I live about a block from Greenway Avenue Stadium, yet for the past week I have been doing everything in my power — re-routing drives to here and there, heading toward Oldtown Road to begin morning walks rather than toward the stadium, you name it — to avoid seeing what’s left of the concrete stands, currently being demolished as part of the $3.2 million restoration of Greenway.
Oh, sure, every now and then I’d slip up and drive across Brookfield and accidentally catch a peripheral glimpse of what used to be Gate A, but for the most part my weak stomach, not to mention by sentimental and easily-triggered tear ducts, remained unscathed.
That is until Wednesday morning, of course, when I picked up yesterday’s Times-News. And there she was — or at least what was left of her — splattered all across the front page in four-column color splendor. Looked like section B and section C were still standing, not to mention the entire front railing, but for the most part it was well on its way to being as the late great Al McGuire used to say, “Taps City, baby.”
Suddenly, in one of those Blazing Saddles Randolph Scott moments that actually do occur in real life (you know, when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, yet can hear music playing on cue, and you just look around to see where it’s coming from?), I could hear Sinatra singing, “There Used to be a Ballpark.”
And the sky has got so cloudy
When it used to be so clear
And the summer went so quickly this year
Yes, there used to be a ballpark right here
Fortunately we were spared a picture of one of the all-time greats who had played at Greenway over the past 73 years posing with a wrecking ball painted like a football the way former Dodgers great Carl Erskine posed with a wrecking ball painted like a baseball the day they demolished Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Erskine took some real grief from the borough over that photo, even though he said when the ball crashed through the clubhouse roof he began to weep and had to leave.
Well, yeah. On both counts.
Alright, alright, this is nothing at all like Ebbets Field or the Dodgers bolting Brooklyn for Los Angeles, but it’s still a pretty sentimental thing for most of the people in Cumberland who have poured through the gates of Greenway for the past 73 years. No, the Allegany and Fort Hill teams are not relocating, at least not yet, and yes the stadium is staying just where it’s been since it was built in its original form. And supposedly, it’s going to be better than ever, or at least that’s what they tell us, although let us pray it will be done better than the lame renovations for both Allegany and Fort Hill were done years back. Oy!
So the fun has begun, as Greenway has become a tourist stop with cars creeping by the remains at a snail’s pace so the curious all can gawk, snap a couple of photos, or just decide to wipe away a tear.
I’m all for sentimental; it’s a healthy thing. I’m all for progress, too. But for the sake of keeping my sentimental state of being, not to mention my blood pressure, healthy, I discovered Wednesday morning that I must now use extreme caution in opening my morning newspaper. At least until the progress has been completed.
Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at mburke-times-news.com
Mike Burke - Sports
I just drove by the stadium ... Uh, where is it?
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Somewhere over the rainbow starts here
During a break in the program Sunday night, former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Bob Robertson sat at a table backstage sharing some stories from the day when he played some of the finest defensive first base and hit some of the longest home runs in the major leagues in helping the Bucs to the 1971 world championship.
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Ronnie Cage’s life was deeds, not words
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That’s because Ronnie Cage worked them all. And before that he played them all. -
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Daumie No. 51
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At Fort Hill, they’re all in it together
They still decorate their homes and neighborhoods with red and white streamers and signs. They hang football helmets with jersey numbers on telephone poles and trees, and they leave them there until it’s pretty much time to decorate for Christmas.
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Let’s keep lips zipped and just go about our business
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There are no queens on the sports page
Some high school football seasons it is easier to tell when big things have happened and when big things are ahead by some of the phone calls and letters we receive here in the Times-News sports department. There just seems to be more of a chippiness some years than in others, and this year has been one of those years.
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K.C. latest Laffey Tour over America destination
As of now it appears Aaron Laffey will be wearing royal blue again — Kansas City Royals blue, that is — as the Royals acquired the former Allegany High School left-hander from the New York Yankees in a waivers claim on Tuesday.
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In America ...
Of course you remember where you were when you heard.
What you really remember is how you felt when you realized it wasn’t just a bad pilot or an airplane malfunction when you saw the second plane go into the second tower.
Until the day we are no longer here, the realization that we had just been attacked — somehow, by somebody — will stay with us and move us. -
Keyser, Fort Hill clash tonight
Fort Hill and Keyser, both coming off lopsided season-opening victories, will square off at Greenway Avenue Stadium, while Frankfort entertains Grafton in the Falcons’ home opener in two of seven high school football games featuring nine area teams taking place tonight.
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