Boston Goes Bush League; City’s Fields Suffering From Neglect And Overuse
The baseball skips off the dusty, uneven infield and nearly decapitates the shortstop. It takes another crazy hop in the outfield, forcing the left fielder to perform acrobatics in order to hold the runner to a single.
Such is life on this early June night at Fallon Field in Roslindale, home field of the Triple D’s club in the Senior Boston Park League.
“If anyone wonders why we’re losing ballplayers to the Inter-City League or the South Shore League, all they have to do is look at the shape of our fields in Boston,” says Walt Mortimer, former Park League star and now an umpire and league secretary.
Losing players may be one thing, but losing teeth is another: Two years ago, Triple D’s third baseman Brian O’Leary took a bad hop grounder in the face at Fallon, knocking out two teeth. Three years ago, Jim Gill of the Towne Club was hit by a line drive in the throat at the same park as he sat on his unprotected team bench. Read more
