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Ottawa in Putnam County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
 

The History of Night Baseball and Parks in Ottawa

 
 
The History of Night Baseball and Parks in Ottawa Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Doda, June 15, 2022
1. The History of Night Baseball and Parks in Ottawa Marker
Inscription. May 29, 1929- The first night game in Putnam County took place at Beutler Field, on Ottawa's Northwest end near the St. Rt. 224 bridge crossing. American Athletic Girls baseball team set up their $20,000 light plan of 50,000 candle power and defeated the local Liberty Sluggers 6-2. It was not until May 24th, 1935, the first major league baseball game was played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

June 1950- Plans for a new park in Ottawa were announced by a joint effort from the Ottawa Kiwanis and Chamber of Commerce. The new park would be called Ottawa Memorial Park and would be located east of Pratt St. and North of E. Fourth St. Co-Chairman of the Park committee were R.E. Laudick and W.C. Toner. Norris Simpson was named the supervisor in charge of construction and a lighted baseball field. Community volunteers, young and old, cleared the grounds of branches and trees. The local Ohio National Guard, led by Gale Bennett, joined forces with the local Boy Scouts, led by Scoutmaster Ralph Reed. Weatherseal Inc. pledged the material and labor to build a covered grandstand for the baseball field.

Summer 1955- There were still no lights on the new Memorial Park Baseball Field. A shortfall of funds had caused the lighting system to be put on hold. That is when local citizen Donald
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Doepker formed a new group, the Ottawa Community Boosters Club, with the stated goal of raising funds to light the new baseball field. Officers of the new club included Pete Hamilton, Alva Lanwehr, Hubert Beckman, Forest Hopkins, and Paul Schomaeker, Joe Ruhe, Frank Kahle, Bernard Ruhe, Reese Maidlow, Donald Weis, Alvin Felkey, Vyland Newland, Vic Goedde, Ray Conine, Bob Imm and Louis Ball. The community rallied behind the group and together they got the job done.

June 12, 1956- First Night Game at the New Memorial Park. Ottawa Legion defeats Delphos Legion 3-1.

June 21, 1965- Ottawa Mayor Ray Winkler informed the Village Council that Sylvania Electric had made a request. to purchase the park site in order to expand their facility to manufacture color television tubes. The property was sold to Sylvania for $16,000 and a special farewell baseball game between the O-G ACME team and Ottawa Legion was held at the park on August 1, 1965. Ottawa Legion Baseball GM, Shorty Kreinbrink and O-G Athletic Boosters president, Bill Kruse, organized the game and special closing ceremonies. Today, there is no trace of the old park or baseball field on Pratt St.

Summer 1986- Memorial Park including all of the play- ground equipment, shelter houses and the baseball lights and poles were moved to it's current location by members of
The History of Night Baseball and Parks in Ottawa Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Doda, June 15, 2022
2. The History of Night Baseball and Parks in Ottawa Marker
the O-G Athletic Boosters, volunteers and village employees. The poles were cut at the base and were about 10-15 feet shorter at the new field which caused some dissension because the lights did not provide optimal lighting of the new field. Since 1966 thousands of baseball games have been played at Memorial Field in the New Memorial Park.

June 22, 2001- The Ghost Players from the 1989 movie classic "Field of Dreams” came to Memorial Field to play ball. A crowd of over 1500 people jammed the ballpark to watch the Ghost's one hour comedy show, "The Greatest Show on Dirt.” After the comedy show the Ghost Players took on a group of the Ottawa Legion Alumni players and the Ghost Players won a hard fought game 8-7. In 2002 the Ghost Players returned to Memorial Field for an encore. performance, this time drawing a crowd of over 2000 fans. The Ghost Players performed all around the world but the yisits to Ottawa were their only appearances in Ohio.

June 29, 2012- A severe windstorm hit Memorial Park with winds of up to 90 mph and caused severe damage to the baseball field lights. Upon inspection it was determined that the 56 year old poles were rotted and unsafe and had to be removed.

June 2013- A lighting committee was formed in June of 2013 that included Dave Kersh, Todd Schimmoeller, Jerry Stechschulte, Greg
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Schroeder and Dave Niese. Eventually, this committee became the Memorial Park Capital Campaign Committee which also included Jo Deskins from the Ottawa Council, Larry Killen, Kevin Bellman, Ron Black, Jared Wehri, Andy Schroeder of County Electric and Mayor Dean Meyer. The Village of Ottawa will set aside $11,000 per year for the next 10 years to acquire lights in the near future. It soon became apparent that the cost increases of 5-7 percent per year for the lights were eating up any money being saved by the village. In the fall of 2017, the Capital Campaign Committee went to the O-G Rotary Club to help secure a loan for the lights. the O-G Rotary Club requested the Capital Campaign Committee to raise $75,000 to secure the needed money to back the loan. The Capital Campaign Committee raised over $110,000 from local businesses and individual donors within six weeks. This amount allowed the O-G Rotary Club to secure a loan and the lights were ordered.

January 8, 2018- The poles arrived Jan. 8th and Andy Schroeder and County Electric donated all labor to install the poles and wiring. Capital Crane had to bring a crane from Toledo to set the new light poles due to the height of the poles.
K&L donated all cement used to set the lights, brick and block to build the entrance pillars. Chris Gerding, Digger, dug the footers for the pillars and Whitey Glanz laid the brick and block at no charge. Left over used bricks from Third St. curb improvement were used to construct the sidewalk. Parker Schnipke earned his Eagle Scout award for organizing the construction of the pillars and entrance way. Verhoff Machine and Welding helped in forming the arch and Parker's brother, Connor Schnipke, welded the letters with the help of John Blankemeyer. The Shop (Tim & Tony Imm) painted the arch way and Parker's dad Jeff Schnipke was allowed to use an AEP crane truck to set the arch on top of the pillars. Tom Weber Jr. prepared the ball diamond with the help of Jared Wehri and Dave Bingley. Hundreds of others not mentioned were instrumental in making this project a success and the town of Ottawa is greatly indebted to their volunteer efforts. Thank you all for making this community a safe, vibrant and attractive town that allows our youth to have a place to build discipline, teamwork and have the mentoring from all the volunteers.

June 8, 2018- Dedication of the new Memorial Field Lights and Entrance Way into the field.
Game - Findlay vs. Ottawa
The candle power of the new lights is equivalent to 470,000 candle power or 5,896,000 lumens.
A standard 100 watt light bulb gives off approximately 1000 lumens. If one would put that into perspective then it takes 5,896 (100 watt) light bulbs to light the new field.
Fortunately, with new technology the cost of running the ball diamond lights is less than what it previously cost with the older style lights of 2012 but with greater brightness.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Parks & Recreational AreasSports. A significant historical date for this entry is May 29, 1935.
 
Location. 41° 1.547′ N, 84° 2.605′ W. Marker is in Ottawa, Ohio, in Putnam County. Marker is on N. Locust Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Ottawa OH 45875, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Larry E. Cox (here, next to this marker); American Legion Post 63 Veterans Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away); Ottawa, Ohio (approx. 0.4 miles away); Putnam County Veterans Memorial (approx. half a mile away); Frances Rappaport Horwich (approx. half a mile away); Welcome to Pizza Hut Classic (approx. half a mile away); Putnam County World War Memorial Clock (approx. half a mile away); Honor Our Veterans (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ottawa.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 27, 2022. It was originally submitted on June 19, 2022, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 173 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on June 19, 2022, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024