Play BallBy Paulette Likoudis

Documentation of the days when Lodi had a baseball field is hard to come by, but the memories of the players and the fans are as vivid as can be.

Fran Steverson (70) and Jim Covert (68) played ball on the Lodi town team when they were teenagers attending the Ovid Central School. The playing field was located in what is now a cornfield to the north of Alta Boyer’s home.

Alta’s uncle, Horatio Lott, was fond of the sport and offered the pasture between his home and the Mill Street cemetery to the fledgling team in the early 30s, promoting the formation of town teams, in the early 40s. There was a team for boys and one for men. Boys could move to the men’s team at about age 16.

Both John Knight and Charles Jennings recall that there were bleachers, in the early days. John said Lodi’s Methodist minister frowned on the Sunday games, and they were a bit of a clandestine activity, in his case.

After dropping his mother off at his Grandma Neal’s house on Neal Road, John and his father headed for the ball field, to join other spectators seated on bleachers. “This was a significant part of my childhood,” he fondly remembers. Fran and Jim recall that during the years they played, between 1948 and 1960, fans sat in or on their cars. Games proceeded quietly and politely, said Jim. “Drivers blew their horns for good plays or hits.” For as far back as anyone can remember, the team was coached by Charles “Frisky” Farr, and his wife, Gert, served as scorekeeper.

Dressed in light grey or off-white wool suits with navy blue or red lettering, ball caps and baseball cleats, players watched Frisky as he gave coded signals from the bench. Coaching was minimal, said Fran. “There were signals for moves like steal or bunt.” Frisky often gave the players batting and fielding tips.

Lodi’s “skinned” infield was equipped with a chicken wire backstop, attached to telephone poles. There was no admission charge, but a hat was passed for donations to a fund for balls and bats. Hot dogs and soda were sometimes sold. The town was still recovering from theDepression, WWII and the Korean conflict.

“Nobody had money,” said Fran.

There were no tryouts, and players were expected to hone their skills by practicing every day behind the Presbyterian Church, which they did just for fun. Jim played outfield and shortstop, while Fran mostly was a catcher. Several team members took turns pitching.

“Baseball was just huge,” said Jim. In 1953, the World Series game between the Dodgers and the Yankees was broadcast over the school’s public address system. Frisky Farr’s brother, Dick, was even noticed by scouts for the New York Yankees. He tried out and was accepted, but because of WWII, turned down the chance.

The Lodi teams traveled to fields in Interlaken, Beaver Dams, Montour Falls, Watkins Glen and Hector. The Hector field was considered to be one of the best tended, and also had night lighting. “The game I recall the most was beating Hector 2-1, in Havana Glen,” offered Fran. Gerald White (79) wore the same “number ten” uniform when he played in ’42, ’43, ’46, ’47, ’48 and ’49. He reports that seasons were roughly from the end of each school year to the beginning of the next, and a double header was usually played every Sunday. “There would be as many as 350 people watching a game at the Lodi field,” said Gerald.

It is easy to imagine White, Steverson and Covert in action on the playing field. All are fit, quick-moving and quick-thinking, probably as a result of the time they invested in baseball.