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Pat Thomas Stadium
/ Leesburg Lightning
Leesburg's Pat Thomas Stadium, located up the Florida Turnpike from Orlando, is an example of a perfect-sized ballpark for a summer collegiate league. Leesburg had its share of minor-league baseball between 1937-1968, including a stint as a training facility for the Phillies (as seen in the photo below). The stadium’s original name was the Baseball Island of Venetian Gardens during that era since it sat on a small island inside the Venetian Gardens Marina. The WPA ballpark was built for just $19,000, and the only major changes to take place since then was the removal of the press box from the roof to underneath the grandstand roof. When the ballpark was built it did have an outfield wall, but a natural boundary of Cypress and Palm tress lined the outfield lines. Also, Lake Harris provided, and still, does a scenic view between these trees down the right-field corner of the ballpark. The ballpark saw baseball action from the Florida State League and exhibition games until 1971 when Hank Aaron and the Atlanta Braves played an exhibition game here. Could you imagine any big-league team visiting a 1,000-seat ballpark in a small town such as Leesburg nowadays?
In between those years’ teams such as the Packers, Lakers, Pirates, A’s, Dodgers and Braves all played single-A ball here. Players such as Phil Niekro, Darrell Evans, Rollie Fingers and Johnny Bench played on this field. The town historian, who has set up a nice picture display near the ballpark's entrance, informed me that Stan Musial once pitched a game here as a visitor. Also, Cal Ripken, Sr., got his first managerial job here in Leesburg. The last minor-league team to call the ballpark home was the A's between 1966-1968. The cream and salmon colored stadium is not suitable for Florida State League teams, although it may be just perfect sized compared to the mammoth ballparks they have down in Brevard County, Sarasota and Lakeland. However, once inside the ballpark you see some of the most interesting aspects of any ballpark in the area.
The grandstand seating is all covered and sits directly in back of home plate. There are about 10 rows of bleacher style seating protected by a thick metal fencing in front. There is no seating down the right-field line and a long narrow concrete seating area adorns the third-base line. This long narrow row of cushion less seating looked very uncomfortable; make sure you bring a seat cushion if you plan to sit here and bake in the hot Florida sun. The scoreboard is a basic-looking feature, but lights up in red. Pat Thomas Stadium’s foul territory would make McAfee Coliseum in Oakland blush with its vast terrain of green grass. Another gentleman at the ballpark informed me that a few changes might take place that included a new screen in front of the grandstand, pushing forward the seating in back of home plate and even repositioning the field to cut down on the foul territory. He did say that there would be new locker rooms installed for next season. Leesburg is a small town, but the area is growing rapidly and should do well with the Florida Collegiate Baseball League.
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