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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 17, 2006 A new baseball diamond has sprouted at Hawthorne Park, where baseball has been absent for years in favor of soccer. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Baseball returns to Hawthorne Park this year After approximately 30 years in absentia, the Babe Ruth league will return to the park, bringing with it spectators and, perhaps, safety By GREG STILES Mail Tribune Dan Ratty remembers roaming through Hawthorne Park back in 1965 during his freshman year at St. Mary’s High School, baseball glove in hand. "We practiced at Hawthorne and played our games at Miles Field," said Ratty, now the Medford Babe Ruth League president. "It got a lot of use in those days." The mid-town park was used by city recreation baseball leagues for 8- through 12-year-olds in the mid-1960s. By the 1970s, city league softball took up residence. Then in the 1990s, it was converted into a soccer field and the old diamond drifted into memory. But with the south Medford freeway interchange project scheduled to get under way later this spring, the Babe Ruth League found itself without a ballpark. "The freeway on-ramp is going right through center field and we were told we’d have to leave," said Dave Stevens, treasurer of the local Babe Ruth board. Advertisement Medford’s Parks and Recreation Department cleared the way in mid-February for the 13- through 15 year-old baseball players to practice and play games at Hawthorne and at Abraham Lincoln School off Delta Waters Road. The league’s opening night is scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight at Hawthorne Park. Until the city gave us those fields," Ratty said. "We didn’t know if we were going to play in the street or just where for sure. As strong as soccer has got, I’m very thankful we got the fields." The old backstop has been hauled off and Quality Fence of Central Point has erected a spanking new $14,000 backstop with fences extending down both the first- and third-base lines. The field of play is about 10 feet closer to Jackson Street than the previous setup to accommodate mature trees that dominate the landscape. "Anything that hits the trees down the line will be foul anyway," Stevens said. But trees will still come into play, because there are several about 280 feet from home plate in center field. "Just about any of these kids can hit the ball that far," Stevens said. "That’s why the majority of the games here will be played by the 13-year-old teams and the 14-and-15- year-olds will play at Lincoln. "If the trees in the outfield come into play, it will be a ground-rule double." Out in left field, however, the ball can roll all the way to Bear Creek because there are no fences. "You can run until the cows come home," Stevens said. The infield has dirt cutouts at home plate and at each base, and the pitcher’s mound is portable so that it can be stowed after games and practices. Ratty said the league will roll the ground to help produce true ball bounces. "Around the country, they’re playing on fields like this quite a bit because it takes less maintenance," Ratty said. "With Turface (a clay-based material) it absorbs water well and you get a nice slide on it." Stevens said the local Babe Ruth league has lost players to American Legion feeder programs in recent years, consequently the league has around 100 players compared to 150 five years ago. "We’re looking at being at Hawthorne and Abraham Lincoln at least two years," Ratty said. He’s hoping two Babe Ruth-sized fields will be completed at the new Medford sports park, not far from the old ballpark where the league played for more than two decades. "It’s really a nicer atmosphere than they played in last year," said Bryan Herrmann, a Babe Ruth dad taking in practice Saturday morning. "I think playing games here will bring a lot more people to the park and I think it will make things safer here." The park’s reputation took a hit in December 2002 when Gary Washebek was stabbed and bled to death on a picnic table. "The first thing my son asked when he found out he’d be playing here was, ‘Is it safe?’ " Herrmann said. Washebek interacted frequently with the park’s transient population and was stabbed during a fight along with another victim. The assailant was sentenced to 14 years in prison. All three had been drinking prior to the incident. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail Baseball returns to Hawthorne Park this year ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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