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Finch Field /
Thomasville HiToms
Finch Field has been the home of Thomasville baseball since 1937, when the Thomasville Chairmakers posted a 63-48 record in the Class D Carolina State League, Since then, the ballpark has hosted teams in the North Carolina State League and the Carolina League, where current Florida skipper Jack McKeon won a championship in 1968. Today, Finch Field is home to the Thomasville Hi-Toms of the college wood-bat Coastal Plain League. The ballpark's grandstand was completely redone for the 2006 season, and it's an amazing transformation. To be honest, the old ballpark wasn't that great: it was small and limited, with tiny concession areas in the back. You needed to be a hardcore baseball fan to take in a full season of Hi-Toms games, even with a short CPL schedule. But with the addition of a new grandstand and concession/restroom building, Finch Field is now one of the nicest facilities in summer-collegiate baseball.
The new metal grandstand features four rows of theater-style seats and right rows of aluminum backed bleachers. Most important, the grandstand is covered, so even at a late-afternoon game the fans are covered from the hot sun or cool rain. Shade at a ballpark is a treasured commodity in the Carolinas, and the designers of the new grandstand were smart to include cover here. The ambiance at Finch Field was considerably improved with the addition of a brick wall stretching down each line. A new brick concession building completes the new ballpark ambiance. Flat-screen displays next to the concession window promotes upcoming Hi-Toms games. Besides features a large kitchen area, the building also sports new bathrooms. Enough space was left between the grandstand and the concession building to form a natural concourse; the Hi-Toms added to the atmosphere with banners commemorating historic moments in Thomasville baseball history.
Still down the third-base line: a picnic pavilion and a concession building with a picnic deck. The corner concession is still also the only place in the ballpark to buy a beer. The left-field manually operated scoreboard remains largely the same. The outfield features a unique warning track, which isn't a track at all but rather an embankment, steep in the left-field corner and then tapering to a slight embankment in right field. This is a somewhat treacherous area: water gathers at the base of the embankment, making balls hit over the left fielder's head an adventure.
Since the arrival of the Hi-Toms, ballpark improvements have included new lighting, improvements made to the ballpark included an upgraded irrigation system, a new public-address system, a new batting cage, a picnic shelter area, the paving of part of the driveway leading to the field, new landscaping and brick work, and the removal of old, deteriorating wooden walls. When you think of classic Carolina League ballparks, Finch Field won't come to mind. This is not a ballpark that will make you think of the glory days of Carolina baseball, but it works exceptionally well as a Coastal Plain League home. It also proves that a perfect fine small ballpark doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg.
Concessions The concession stand down the left-field line offers hamburgers, cheeseburgers, sausage dogs, fries, chicken sandwiches, nachos, candy, peanuts, popcorn, ice cream, snow cones, and pop.
For
the Kids
Before/After the Game Finch Field is named for the founders of Thomasville Furniture Industries, brothers T.J. Finch and C.F. Finch. Photos From Our 2004 Visit
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