Mike Burke
Cumberland Times-News
— 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
