Alexandria’s Bringhurst Field, the oldest surviving ballpark in Louisiana & the cathedral of the raucous Evangeline League, was the scene of one of the most shocking tragedies in baseball history.
This is the first installment in a multi-part series on Bringhurst Field and the long, improbable history of professional baseball in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Alexandria is now launching an ambitious $82 million plan to revitalize Masonic Drive, including at least $9.5 million to restore and transform the 92-year-old ballpark into a modern, 21st-century facility. As that work begins, it is worth asking how Bringhurst became a cherished and legendary field of dreams in the first place. This is a story of civic ambition and summer rituals, hard-luck leagues and borrowed dreams, and the generations of players, managers, promoters, and fans who turned a modest ballpark into one of Louisiana’s enduring landmarks.
We begin not with a pennant, a famous name, or a triumphant Opening Day, but with Andy Strong, a young center fielder whose final night on the field offers a stark and haunting entry point into the larger history of baseball in Alexandria — a place where the r…
Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Lamar White, Jr..
