sp,rtsTI" ~ In addition to the Hall Of Fame Game, Doubleday Field hosts hundreds of other games each year. The home-plate area is groomed at least once a day during the seven-month season, using a toothed, free- floating, surface-finishing rake attachment. Photo Credit: Alan LincourtlPro Image. The Doubleday Field facility is a classic of baseball architecture. Under the arched main gate is Mickey Mantle hits a home Joseph Harris, grounds super- run at Doubleday Field, 1954. intendent (left), and Don Smith, Photo courtesy: National president of Smith co (right). Baseball Library and Photo Credit: Alan Lincourt/ Archive, Cooperstown, N.Y. Pro Image. COOPERSTOWN: The Hometown of Baseball Daniel K. Ingham Game takes place would be enough to per- often, reiterates Harris. ''We open the field azy August days. The smell of suade many to take the job, regardless on April 15 and it is mostly high school of pay (well, almost). [Sleather and glove-oil. A wad of and other local teams that play at this bubble-gum jammed into one The man who currently has this dis- time. I work six days a week during the cheek. A faithful mutt shagging balls tinction is Joseph Harris. But when you spring and fall." in the outfield. A resounding crack from hear what his day is like during the sea- Before Harris became superinten- the bat as you imagine yourself knock- son, you'll find that the job is not all fun dent, he spent time in the farming busi- ing one out of the park, bottom of the ninth and games. It's more like a labor oflove. ness and the Cooperstown Highway with three runners on, in the World "I arrive at the field about a quarter Department. He started full-time at Series, and hoping it misses any nearby to 7 every morning during the season," Doubleday Field in 1990. said Harris. "I have a cup of coffee and windows. These are the memories and A Baseline Lineage get right to work because the first game images of baseball many of us have and Doubleday Field had its birth in 1919 remember fondly in the twilight hours of usually starts at 9 a.m. When that's fin- (the year of the Chicago White Sox scan- a summer day. ished it's time to clean up the field and dal), when the officials of the village of Well, these memories are alive and well stands and get ready for the afternoon Cooperstown obtained a two-year lease in a place called Cooperstown, NY - the game at 1 p.m. After that there is a 6 p.m. on some pastureland from Alexander birthplace of baseball. The Baseball game that is played by the local pony- Phinney, the gentleman who owned it. Hall of Fame is located there and is the league (ages 13-15) or the American The village officials filled it with soil national repository of our nation's base- Legion (ages 16-19). The field has to be and ashes with the aim of turning it ball memories. Doubleday Field is there prepared for this game as well and then into a public playground. as well, and every year it adds a new set the final cleanup afterwards. Usually, I This playground was soon developed of baseball memories to a new genera- don't get home till around 9 p.m." into a baseball field the following year. tion learning the nuances of America's As grounds superintendent at The first baseball game was played there favorite sport. Doubleday Field, you might think he in September 1920. Baseball was soaring Well, supposing you never made the has his hands full managing the crew that in popularity across the country and bid for the major league (we are all cer- does all this work. And he does - he is in Cooperstown in the 1920s. Cooperstown tain we could have with a little more prac- t~e crew. Except for one or two part- is where Abner Doubleday is believed to have invented the game back in 1839. tice), what would be the next best job to time summer hires to give him a hand The 1920s have been hailed as the have? How about being grounds super- Joe Harris is a one-man show. ''When i second "Golden Age" of baseball. intendent at Doubleday Field? Just to be have the part-timers around, I some- there when the annual Hall of Fame The field, of course, is now named for times get home early." But not all that Abner Doubleday. 8 sports TURF In 1923, the taxpayers of the village being played in 1993. As for this year, we Harris has had to be resourceful. This has of Cooperstown decided to purchase the asked Harris whether the strike had led him to visit the major trade shows, such field (rather than continue to lease), and affected him in any way. "The strike as the New York State Turfgrass an appropriation of$I,238 was approved has not affected my schedule this year. Conference, to contact manufacturers for this purpose. During the following We played 278 games this season and can- for donations to the field. So far, he has spring of '24, a wooden grandstand was celed 43 due to rain," he said. been successful. erected for the convenience of the fans. In addition to the major-league teams Doubleday Field is a mixture of clay Two years later, in March 1926, an playing the Hall of Fame Game, other and sand, said Harris. ''The field is most- additional village appropriation was teams using the field include high schools, ly clay, so there are drainage problems voted in order to purchase ground between colleges, the American Legion, pony if things get wet. One problem is that the the field and Main Street. The inten- leagues, semipro, baseball camps and soil works its way into the grass areas, tion was for the proposed construction of the National Adults Baseball Association. which can force a cancellation of games a main entrance gate to the field, a pur- In addition, feature films and TV com- when it rains heavily. Usually, when it chase that took place the following year. mercials have been shot at Doubleday and rains we cover home plate and the pitch- Further improvements and con- it is often visited by famous personalities. er's mound only. It would take about 10 struction were undertaken in 1933. This All in all, its a major-league field with people to put a cover on the whole field, was done through President Franklin a lot of hometown personality that hasn't and we just don't have the manpower- Roosevelt's New Deal work program, let success go to its head. It epitomizes it's kind of hard to do it by yourself." the Works Progress Administration To solve this problem, Doubleday the essence of baseball. (WPA). At that time additional land Field is slated to have a new subsur- was purchased to expand left field, Maintenance on a Shoestring face drainage system in place next which was short of regulation. The entire ''My budget this year, for upkeep and year. "Hopefully, we'll have our new field was then graded, a new diamond maintenance of the field, was $9,600," con- drainage system finished by next year. constructed, fencing installed and the tinued Harris. "The first year I came We've solicited bids for the installation, entrance gate landscaped. The field was on board it was $5,000. That was in and I think it's going to be an ADS reopened in August 1934. 1990. The reason the budget is so low is subsurface system." Then, in December 1938, the WP A that the field is taxpayer supported." Grass at Doubleday is of major impor- approved and provided many addition- That's not much money when one con- tance, and taking care of it is a large part al improvements. These included the siders how much goes into the upkeep of of the job. "The grass is a mixture of construction of steel-covered grand- most professional ballfields. Kentucky bluegrass and rye. We get the stands, more wooden bleachers, seed- In order to balance this budget, the seed from AgWay or Scotts, either one. ing of the field, a drainage system, new needs of the field and his limited "crew," continued on page 10 outfield fencing and stone masonry, all of which were completed in June 1939. The next improvements to Doubleday Field were made in 1960, when alu- minum grandstands were installed along the first and third baselines. These were donated by Tom Yawkey, owner of the Boston Red Sox. More recently, a state- of-the-art, remote-control sprinkler sys- tem was installed. As for previous groundskeepers, there have been many. 'The groundskeeper here before me was Dave Wilshere," explained Harris. "He was here for about 10 years. He left the job due to a disability, and I believe his father, Whitey Wilshere, used to pitch for Philadelphia. Before that the groundskeeper was Herbie Wilford. He, too, was here for about 10 years." Doubleday Today Doubleday Field is owned, operated and maintained by the village of Cooperstown and is the site for the annual Hall of Fame ceremonies and baseball game. Lock in place ... UI1IOI' the cover.•• Put Evergreen to wOlff! The current field meets all major- Thi self, t ring y tern keep a full ize Evergreen league specifications. Distances to the Turf Gr wth c ver ready for u e at any time.