Asheville, NC

Park # 73

What I Remember

Asheville was the oldest park being used for baseball during the Excellent Adventure of 1991. There were older parks used both before and after that season but in 1991 McCormick Field was the oldest and it was the last year it would qualify as such; the entire seating area was replaced after that season.

I went back to Asheville in 2003 and the new grandstand was certainly an improvement. They had preserved the history of the place while also giving it the makeover it needed to remain a professional ballpark. However, I am glad I also saw the original – it looked almost exactly the way it did in the video below – it is one of the final scenes of the movie Bull Durham.

The Tourists staff greeted us warmly (there is a mention about our visit in the game notes below) and a reporter from the local paper did a nice feature on the trip. My biggest recollection of that night was talking with him from our seats in the first row next to the Tourists dugout. The seats were so close you could listen in on the players conversations and vice versa, more than once a few of them looked back to see who was being interviewed.

The Game

Asheville Tourists 5 Gastonia Rangers 1

The Box: (Click on the arrows to see more images)

The Video: