Posts Tagged ‘Blue Wahoos’
Pensacola Baseball Players 1958 …
This is a group photo that my father made back in 1958. The old Admiral Mason Ball Park sure had nothing on the new Blue Wahoos stadium … and how about this infield grass? I doubt that this infield had any sub-surface, drainage run-off system. And you know, if Jerry Pate had put this grass down, his days in the turf business would be numbered! Don’t forget these bleachers … my dad did the photography back then for the Dons as a trade-out for one of their so-called ” boxes “. I can remember going to the games and sitting in the box and then running around with all the other kids at the game … something a kid never forgets – a real high point! One thing that this ball park and the new CMP ball park have in common is that they were both built across the street from a sewage plant. How many of you can remember that sewage plant that was down at the end of 9th Avenue? Please share any memories that you have of the old Admiral Mason Ball Park … I, for one, would be interested in hearing them! Thanks for looking …
Update: After looking at this photo for a while, I believe this is a group of different ball team players from the past and not a group shot of the Dons. Notice how the players seem to be wearing several different uniforms fro past Pensacola Ball Clubs … Senators, Dons, etc. Also, these guys look a little too old to be playing everyday. This could have been a player reunion promotion put on by the Dons, since they were always doing something to fill the stands. What do you think?
Ballpark Beauty Contest …
This is something that the Blue Wahoos might to consider … A Beauty Contest … Miss Blue Wahoo. Sort of has a nice ring to it. My father made this photo down at the old Admiral Mason Ball Park when the Pensacola Dons were playing. They must have had a beauty contest and this pretty young lady was the winner. You can see all of the other contestants in the background. I also ran across a men’s body building contest, but it is in bad shape and have not wanted to bother taking the time to clean it up. I had posted this photo up on my old blog and someone told me who the radio announcer is, but I cannot find his name anywhere. I am sure someone out there knows … also, if anyone recognizes the ball player or young lady, please let us know. I would guess that this was around 1957 or 58. Thanks for looking …
UPDATE: The man with the microphone is Don Griffith. Someone had emailed me that information a while back when I had the other blog and I could not find where I had put his name. Back on Saturday, April 7, 2012, Earl Bowden had written an article in the Pensacola News Journal on the ” Opinion Page ” about the history of Pensacola Baseball through the years. He mentioned the ” melodius WCOA broadcaster Don Meredith ” in his article and when I read that I remembered the announcer’s name. If you can find the article ( I do not know if you can go on-line and access past articles from the PNJ … if you cannot, maybe contact them and ask how you can locate the article ) it is very interesting and entertaining … as are all the articles that Mr. Bowden writes for the Pensacola News Journal. The only thing that I do not like is that Mr. Bowden is limited to only one column – they should give him several, since everything he writes is so interesting! As usual, all comments are appreciated …
The Grounds Keeper …
This is one of my all-time favorite photos … no special reason, except once you start looking at the photo all sorts of things start appearing. First, look at all of the trash lying on the grounds. Next, you see that there is a chicken wire fence separating the people in the stands from the players on the field, so all of this trash is from the players! I guess that they did not have trash cans back in the 1950’s or the players must have felt that the grounds keepers would pick up after them. Then you look at the grounds keeper himself … he has a smile on his face and he looks to be taking a lot of pride in his job. The guy has really looks to be enjoying himself … he is probably thinking to himself that he has a front row seat to the action, he gets in free and he is getting paid to be around a game that he obviously loves. The team must think a lot of him, because he is even included in a couple of the teams photos … I doubt that the Blue Wahoos are going to include their grounds keepers in their team photo. The Blue Wahoos, for those who do not know, is the name of the AA baseball team that will be playing at the new ballpark being built in downtown Pensacola. Thanks for looking …
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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