Bosse Field
Evansville, IN
Bosse Field is the home of the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League.
This one has always been on my "must have" list. Built in 1915 and beautifully maintained, Bosse Field is one of the great unknown ballpark treasures. Oh, sure ballpark collectors know about it, but precious few others do, as far as I can tell.
I live a long way from Indiana, but hopped in the car and spent two days driving to Evansville. I wasn't disappointed by the park. It's beautiful and the people delightful. It's a classic roofed grandstand that bends in a huge semi-circle around the field.
Review by Mike
The structure is very similar to Yale Field in New Haven, CT, both in design and time period, but Bosse feels more timeless. The stadium is set in a park, so the approach is lovely as well; you come up the walkway, through the trees and there is the grand entrance, complete with an old-fashioned, stand-alone ticket booth out front.
We raced to get to Bosse, completely forgetting that we crossed into Central time just before reaching the ballpark. Thus, thinking we were 15 minutes late, we were actually 45 minutes early. The time was well spent, wandering around the park, out behind the outfield fence, under the stands.
Only one thing went wrong... it rained. We saw exactly one inning of baseball before the tarp was pulled onto the field and the game plunged into a long rain delay. We couldn't wait it out, as we had to get to Lexington that night. So, it was a long way to go to see one inning of baseball, but I'm not sorry I went.
Places like Evansville, supporting independent ball, are national treasures and I was glad to support it by attending and recommending to anyone passing by to stop in and keep this great tradition alive. The park was one of the locations used in "A League of Their Own" and you can still see the Racine Belles signs and vintage advertising around the park. If you still think of baseball as a timeless, pastoral game played in grand old ballparks, then get to Evansville and spend a day at Bosse Field.
2011
60
2011
99
