East Field
Glens Falls, NY
Review by Mike
Out in the Arizona desert, sprawled across the hardscrabble landscape, is the Airplane Boneyard, where used up, discarded airplanes are parked and left to decay. Visiting East Field in Glens Falls, New York forced me to consider that I may have stumbled upon a Grandstand Boneyard. This ballpark, which holds an astonishing 6,000 people, is comprised of an array of grandstands scattered around the perimeter of the playing field. They come in all shapes and sizes and are in various states of disrepair.
One common theme is that most of the seating is made up of wooden benches stretched across a metal frame, with no vertical planks to back the walkways. This is the type of seating that sees many a bottle of soda tumble through and fall down into the rigging.
Built in 1980, East Field has been the home of various affiliated and independent minor league baseball teams. The stadium first came to my attention when it hosted the Adirondack Lumberjacks of the fledgling Northeast League. The ballpark is currently the home of the Glens Falls Golden Eagles of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.
I will confess that I was not able to enter the ballpark when I stopped by on a beautiful early October afternoon, thus I cannot count my visit as “official”, according to Ballpark Brothers standards. The place was locked up and all of the photos that you see here were taken through and over the fences that surround the stadium. The surrounding fall foliage made for a nice natural backdrop.
The place gave off an unmistakable scent of decay with its warped and twisted planks, rusted supports and the general feeling that a good stiff wind would send the whole thing down like a line of dominos. Perhaps I am being unfair, as the place cannot truly be judged through a fence during the off-season.
One interesting quirk is that the light poles are all in front of the grandstand, resulting in obstructed views for some of the people down the 1st and 3rd base lines. Generally, when one has their view blocked by a pole, it comes with the benefit of having a roof overhead. Not so at East Field.
Since I was not able to get in for a proper look around, it wouldn’t be just to apply a hot dog rating. Glens Falls seemed like a nice town as I drove through. I enjoyed a rather nice milkshake, and they have a great hockey arena, but the ballpark leaves a lot to be desired.
