was so obsessed with the locker room, here's the deal. The guy at the front desk of my hotel said that his kid had played at the field a few years back, and had gone into the old locker room. He said the lockers were there, just dusty. Let me tell you, that guy was full of ****, there hasn't been anyone in there in a really long time. But I had to try.
The field itself was like rock. I had to chip at the dirt with my heel. The field is Little League sized now, but doesn't look like it's seen any action for a few years by the looks of the bird tracks left in the dirt, and the amount of bird ****.
It was just too bad to see how beat this park is. It seems like for $20,000-$50,000 they could completely clean it up, and clean out the old locker rooms, repaint, etc. Pittsburgh and Philly both had a ton of really interesting historical markers -- this seems like a natural extension of the history to the town and neighborhood.
I also hit the site for Ammon Field. It's right next to a church in a pretty good neighborhood. It was Sunday morning, so people were coming and going from church. Everyone that passed me shared a polite hello and/or a nod. Where Greenlee Field was, was a polar opposite. I was quick in and out of my car at that stop. You can tell they are trying to clean up the town -- signs soliciting minority and women owners were up all over the place. There was an old theatre that must have been something in it's day.
A very interesting few hours before a game. Here are the pics.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield1.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield2.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield3.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield4.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield5.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield8.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield9.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield10.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/westfield11.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/millerdna/homestead.jpg
Doug