The first thing that must
be said about this park is that it is out in the middle of nowhere. While
driving to the park you will see very few cars, so it's surprising to see any
kind of crowd. It sits on the top of a mountain where farmland used
to reside until it was constructed for use by the Sullivan County Mountain
Lions in 1995. It was also used by the Catskill Cougars of the North Atlantic
League, Northeast League, and Northern League. A very quaint park
with limited reserved seating (only about 500). The rest is bleachers down
both foul lines. A single luxury box occupies half of the original press
box. The concession area sits behind home plate and the third base
bleachers. There is not much really unique about this park except its remote setting.
The PA Announcer was quite talkative issuing trivia questions in between
his salutes to how scenic the park is. A sufficient park for the Northern
League, but certainly no higher. After the 2000 season, the organization
decided not to field a team for the 2001 season. The ballpark is now for sale and it's probably unlikely
that it will host pro ball again.
It would seen to me that Catskill has been given enough chances to support
a team, and have failed at every attempt. While I wouldn't be opposed
to them having a team again, I think there are other cities in the east
that are more deserving. The chance of this ballpark ever seeing baseball again was eliminated in early 2007 when Baxter Stadium was dismantled.
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