Baird: Last night at Loeb Stadium a celebration of history with an eye on the future
Loeb Stadium hosted its final baseball game Tuesday night as the 79-year-old ballpark prepares for a complete renovation.
Baird: Last night at Loeb Stadium a celebration of history with an eye on the future Loeb Stadium hosted its final baseball game Tuesday night as the 79-year-old ballpark prepares for a complete renovation. Check out this story on jconline.com: https://www.jconline.com/story/sports/2019/08/07/last-night-loeb-stadium-celebration-nostalgia/1934807001/
Nathan Baird, Lafayette Journal & Courier Published 6:00 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2019 | Updated 1:19 p.m. ET Aug. 7, 2019
The 79-year-old stadium hosted its final game before a complete renovation interrupts baseball there until 2021.
LAFAYETTE — Fittingly, the final night at Loeb Stadium culminated with Paul "Spider" Fields holding a baseball in his hands, etching history onto its sleek, curved surface.
The man who attended the first game at Lafayette's historic in 1940 and coached more games there than anyone else took a prominent seat three rows behind home plate Tuesday night. He and about 1,900 others showed up to peel one final memory from Loeb, which beginning next week will be torn down and rebuilt on the same spot.
No baseball will be played again in Loeb Stadium until 2021. That crowd — which set a new Lafayette Aviators record — had thinned considerably by the time the home team nearly gave the 79-year-old stadium a thrilling sendoff.
Down 11-9 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Prospect League team that has called Loeb home for the past four seasons rallied to force extra innings. Champion City spoiled the storybook ending with back-to-back doubles to lead off the top of the 10th and a game-ending double play in the bottom of a 12-11 victory.
Camron Sell, 10, left and Colton Perry, 8, collect some infield dirt after the final game at Loeb Stadium, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019 in Lafayette. (Photo: Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)
After the game, the Aviators invited fans of all ages onto the field to soak in the last fleeting moments of history. Some took pictures and videos. Some ran the bases, building momentum down the third base line and kicking their legs out for one final slide into home plate. Others grabbed handfuls of dirt, dropped into small containers or, in the case of one fan, stuffed into their front pockets.
A bigger excavation will soon begin as 40,000 yards of dirt are dug up and carried away. Jon Miner, director of operations for Lafayette Parks & Recreation, said that dirt will be repurposed as part of a wastewater collection effort in the Lafayette Renew project.
NEXT SEASON: Lafayette Aviators to play at Purdue's Alexander Field in 2020
Those in attendance Tuesday night, many of whom arrived and sat together as families, took something more valuable with them.
The Aviators were not fully prepared for that record crowd. Only about 500 tickets were pre-sold, and the significant walk-up crowd had exhausted the concession stand dining options by the third inning. That was no problem for the Aviators, who were in an "everything must go" scenario anyway. The beer that cost $5 at the start of the game only cost $1 before sales were cut off in the seventh inning.
The renovation begins quietly on Wednesday, when staff for the Aviators and Lafayette Jeff baseball finish clearing their equipment out of the facility. Next week a construction fence will go up as the preliminary demolition begins. The concrete structure containing the metal bleachers and all those decades of Lafayette nostalgia won't start coming down until early September.
Miner said items of historic nature, such as the plaques commemorating past Colt World Series champions, will be preserved. Most of the structure will not. Many fans said they came out Tuesday night for one last glimpse of the ballpark before that moment comes.
The Lafayette Aviators dugout stands during the national anthem before the last aviators game, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019 at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette. (Photo: Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)
Rick Anthrop asked for the same seats he and his wife, Sabrina, usually occupy: Section 107, seats 1 and 2, right on the aisle and straight up behind the left-handed batter's box.
The Anthrops sat on Aviators seat cushions. Self-described baseball fanatics, the couple's connection to Loeb Stadium ran much deeper than that. They both grew up coming to Columbian Park for Fourth of July fireworks, family reunions, and the "Big Dipper" slide that towers behind the ballpark grandstand on the third base side.
"Some of the old-time things coming back brings you back, then you bring your grandkids back," Sabrina Anthrop said. "We brought out grandson here to many games."
Cody and Michelle Canen of Lafayette brought their children to the park: son Owen, an aspiring ballplayer himself, and daughter Josie. The kids enjoyed Ace, the Aviators' mascot, and the between-innings entertainment as much or more than the action on the field. The parents enjoy an affordable family environment — one that stretches back through the generations to the minor league franchises that called Loeb Stadium home.
"It's something to do, and it gives you a real sense of community," Michelle Canen said. "Everyone's out here for the same reason."
Lafayette Aviators right fielder Mason Sykes (22) signs autographs after the final game at Loeb Stadium, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019 in Lafayette. (Photo: Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)
Kids in their youth baseball jerseys packed Loeb on its final night. When an Aviators player brought a cracked bat over to three boys standing down the first-base line, they passed it back and forth, inspecting its perfect split. Nearby, a mother negotiated a snow cone order for a pack of five children.
Mike Lowrey once played on Colt League teams and with Post 11 American Legion at Loeb Stadium. Tuesday night he brought his 4-year-old son, Brooks, and sat in the picnic area down the left field line. Brooks, still working his way out of T-ball, finished off his grape snow cone while his father took a final look out into the park.
"A lot of memories come back when you walk into a place like this," Lowrey said.
And yet, one need not have grown up with Loeb Stadium to grasp the significance of Tuesday's finale.
Lafayette resident Paula Bulla, who grew up in DeMotte, had previously attended only one Aviators game at the stadium. When she heard Tuesday's game would be the last, however, she felt compelled to return and be a small part of history. She appreciated the "new life" that will come when a new Loeb Stadium eventually stands on the grounds.
Aviators mascot Ace pumps up the crowd during the ninth inning of a prospect league baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019 at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette. The Champion City Kings won, 12-11 in 10 innings. (Photo: Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)
Lafayette's Eddie Keister grew up in Delaware, moved out to attend Purdue, and stayed. He served as a host parent for the Aviators, which is how he came to possess that game ball he brought to Fields in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Keister, decked out in Baltimore Orioles gear, asked for Fields' autograph, and an inscription: "First and last game at Loeb Stadium."
"It's going to be a crown jewel in my collection," Keister said.
Fields grew up across the street from the lot where Loeb Stadium now stands. Many fans had trouble picturing the new park's layout with home plate in what is now center field. Not Fields. He remembers that same layout at the park that preceded Loeb Stadium, down to the tree behind the backstop.
Keister approached Fields after the latter led Loeb Stadium in one final rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch. After his duties ended, fans began coming over to greet Fields, share stories, show him pictures they brought to the park of Satchel Paige and other legends who once played at Loeb.
Paul "Spider" Fields leads the stands in the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch of a prospect league baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019 at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette. The Champion City Kings won, 12-11 in 10 innings. (Photo: Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)
Perhaps no one could better answer the night's central question than Fields, so he gets the final word. Even if they rebuild Loeb in the same spot, won't the park lose the magic that brought so many people back Tuesday night?
"I thought it would," said Fields, wearing his 'Loeb Stadium Wall of Honor' shirt. "But then I saw the drawings of it, and it's going to be beautiful."
Contact Journal & Courier Purdue men's basketball insider Nathan Baird at nbaird@jconline.com or 765-420-5234. Follow on Twitter: @nbairdjc
Purdue defensive coaching staff undergoes more changes
Icy mix coming, postpones some Lafayette-area basketball games for Friday night
Lafayette Jeff hits century mark to top Anderson
Healthy Alsup boosts Harrison from the bench
Pregame | Purdue at No. 17 Maryland
Top-ranked Benton Central throttles Delphi