‘Diamond’ of the Greencastle-Antrim community

It’s 2012, but imagine America’s favorite pastime being played on a field that would pass for a vintage Abner Doubleday-era diamond.

It may not be the most pristine of surfaces, but it’s real. It has a grass infield and to the observer the diamond is on a bit of a pedestal, but that really seems just right for this setting.

It’s located in the center of a community playground so you hear children playing. Better yet there are train tracks along one side of it. These could be distractions, but they are not. The baseball game going on fits right in with the young voices enjoying the outdoors. Not only do the game spectators love to watch the occasional train go by, (afterall there’s plenty of down time during a baseball game) but the engineer often stops or slows the train to sneak in a few pitches or an inning. The presence of the train comes to the delight of the youngsters around.

Yes, the spectators may love the venue the most. Trees line both sides of the field, providing excellent natural cover on those hot afternoons of taking in a ballgame. Better yet there is a classic grandstand that definitely shows its advanced age, but has also stood the test of time.  

The outfield is certainly not perfect either. There are fences around some of it, but some is a no-man’s land that no fielder wants to end up in. But oh, if those trees and bushes out there could talk, they would tell of many a homerun ball that created a local legend or two.

The field likens to a simpler time, but there was plenty of competitiveness. It’s perhaps even more intense as the game is made all the more basic by the surroundings. It’s a venue and experience that could never be equaled. It speaks to the enjoyment of the simple things in life that just seem right.

Sometimes we can understand the reason for changes that are made, and yet we still yearn for the past. It can make sense in our heads, but there will always remain a part in our hearts. The baseball diamond at the Jerome R. King Playground holds nearly 90 years of memories. Let’s hope that there are lots more to be made on this gem of the Greencastle-Antrim community.