Courtesy Glens Falls Dragons
By Paul Post
“That guy’s got a lot of potential,” a young baseball fan remarked.
“Yeah, most of it’s unrealized,” his sports sage uncle replied wryly.
He might have been talking about East Field, too, which has hosted professional and collegiate league baseball almost every summer for nearly the past half-century.
Dozens of future big leaguers honed their skills there, including an American League Rookie of the Year (Ron Kittle) and two Cy Young Award winners (Doug Drabek and John Smoltz); Smoltz is enshrined among baseball’s all-time greats in Cooperstown.
The cozy ballpark is now home to the Glens Falls Dragons, which team owner Ben Bernard has kept alive for the past 10 years while operating on a shoestring budget. It’s a labor of love for everyone involved. Team members pay to play, and ticket takers, concession stand workers and the public address announcer are all volunteers.
“See the kids here tonight? That’s what it’s all about, this is the way it’s supposed to be,” Bernard said.
Every foul ball sparks an exciting race to see who can come up with the ball first. Kids who turn it in are rewarded with a hot dog, drink and a dollar. McDonald’s can’t beat that deal!
The entire atmosphere is grassroots baseball at its best, a great way to spend a summer evening.
But aging East Field has seen better days. New LED lights and comfortable stadium seats behind home plate were installed a couple of years ago. But the backstop screen is held together with zip ties, sections of wooden bleachers are off-limits for safety reasons, and cramped dugouts aren’t big enough to hold a Little League team, let alone college athletes.
“It’s a huge missed opportunity by the city for not investing more into the facility and improving offerings and amenities for residents while helping the local economy with sports tourism,” said Tyler Herrick, Queensbury Hotel general manager. “East Field has so much potential and unfortunately the city has allowed it to become run down and doesn’t realize the opportunity sports tourism has. Just do a quick internet search and you can see the impact facilities like Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park in Binghamton have done for their community.”
That $4 million project, begun in 2023, transformed a four-field dirt complex into a modern softball facility with turf fields, eight batting cages and bullpens, new restrooms, dugouts, bleachers, lighting, signage, a picnic area, a 500-square-foot concession area and ample parking. Teams come there from throughout the country.
“I have said it at numerous county Tourism meetings, there are two things families spend money on even when they don’t have a lot of money – their pets and their kids’ youth sports,” Herrick said. “Teams book rooms, they spend money in restaurants, pubs, attractions and even gas stations. Sales tax is greatly impacted.”
More than 90 teams for players ages 13 to 18 from throughout the Northeast are taking part in a Firecracker Sports tournament July 16-19. East Field is one of several venues from Albany to Queensbury (SUNY Adirondack) where games will be played, with dozens of college coaches on hand to evaluate player talent.
“On Thursday and Friday we’ll have five or six games here each day,” Bernard said. “It’s good for the community. All those people have to stay overnight someplace.”
Earlier this summer, during a similar tournament, several teams stayed at the Queensbury Hotel, Fairfield Inn at Exit 18, Home2 Suites in Queensbury and other Lake George region properties.
With significant upgrades, East Field could host many more such events.
Glens Falls Little League, whose complex is adjacent to the main, large diamond, hosts multiple tournaments each year, too. Eight to 12 local teams are expected to compete during the last weekend in July.
“They may not be staying overnight, but they will be getting gas, buying Gatorade and probably getting lunch or dinner in town during or after their games,” Herrick said.
A new East Field master plan, developed for the city Recreation Commission, identifies wide-ranging priorities for all parts of the city-owned property, including the main baseball stadium, Little League complex, pool and quarry pond. Highlights include replacing the stadium’s grass field with synthetic turf that could host other sports, in addition to baseball, such as lacrosse, football and soccer, with all-new spectator seating.
The Little League complex would also have turf surfaces and lighted fields.
The study also calls for possibly replacing the pool with a splash pad, razing the clubhouse to create additional parking, constructing a new team building and creating plaza-type entrances with new restrooms.
But the stadium upgrade alone would cost an estimated $6 million for a multisport field, lighting improvements and a new scoreboard. The total stadium project, including spectator seating, a concession area, field perimeter and parking, would cost $12.4 million.
Little League work would cost more than $1.6 million, and the pool/splash pad would cost almost $4 million, for a grand total of $18 million.
“It’s a big-ticket item to do it all at once,” said Allison Hargrave-Gaddy, city director of planning and zoning.
She emphasized that master plan proposals are very preliminary. The next step would be seeking public input.
Projects, if implemented, would be done in phases and would depend heavily on state and federal grant funding. Gaddy said she is exploring such opportunities, but none are immediately available.
South Street’s transformation is still going on, a decade after the city obtained a state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant to make such work possible.
So it’s doubtful there will be any significant, near-term changes at East Field, despite a long list of much-needed improvements.
The Dragons’ last home game is July 25.
Bernard and Assistant for Baseball Operations Mark Rogers do everything possible to promote the team and put fans in seats. This month’s special events include a chicken wing-eating contest, courtesy of Wingstop, and a Christmas in July game when players will wear themed jerseys auctioned off after the game.
Dragons players also are holding instructional camps for local kids.
The team plays in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, featuring players from some of the country’s top college programs. Division rivals are Amsterdam, Saugerties, Boonville, Mohawk Valley, Oneonta and Utica.
“It’s a short season, only two months,” Rogers said. “The biggest challenge? Sometimes it’s hard to get people here who haven’t been here.”