Luther Williams Field is a baseball stadium in Macon, Georgia. It was built in 1929 on the site of an earlier ball park, and is the centerpiece of Central City Park in Macon. It is the home of the Macon Bacon, a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball team in the Coastal Plain League.[2] The original covered grandstand is still in place, though a new tin roof has replaced the former wooden one. A black iron gate surrounds the field, the front of which says "Macon Base Ball Park."
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| Location | Central City Park Macon, Georgia |
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| Owner | City of Macon |
| Operator | City of Macon |
| Capacity | 3,500 |
| Field size | Left Field: 338 feet (103 m) Center Field: 402 feet (123 m) |
| Opened | 1929 |
| Tenants | |
| Macon Bacon (2018–present) Macon State Blue Storm (2011–2012) | |
Williams, Luther, Field | |
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| Location | 225 Willie Smokey Glover Blvd., Central City Park, Macon, Georgia |
| Coordinates | 32°49′44″N 83°36′51″W / 32.82889°N 83.61417°W |
| Area | 6.5 acre |
| Built | 1929 |
| Architect | Curran R. Ellis |
| Engineer | Watson Walker |
| NRHP reference No. | 04000627[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 24, 2004 |
History
editLuther Williams Field was home to the Macon Peaches (of the South Atlantic Association, South Atlantic League, and Southern League) on and off from 1929 to the 1980s, and another team by the same name from the Southeastern League in 2003. The Macon Dodgers of the South Atlantic League played at the stadium from 1956 to 1960; the Macon Redbirds in 1983; the Macon Pirates from 1984 to 1987; and the Macon Braves from 1991 to 2002. In 2007, the new South Coast League located its Macon Music franchise at Luther Williams.[citation needed] The team was managed by former major league player Phil Plantier. The General Manager was Ric Sisler, grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer George Sisler.
The venue hosted the 1980 and 1982 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournaments, won by Georgia Southern and Hardin–Simmons, respectively.[3]
Luther Williams Field was used for location shooting in the 1976 film The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings in which it stood in for a fictional Negro leagues ballpark in St. Louis, Missouri.[citation needed] It was also used as a location in 2012 for two motion pictures, the Harrison Ford movie 42, chronicling the baseball legend Jackie Robinson, and Clint Eastwood's Trouble with the Curve. It was also used to film baseball scenes in the television show Brockmire.[4]
The stadium was named for Macon's mayor at the time of its opening, Luther Williams, whose family had migrated from South Wales, UK in the latter 1800's. Having an ardent love for athletics, he worked to bring baseball to Macon and helped get the stadium built.[5] Originally unnamed and costing $60,000, the city council soon named the new park after Williams. The first game held there was on April 18, 1929.[6]
Famous players
editNumerous Major League stars have played at Luther Williams, whether on their way up the minor league system or as part of Major League teams' occasional stopovers to play their farm teams. Some notable players include:
- Pete Rose (1962 Peaches), MLB all-time hit leader[7]
- Tony Pérez (1963 Peaches), Baseball Hall of Famer
- Vince Coleman (1983 Redbirds), set all-time professional baseball record of 145 stolen bases[8] (since surpassed by Billy Hamilton)
- Chipper Jones (1991 Braves), Baseball Hall of Famer and 1999 National League Most Valuable Player
- Jermaine Dye (1994 Braves), 2005 World Series Most Valuable Player
- Andruw Jones, Sr. (1995 Braves), nine-time Gold Glove Award winner[9]
References
edit- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Macon Bacon announce 2022 schedule". Macon Bacon Baseball. September 24, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
The Bacon will play 28 home games at Luther Williams Field.
- ^ "Atlantic Sun Recordbook - Baseball" (PDF). ASUN Conference. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- ^ Brown, Oby; Dunlap, Stanley (June 14, 2016). "New TV series set to shoot in Macon beginning later this month". The Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- ^ Lemoine, Kenneth (December 12, 2019). "Who is Luther Williams?". The Macon Newsroom. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ Brown, Oby (April 16, 2020). "They Built It, and One Day We'll Return". Revitalize the Blog. Historic Macon Foundation. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
There was a baseball game that day at the city's brand-new (and unnamed) stadium in Central City Park. [...] Within two weeks City Council members named it Luther Williams Field, in the mayor's honor. It cost about $60,000 to build.
- ^ Corson, Ed (1999). "Stories of the century". The Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. Archived from the original on July 25, 2002. Retrieved November 20, 2008 – via Mindspring.com.
- ^ "Vince Coleman". baseballbiography.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
- ^ "Andruw Jones - Los Angeles Dodgers". Sportsnet. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
External links
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Media related to Luther Williams Field at Wikimedia Commons