Prosperity Home Mortgage Park
Waynesboro, VA
Review by Gary
The Waynesboro Generals have fielded a team in the Shenandoah Valley practically every year since 1923. Since online databases haven’t caught up to the latest corporate naming, the Generals home can be more easily found by navigating to the adjacent Kate Collins Middle School, on the campus of Wofford College. The Generals have played summer collegiate, wood-bat baseball in the Valley Baseball League (VBL) since 1965, after playing in the league’s inaugural season in 1954. The team folded after their first season and it took ten years for Waynesboro to field a team in the VBL again.
The Generals home field features two raised metal grandstands, on both sides of the press box, that hold about 350 people. The two-story, cinderblock building behind home plate houses the concession stand on the first level and press box above it. While not ADA friendly, the raised stands provide bench seating at least three feet above the action.
There is ample grassy space around the entire field to allow fans to bring folding chairs and blankets to watch the game. Those quick enough to claim one of the three concrete picnic tables right behind home plate can watch the action up close while listening to the announcers right above them.
A low, red brick backstop runs the length of the home plate area right down to the painted dugouts whose cinderblock construction matches the press box. This understated ballpark is illuminated by classic stadium lights. The crushed rock that makes up the warning track may be original as it has been overgrown by grass in some areas.
The hand-painted Generals logo on the home dugout and press box are the only indication that an organized team plays here. This logo, while cute, bears an unfortunate resemblance to the Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner mascot. Perhaps the team owner may want to consider a more formidable presence for the upcoming season.
Currently funded, in part, by a grant from Major League Baseball, the Valley League’s Waynesboro franchise has sent some notable Major Leaguers to “The Show”, namely Johnny Oates (1965-66), Denny Walling (1975), Mike Lowell (1993), Brandon Inge (1996) and Erik Kratz (2000). As Waynesboro was likely the first stop in their careers, these MLBers may well have fond memories of playing at this nice ballpark in rural Virginia.
2025
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