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Grayson Stadium -- 2003-07-30

Grayson stadium certainly is quaint and historical, but it is not a great place to "watch" a baseball game, especially after recently taking in a game in Charleston, SC.

The primary problem I have with the ballpark is that there isn't a seat where your view is not impeded by a net or a fence. Initially I excused for the sake of fan safety, but Charleston's stadium has clear site lines all around the stadium, and a better connection is made with the game on the field as a result. Plus the players were much much more accessible to the fans for autographs and conversations.

Recently I attended a game and was blocked into the parking lot when i had to leave early in the 7th inning because there are no lot attendants. Couldn't get an ice cream from the stand because the only person behind it was involved in some other business sounding concern, went to the picnic area concession stand to get some chow, but they were out of everything except chips and soda by the 4th inning, and I basically had to stand with my face pressed up against a high chain link fence to see the field without the criss-cross strands of fencing and netting.

I used to think it was an okay place, but after visiting the gorgeous park in Charleston, SC, Grayson stadium is a dog.

MacDisciple

Charming Park -- 2003-04-07

I caught a game at Grayson Stadium when I was in town in July, 1997. Delmarva was in town and it was simply a beautiful night to enjoy a game amidst the oak trees and the peaches (Georgia girls).

It was a bit weird for me in that John Shelby was managing the Sand Gnats at that time and I can remember him just a few years before playing for Los Angeles in Dodger Stadium (when I lived in LA).

Ken Severson

Oh, my, oh my! -- 2002-07-10

What an incredibly beautiful place to go to a game! You MUST go to Savannah to see the Sand Gnats. Follow US-80 through Savannah--it (Victory Drive) is one of those "canopy streets", like going through a tunnel of Live Oaks. By and by, you'll come to a park on your right, with some cleared places for soccer fields, but still mostly trees. Pull in and just find yourself a shady place to park between the trees near the stadium. Get there early---there are several restaurants in the next couple of blocks down Victory drive--a couple of burger places, and a couple of mid-scale restaurants. Get your burgers to go, and walk back to the stadium with them, and sit at one the dozen picnic tables in the pine woods just outside the left-field stands, and listen the bat-crack of batting practice while you sup in the Georgia pines, out of earshot of any traffic. Then the real treat--the inside of Grayson Stadium. Watch your step going up to the Reserved seats---some really tricky stair-angles. Tuck yourself away under the roof, where it is almost as dark as a movie theater. All seats have backrests, and all are in the shade by game time. This may be the greatest place in America to enjoy a ball game, in a very contagious leisurely style of Savannah.

Jim Turner

Game report: Sand Gnats vs. Macon Braves 7-23-2001 -- 2001-08-02

Rooter, FFL and your intrepid reporter arrived in the beautiful city of Savannah around 3 in the afternoon. Dumped the bags as the daily afternoon thunderstorm wound down, and headed out to find the ball park.

Grayson stadium is part of the larger Daffin park complex located on Victory drive, about 5 miles from the downtown Savannah historic district. Savannah has a long baseball history too. The Savannah Indians were founding clubs in both of the first 2 incarnations of the South Atlantic League (better known as the Sally league) in 1904 and again in 1935. Shoeless Joe Jackson led the Indians to their first Sally championship in 1909. Savannah also won the pennant in 1913 and 14. In 1916 the team closed down for WW1 and remained inactive until 1926, when the Indians were reincarnated in the Southeastern League and moved into Municipal Stadium - on the site of the present ballpark. The Great Depression shut down that team in 1928 with a month to play in the season and the Sally league folded in 1931. Babe Ruth, barnstorming north from spring training with the Boston Braves in 1935, hit a home run during an exhibition game against the Georgia State Teachers College in Municipal Stadium to get Savannah baseball restarted, and in 1936 Savannah fielded a club in the reformed Sally. The Indians won the Sally League title for the 4th time in 1937. On August 11, 1940, A hurricane

http://weather.terrapin.com/DisplayStorm.jsp?STORM=398&dtype=JAVA

destroyed most of Municipal Stadium, leaving only the concrete football bleachers on either side of the field. General William Grayson, a Spanish American War veteran and prominent Savannah politician who had been responsible for the construction of the Municpal Stadium in 1926, led the effort to rebuild the park after the hurricane. He died before the rebuilding was completed, and the new park was named in his honor. Work on the stadium was stopped with America?s entry into WW2 and the left field line portion of the ballpark remains unfinished to this day, giving the place a slightly lopsided look. When the DTFC wandered into the park through an open gate well before the stadium officially opened for the night, Rooter and I had speculated that a portion had been torn down. Turns out it was just stopped in the middle instead. The Sally league halted operations for the 1943 through 1945 seasons, and the Indians won their next championship in 1947. In 1952, the Dodgers came through town and Jackie Robinson stole home in the exhibition game. The Savannah club was the first in the Sally league to integrate when Al ?Izzy? Isreal and Junior Reedy took the field for the last Indians club on opening day in 1953. A month later, the attendance record for the park was set when a crowd of 15,363 paid to see Hank Aaron play in the park. According to the local paper, Aaron hit a shot down the third base line that literally knocked the 3rd sacker over. The 50th anniversary Sally league All Star game was also played at Grayson in 53. In 1954, the team became the Athletics after contracting with Connie Mack to be the Philadelphia clubs Sally team. That team brought the Sally pennant back to Savannah, but the association was short lived. The Savannah Redlegs took the field in 1956. The biggest moment in the modern baseball history of Savannah took place in the last year of the Redlegs run, 1959, when the Yankees barnstormed north from spring training and Mickey Mantle made an appearance at Grayson. According to the local paper, it was like God had come to town. The Reds franchise moved to Columbia South Carolina for the 1960 season and the Savannah Pirates, formerly of Gastonia North Carolina, took the field and brought home the pennant in 1960. In spite of this success, the team floundered and was forced to surrender it?s franchise. The 61 season was played without Savannah. The White Sox agreed to place a team in Savannah for the 1962 season, but racial tension, in the form of NAACP picketing to protest the segregated seating in the stadium, caused that team to move to Lynchburg Virginia for the last 8 games of the season. The Sally league folded again in 1963 and baseball would not return to Savannah until 1968. In 1968, the Senators AA Southern League franchise played in Savannah and the following year the Senators and Astros shared the club. In 1970, the Indians AA club played in Savannah and the Braves moved their Shreveport AA franchise to Savannah in 1971. In 1973, Hank Aaron?s younger brother Tommy becomes the first black manager of a club from one of the Dixie states when he takes the helm of the Savannah Braves in 1973. The Sally reincarnated for the 3rd time in 1980 when the Western Carolina league reorganized itself. The Braves decided to move their Southern league franchise to Greenville SC for the 1984 season, but the Cardinals agreed to move their Columbus Georgia Sally affiliate to take their place. In 1986 the Savannah ballclub became the first black owned baseball team since the Negro leagues closed when a new group of investors lead by Thomas Lewis and Inter-Urban Industries purchased the club. These owners gave way in 1991 to a new group headed by Ken Silver, which has run the club for the past 10 seasons. The Cardinals won championships in 1993 and 1994. With the 1996 season, the affiliation changed to the Dodgers and that team won the record 10th Sally championship. In 1997, the team changed it?s name to the Sand Gnats and in 1998, the last affiliation change took place when the Gnats became part of the Rangers organization.

The left-center field bleachers are closed now and the wall has been moved in to give the place more symmetrical dimensions. The field has also been rotated a few degrees so there is a few feet of foul ground down the line in right. The original drawing, reproduced in the game program, show the right field line ending at an angle to the bleachers ala Fenway. Rooter, FFL and I looked around for a few minutes, mostly hanging out under the picnic tents down the left field line to keep out of the rain. The field looked to be in pretty good shape, with no standing water that might prevent the game starting on time in spite of all the rain it had taken. The Macon Braves, whose bus arrived at the same time we had - which is why the gate was left open - now started to drift out onto the field to loosen up. We spoke briefly with Quentin (Quincy) Jones, the Braves closer for a few minutes and FFL took his picture. Rooter knows pitchers and took the lead in the conversation, so I?ll leave it to him to fill out the details of this interview. The grounds crew, aided by every available Gnats employee came out to pull off the tarp. We offered to help but they said we couldn?t because their insurance wouldn?t allow it. Rooter occupied his time retrieving a ball from the top of the batting cage while FFL and I watched them pull off the tarp. I held one of the concession women?s purse for her while she helped. Then the boss guy came over and asked us to go buy a ticket and enter through the main gate - because their insurance wouldn?t allow them to let us be in the park before it opened. So FFL and I went out to get a ticket and then, to kill the 10 minutes until the gates officially opened, I went for a walk around the park to have a look at it?s construction. FFL caught up with me after I had looked at the old bleachers in left. Rooter stopped to fill out a trivia question answer at the customer service booth and then disappeared for a while - I later discovered he had continued to hunt for baseballs lying around unattended. By the time we completed our orbit of the park, the gates had opened and we ventured inside. Our first stop was to get some programs, then we went around the small concourse to the merchandise stand where I got a poster, 4 packs of player cards, a couple postcards, a complementary CD mini disk and of course about a billion pocket schedules for EMC. FFL bought a couple ?Bite Me? T-shirts. By this time, the Sand Gnats had taken the field to get loose, and I sat for a while watching Gnat manager (former Braves roving pitching instructor) Bill Slack working with Victor Ramirez on his throwing technique while Pitching coach Andy Hawkins (Answer to the trivia question, who was the winning pitcher in the Padres only World Series win?) watched the scheduled starter warm up. FFL had drifted down the line to the right filed corner and came back to let me know that the players that EMC had been particularly keen on were both standing down there. I collected up my stuff and went down to chat them up. Laynce Nix, a 6?0?, 190 lb L/L 21 year old centerfielder swings a 34? 31 oz. Louisville slugger model P72 bat for a .275 BA, .330 OBP, .757 OPS. He enjoys playing center for the Gnats, but says most people see him as a left fielder in the bigs. He likes a low inside fastball. He has heard of the Newberg report and reads it sometimes. Jason Botts, a 6?6?, 245 lb S/R 20 year old (he turns 21 on Thursday the 26th) has played most of his young career at 1b, though he is being tried in the outfield due to the logjam in the Rangers organization at his accustomed spot. He thinks very highly of the coaching staff and says he has learned a lot from them. Nearly every coach and roving instructor in the Rangers organization has been through Savannah in the last month or so to work with them. He was a 46th round draft choice and thinks the 5.5 million the twins just paid for their #1 to be outrageous. While he won?t say what he signed for, he does say that is is considerably less than 5.5 million. What does a 46th rounder get, $10K? Jason is by far the best hitter - and based on just this one game, I?d say the best player and prospect - on the Sand Gnats with a .309 BA, .414 OBP and a respectable .865 OPS. I asked him if he had a good arm and Nix laughed - he has a cannon apparently - and if so why did he play first? He said he?s just happy to be here, doing what he can to help the ball club. We laughed about the clichés and he confessed that he rated Bull Durham the best of the baseball movies he had seen. He immediately got my church of baseball reference and ran with it, 108 stitches in a baseball, 108 beads on a rosary, etc. He has discovered that the movie accurately depicts life as a minor leaguer. He?s a very nice young man and says he reads the Newberg Report often to keep up with his buddies. I didn?t get a chance to talk to Gnats SS Jose Morban, who had been standing with Nix and Botts but they all signed the cover of a game program before going down by the bullpen to begin the team pregame warm-ups. I watched as Andy Hawkins talked to the scheduled starter, (whose name escapes me and by the time I looked the story was already gone from the local paper) who had cut his thumb somehow, and then began to warm up an emergency starter. Rooter reappeared and we settled into the bleachers just beyond first base, got down the lineups in our scorebooks and sang the anthem. Jason Botts was announced as the Benigans big hitter of the night and the first pitch was delivered by Reggie Rivard at 7:09 PM.

Macon 1st - Burros grounded out to first 3U. Muchado reached by hustling on an infield single to deep short Johnson walked on 4 straight Coleman grounded into FC at third forcing Muchado 5U Thomas walked Oropeza flew out to short right field. Good play by Jason Botts, taking charge and calling off the centerfielder and 2b.

Savannah 1st - Braves pitcher is Bubba Nelson Acevedo flew out to left Morban and Nix strike out

Macon 2nd Terveen grounds out to 2nd Boscan grounds out to SS Frobes singles to left center (my scorebook shows this ball going to the gap and a note that says Nix took a poor route to the ball and failing to cut it off - though this does not square with the single I recorded) Burros doubles to left center (Nix?s bad route here?) Scoring Forbes Muchado strikes out

Savannah 2nd Botts singled up the middle - earns entire crowd a 5$ off coupon to Bennigan?s. ?Big? Tony Mongelluzzo grounds into a 3-6-3 DP. Note that Botts went in hard and leveled the SS on the play. Good hard nosed ball. The SS will be a little worried next time he sees Jason coming. Dill (swinging bunt chopper) grounds out to pitcher Macon 3rd Burros lines out to first - outstanding diving stab by Dill! Coleman singles to left, steals second Thomas Homers to right Oropeza grounds out to short Terveen singles to left - caught stealing 2-4

Savannah 3rd Esquivel called out on strikes looking Gajewski flew out to right Agromeonte flies out to left

Macon 4th - new Savannah pitcher Reuben Feliciano Boscan walks on 4 straight Forbes walked on 4 straight Feliciano throws 9th straight ball before recording a strike - your intrepid reporter joins in derisive applause Burros grounds second straight strike to second for 4-3 out - runners move up Muchado strikes out Johnson walks to load bases Coleman grounds to 2nd, forcing Johnson 4U

Savannah 4th Acevedo singles to center Morban grounds into 4-6-3 DP. Well, except the ump blew this one. Morban should have been safe. Nix flew out to center

Macon 5th Thomas grounds out to second Oropeza pops out to second Terveen Hit by pitch Boscan walks (good at bat, took 9 pitches to earn the BB) Forbes lines to center, great diving try by Nix comes up empty, Botts, backing up the play, pegs it home on one hop, which should have gotten Boscan, but the catcher couldn?t handle the throw. Forbes gets a 2B scoring Turveen and Boscan Burros grounds deep into the hole at short, Morban makes an excellent deep stop and off balance throw to get a fast runner. Great play to end the threat.

Savannah 5th Botts and Big Tony Mongelluzzo strike out Dill walks Esquivell grounds to short forcing Dill 6-4

Macon 6th - Ole Vigeland pitching for Savannah Check your program for Big Tony Mongelluzzo?s autograph to win a $50 gift certificate for chiropractic care - It turns out the program I got for EMC was signed. I?ll be sending the coupon along with the program, but I dinna ken how she will cash it in. Acevedo with another hustling infield single to short Johnson grounds out to first 3U moving up Acevedo Brief shower causes Rooter and I to abandon current seating arrangement in favor of flopping in the box seats under the roof Coleman singles up the middle - not deep enough to send the runner in a 5-0 ballgame Thomas strikes out looking Oropeza flies out to left

Savannah 6th Gajewski singles to right Agromonte flies out to left Acevedo grounds to short, forcing Gajewski at second 6-4 Morban chases dirt pitch, strikes out.

Macon 7th Terveen grounds out to second Boscan singles to left Forbes flies out to center Burros singles to left Muchado grounds to short forcing Burros at second 6-4.

Savannah 7th Schlotsky?s deli trivia answer announced - Who holds the major league record for most loses in a row - Anthony Young - Rob Homa is the winner. Nix flies out to deep right Botts walks Mongeluzzo hit by pitch Dill singles to right scoring Botts Esquivel singles on hard shot to 3rd (I scored it E5 but the official scorer called it a hit) Gajewski walks - scoring Mongeluzzo New pitcher for Macon - Elvis Perez (Rooter goes to get his prize) Perez balks, Dill scores, Esquivel and Gajewski move up Agromonte grounds to third, Esquivel out at plate 5-2 Agromonte steals 2nd Acevedo walks 6 and ½ year old Collyn makes my acquaintance, wants to know what I?m writing. Keeping score is too much to really explain to a girl that young, she just doesn't have the attention span, so I just give her the highlights. Morban strikes out swinging at one hopper. Collyn wants to know what Rooter means by struck out swinging at junk. Rooter: like balls in the dirt that only a gopher could hit. Collyn: What?s a gopher? Say Hey: A critter that lives in the ground. Collyn: Gophers can?t hit. Say Hey: Neither can Morban.

Macon 8th Johnson pops out to (oh yeah, new) Pitcher - Mike Scuglik Coleman flies out to shallow right - again, Botts takes charge on play, calling off 2B. Thomas singles to center Collyn: why do you keep track of the Braves? Say Hey: So I?ll know how the Sand Gnats did on defense? Collyn: If the Sand Gnats don?t do it, it doesn?t count. Oropeza doubles down the right field line Terveen walks Boscan doubles down left field line scoring Thomas and Oropeza Forbes singles to right gap, scoring Terveen and Boscan Burros strikes out

Savannah 8th New second baseman for Macon is Morles batting for Johnson. Muchado moves to short Nix strikes out looking at a curve Botts walks Mongelluzzo grounds to third forcing Botts at 2nd 5-6. Botts hard take out slide prevents double play Dill grounds out to first, 3U

Macon 9th Muchado singles to left Morles grounds out to first, 3-1 Coleman singles Thomas grounds to short - E6 on Morban Collyn: Why?d he do that? Say Hey - because he sucks. Ooops sorry Collyn?s dad. Oropeza grounds to second forcing Thomas 4-6, Muchado scores. (RBI for Oropeza) Terveen walks Boscan grounds out to pitcher

Savannah 9th - New pitcher for Macon is Mendez Esquivel strikes out Gajewski walks Agromonte strikes out Acevedo walks Morban strikes out. Final score was 3. Since only the Sand Gnats count. Goodbye Collyn, nice to have met you. I asked at the customer service booth about the attendance - 850 was announced. Rooter scavenged for ticket stubs and I went out to see if I could find the home run ball. No I couldn?t. The game took a barely manageable 2:58 minutes. Then we stood and watched the end of the Braves game on the TV above the concession stand before heading back to our hotel.

Marilyn "SayHey" Hays - Dickie Thon Fan Club

Grayson Stadium -- 2001-07-31

It is true that Grayson Stadium is like a trip back in time. Every where you look you'll either see brick or Live Oaks with spanish moss hanging from its branches. Parking is free, the tickets are pocket change. The only drawback is the heat, humidity and the sand gnats, and I don't mean the ball club. I'd recommend bypassing on box seats. The fog of sand gnats (the biting kind) tends to be more dense near the grass.

Brent Ingram

Sunday near the cage -- 2001-06-08

Grayson Stadium is a grand old treasure of Southern baseball the way it was at the beginning of the 20th century. from its brick arches to the splintering pine planks in the outfield bleachers that are rarely open to the bar over right field to the towering Marlboro Man Billboard in straightaway center. it's a classic. i spent nearly every Sunday there during two hot summers in the early 1990s, and I miss it every time I go into a new ultra-modern conrete elephant in the majors. It's like watching the game with your neighbors. You can hear everyone and see everything. My buddies and I used to sit on the picnic tables and munched on brats and mustard and chat with the visiting bull pen pitchers and third-base coaches. Had a great chat with Butch Wynegar once and saw Adrian Beltre clock a ball so hard into the pine trees behind the left-field bleachers that it shaved branches off. He was 16 at the time. Hands down, the coolest old park I've ever seen or heard of.

Jeff Shrewsbury

Great Throwback Park -- 2001-05-19

Grayson Stadium is void of almost all amenities that you've come to expect from the modern day ballpark with one exception: the quaintness is real! Great place to see, hear, (and smell!) a game. Very conveniently located near downtown historic Savannah (where you'll also find a cool vintage baseball store called "When It Was A Game"). Get there early and you might be pitching BP!

Chris Schutte

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