Feb

6

Lights At Doran Park

Posted by Dave | Filed Under News | 13 Comments

Storm Approaches Doran ParkOur friend CapeMan has brought to our attention that there is a plan to have lights at Doran Park for this coming season. This was mentioned in another post, but I thought it worthy of its own posting at CodBall. Thank-you for the heads-up, CapeMan.

This came as a surprise to me. I had heard about the plan to install lights at Doran Park, but I never thought that would happen this year. I think the playing surface at Doran is one of best around. To see that field at night, well… it should look fantastic.

The Bourne Braves website quotes General Manager Mike Carrier as saying “Imagine the stream of traffic coming over the bridge on a Friday night seeing lights at a ball field off in the distance and stopping to take in a game and learn more about Bourne.” I’m thinking those people coming over the Bourne Bridge on a Friday night are in a hurry to get to where they are staying for the weekend and to unload their cars, but that’s just me sharing an opinion right after I said I was going to be more careful about doing that ! Seriously, Doran Park is a gem and the addition of lights at that facility will only enhance it. Hopefully attendance will increase at Braves games.

Congratulations to the Bourne Braves, Upper Cape Cod Regional Vocational Technical HS, and all other parties for making this happen. I have watched the Bourne Canalmen play at Keith Field with its approximately 250′ distance down the rightfield line. I have seen the Braves play at Mass. Maritime Academy (I’m in the minority, but I enjoyed games there), and I watched them play at Coady School Field (nothing good to say about THAT place, so I won’t say anything at all). The Bourne Braves have only moved a few miles from MMA, to the Coady School, and now to Doran Park, but they have come a LONG way over the years.

Comments

13 Responses to “Lights At Doran Park”

  1. CapeMan on February 6th, 2008 3:10 pm

    I thought the same thing when reading the comments about coming over the bridge. I think the real benefit to the Bourne franchise is that while tourists heading towards Falmouth and the Vineyard might not stop, Bourne residents; especially those that work and cannot regularly attend the day games, will now have the opportunity to experience the Braves and the CCBL under the lights. This opens up a whole new opportunity to Bourne in terms of fans and perhaps volunteers who can donate some time at night. I expect their attendance to grow significantly. Suddenly, a home game against Falmouth or Wareham becomes a real easy drive for those fans; further increasing attendance. This leaves only 3 fields without lights now that Bourne and Hyannis will play at night.

    By the way…I like the Mass Maritime setting as well. While it always felt temporary in terms of the CCBL, it was the only true “on the water” field and provided for great views.

  2. Andrew G. on February 7th, 2008 12:10 am

    Such great news for the Bourne franchise.

    Can’t find a better league than the Cape Cod.

    Whose ready for some baseball?

    Codball for life!

    Andrew G.

  3. dave on February 7th, 2008 5:46 pm

    Hi Andrew ! That really is great news for the Braves. It all begins 18 weeks from tomorrow….. not that I’m counting the days or anything like that !

  4. Greg on February 9th, 2008 12:59 am

    Last season I had a good chat with the Bourne president, Tom Fink. He and the team have some great plans for Doran Park so look for more surprises ahead in seasons to come.

  5. CapeMan on February 9th, 2008 8:29 am

    That is great. I think as the league continues draw more and more fans, the ballparks are going to have to offer more in terms of concessions, seating, things for the kids to do, etc. I don’t thing the league will ever go beyond a certain point in terms of commercialism by risking their “old time baseball..put your lawn chair down and watch a game” reputation but I think you’ll see some of the things that Mr. Fink has in mind.

  6. Andrew on February 9th, 2008 8:42 am

    This is great news and really amazing that they could do this so quickly. Does anyone know if Brewster is capable of having lights? I know that Y-D and Cotuit are in close proximity to residents and cannot have lights…

    I wonder if a stoplight is in the future of Rt. 6A.

    One last thought: How about a throwback game at some of the old fields? I think it’d be fun to have a game at MMA or Keith Field (not Toby). Keith is one of the most picturesque ballparks on the Cape, and just lacks the parking in the surrounding area. But, if the local companies allow parking they might be able to pull off a good crowd.

  7. Dave on February 10th, 2008 5:00 pm

    The field at Stony Brook School would be ideal for lights. There are no homes in the area that would be affected by the lights. I have not heard anything about plans to install lights there.
    With the addition of Bourne, there will be seven fields that have lights. As Andrew mentioned, Cotuit will be the only team in the West that plays twilight games and in the East, we still have Y-D and Brewster with the early starts. For purely selfish reasons, I hope Brewster does not put up lights. At least with the set-up now, you can still go to an early game at Y-D or Brewster and make it in time to see most of a 7:00 game at either Harwich, Orleans or Chatham. Same thing in the West with the early start in Cotuit and the chance to go to the later game in Hyannis or Falmouth. If any more teams install lights, the opportunity to take in two games in one day will almost disappear. I’m quite sure the village of Cotuit will never allow lights. It doesn’t seem likely that Y-D will look to install lights either, although the adjacent football field has had lights for a number of years and I have not heard of any negative feedback from their neighbors about that.
    The idea of a throwback game at one of the old fields is interesting to ponder. Keith Field is a crazy place with the short distance down the rightfield line. Maybe Y-D could play a game at the Simpkins School field where the Yarmouth Indians used to play; or Harwich could play at Brooks Park where the Mariners played before Whitehouse Field was built. I don’t know if those fields are maintained to the point where it would be possible to play on them. It is an interesting thought, but there are many reasons why it couldn’t, and probably shouldn’t, happen. Lack of parking and concession space being just two of the many reasons and you can’t blame any of the teams for not wanting to move one of their games even a couple miles from their real home field.

  8. CapeMan on February 11th, 2008 7:56 am

    I’m pretty sure that Cotuit is restricted from putting up lights based upon an agreement that they have with the village. Speaking of lights, I’m excited to see the upgraded Falmouth lights as they were the worst in the league. It seemed almost dark at times. The atmosphere in Hyannis now should be terrific.

  9. Alex on February 11th, 2008 2:32 pm

    My initial reaction is similar to Dave’s, I enjoy the fact that on any given day you can watch a 5 o’clock game and then jump in your car and a few minutes later you can watch a 7 o’clock game. I have a feeling that scouts take advantage of this quite a bit as well. I hope that the 3 teams without lights stay without. Could you imagine Stony Brook Field with lights, fine, but think of the parking problems that they have with just a 5 pm game, would you want more fans having to stumble through the woods at night?

  10. CapeMan on February 12th, 2008 9:04 am

    Something is telling me that Brewster is also restricted from putting up lights. If the league found itself with all lights or with only a couple teams without lights, I think they would still schedule some day games even at those parks with lights. I know that during the time period just before and after the All-Star game, you’ll see some oddly scheduled games to accomodate the scouts. I believe I saw a game in Wareham or in Bourne…can’t remember…that started at 2:00pm on a Sunday.

  11. CapeMan on February 12th, 2008 9:17 am

    Came across this today…Falmouth will play YD in Brockton on June 28th at the Brockton Rox Stadium. You have to read through the piece but you’ll find it at the end of the first section. (link below)

    I think this makes for at least 3 games that will be played at different sites…Falmouth/Wareham play on Martha’s Vineyard, Falmouth/YD play in Brockton and Wareham/Bourne will play in New Bedford. Haven’t heard anything about a return to Sandwich.

    http://www.wickedlocal.com/sandwich/sports/x142945308

  12. dave on February 12th, 2008 10:42 am

    That note about Y-D playing Falmouth at the home of the Brockton Rox is interesting. I checked the Rox schedule to see if that game might be part of a doubleheader, but the Rox are not playing at home that day. Could this be another attempt by the league to expand its brand and raise awareness of the league off-Cape ? There is a lot of promotion for the game that New Bedford hosts each year. I assume we will be hearing more about this game in Brockton also.
    Campanelli Stadium is a beautiful little ballpark.

  13. Bourne Bumps Games to 7pm : CodBall: Unofficial Blog of the Cape Cod Baseball League on June 6th, 2008 8:42 am

    [...] Please see the official CCBL 2008 schedule for more details. The news comes as no surprise, since the original shocker back in February. If you don’t believe it, check out the pictures of the lights installation (or drive to [...]

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