"Fred Francis Took Baseball Out of the Sand Lots"

"Fred Francis Took Baseball Out of the Sand Lots". . , Through his love of baseball and through his love for St. Augustine and its people, Frederick G. (Fred) Francis took baseball out of the sandlots and lifted the St. Augustine Saints to four pennants while he was at the helm., Fred Francis made it possible for a lighted baseball park to become a reality and brought night professional baseball to St. Augustine, keeping the sport alive in the Nation's Oldest City. A native of Render, Kentucky, Fred Francis came to St. Augustine as a young child. He became an outstanding athlete, excelling in baseball, basketball, swimming, tennis and golf. He was a member of the amateur St.Augustine Saints baseball team and then played professional baseball at shortstop in the Class B Southeastern League and other circuits., Francis was a tennis instructor at the Alcazar Hotel and covered sports for the St. Augustine Record., When he left active playing, he did not retire from sports. He managed and backed the Saints in the semi-professional Northeast Florida League and the Class D Florida State League., The St. Augustine City Commission named the City's baseball park Francis Field, to repay Fred Francis in a small way for giving this city five years of high class baseball through his own personal financial and managerial efforts. The Park was dedicated June 23, 1938., Fred Francis died in St. Augustine in 1962.