Lefty Wilson Field
Plattsburgh, NY
Review by Gary
Lefty Wilson Field can be found in Plattsburgh, NY and its history is more interesting than the field itself. A part of Melissa L. Penfield Park, the main ballfield is of unknown age and has been home to a few independent teams. In 2015, the New York Bucks were set to become members of the Eastern Baseball League (ECBL), but right before the season started, they pulled out of the EBCL to join the newly formed North Country Baseball League (NCBL). They played one season at Lefty Wilson Field before the league folded in 2016. The Bucks then joined the Empire League and left for Watertown, NY, but returned to Lefty in 2019, posting a 3-29 record before mercifully folding.
In 2019, the Plattsburgh Redbirds split time playing their home games at the University of Plattsburgh’s Chip Cummings Field and Lefty Wilson Field. Why they chose to divide their season between the state’s school field and the sandlot known as Lefty Wilson is a mystery. The Empire League’s (EPBL) Plattsburgh team joined the circuit in 2016.
Named for a local citizen to honor his efforts with community youths and his love of baseball, Lefty Wilson Field is two miles from Lake Champlain in a college town. Its notable feature is a 2-story cinder block and wooden press box/concession stand that is built into a small hill behind home plate. The building’s design is akin to a Lego house and is flanked by covered dugouts on either side. Two sets of aluminum bleachers make up the seating, but fans may prefer to sit on the grassy berms that run down each baseline.
Lefty Wilson Field lacks a scoreboard and anything to else comment about, other than the ghosts of teams that played there. Sadly, the only ballpark marker to be found was the well-worn and faded “Welcome to Lefty Wilson Field” sign affixed high up on the chain-link backstop behind home plate. Fortunately, the field itself was in decent enough condition for the local ballplayers that Lefty Wilson, the man, championed.
2023
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