Moller Field
Fremont, NE
Review by Mike
Moller Field is the home of the Fremont Moo of the Independence League, a collegiate wooden bat summer league. About 45 minutes northwest of Omaha is a hodgepodge of a ballpark in a town full of grain silos and train whistles. I truly felt that I was in the midwest and the ballpark felt as though it had grown organically from the soil over the course of years.
There is a small grandstand behind 3rd base that is raised up on stilts to allow the patrons to see over the field-level dugout, and way way down in the left-field corner are a couple of little portable erector sets for people that want to get away from it all. In between are some picnic tables and an open grassy area where kids were tossing a ball around.
The chain-link left field fence is triple the height of the rest of the outfield fencing, with a gray mesh hung over it to provide some contrast, making it kind of a Gray Monster. A couple of home runs cleared this obstacle and rolled to a stop in the street, prompting several mad rushes of kids to retrieve the prized souvenir from the game to which they were paying no attention.
The most singular feature of Moller Field are the two large, stately trees standing inside the perimeter fence, one of which is right alongside the main grandstand. These are impressive trees that cast shadows across the infield as the sun slowly dropped into the corn fields. They give the place a warm, homey feel, like a game being played in someone's backyard.
A small concession stand with charcoal-grilled burgers stands in the gap between the main grandstand and the 1st base dugout, right in front of the nearest tree. The smell of grilling beef wafted throughout the stadium, appropriate, or perhaps disturbing, for a team called Moo. Tables and chairs set right by the field, in front of the concessions, amount to kind of field-level club seating area.
The PA announcer wandered the stands with a wireless microphone, trying to whip up enthusiasm and cracking wise whenever he could, sort of a poor-man's version of the announcer at Dutchess Stadium. The fact that he wore a Yankees jersey was a little irksome. Whenever the Moo would score, the speakers would blare a Baha Men redux that went "Who Let the Cows Out, Moo, Moo, Moo Moo-Moo". Yes, they really did.
Although not much of a stadium to speak of, Moller Field has character and their game presentation was really quite good considering what they have to work with. The crowd was into the game, the announcer was fun without going over the top, a pair of lovely trees supervise the proceedings and the team is named Moo. All of these things combined to drag what should be a 1.5-2 dog rating up to a very respectable 3 dogs.
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2020
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