Wakefield's Winning Team
Proclaimed the baseball capital of Nebraska in 1996, Wakefield is a community of team players. Story by Whitney Keyes and Kristen Friesen Photographs by Bobbi and Steve Olson |
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IN WAKEFIELD, POPULATION 1,411, folks
are on a first-name basis. Last names are reserved for the kind of name calling
best suited for baseball fields. Proclaimed the baseball capital of Nebraska
in 1996, Wakefield is home to the Chuck Ellis Memorial Tournament and the Mid-Summer
Classic, big deals in the world of Nebraska baseball. But that’s to be
expected in a community built by team players.
That team mentality is readily apparent
at Graves Park where Eaton Field is the real deal. With a grass infield, base
paths of clay, full night lights, warm-up alleys, an irrigated and pristinely
manicured turf area, ten batting cages and an enormous electronic scoreboard,
fans could sit all night long on the seats from Wrigley Field or natural earth
berms. With three fields to watch, some do.
Graves Park got its start in the early
1900s thanks to Philo Graves. An early resident of Wakefield, Graves collected
walnuts from a nearby farm and planted them by hand where he envisioned a park.
When the trees started to grow, so did the weeds. Graves carefully plucked all
the weeds, and the trees kept growing.
Now, the trees have grown huge, providing
shade for baseball spectators and hiding spots for child play during double
headers. The benches where residents enjoy the games are all donated in memory
of friends and family members. A gazebo honors Merlin “Lefty” Olson,
a former Wakefield mayor, baseball fan and paraplegic. The path to the gazebo
also is in memory of Lefty. The sign to enter Graves Park was made by Wakefield
High School shop class students, who were encouraged by Coach Paul Eaton, son
of Eaton Field’s namesake, Hube Eaton.
Paul Eaton is a bit of a legend in
Wakefield. He started coaching softball and baseball during his first year of
college. He’s been coaching the 43 seasons since at the same place where
he grew up stealing home base. But for Paul, coaching at Wakefield isn’t
just about the years or the trophies (17 State Championships and six runner-up
finishes). It’s about volunteering for the good of the team. From planting
flowers to building spectator decks and a playground, Graves Park and Eaton
Field is a budding testimony to pitching in, literally.
The night we took in a ball game at
Eaton Field, Paul was watching his grandson, Riley, play ball in Omaha. Wakefield’s
town team was playing Newcastle, and Wakefield’s catcher, Luke Henderson,
dropped the ball. Luke’s mother, Tammy Mogus, remembered Paul Eaton’s
policy on such mistakes.
“It’s a good thing Paul
isn’t here,” she said. “He’d make them run sprints,
or pull weeds or lay sod.”
At 20, Luke is the oldest of Tammy’s six children, and at 18 months, McKinnley is the youngest. Most of her children have played ball under Coach Eaton, and as she pushed a stroller back and forth during the game, she tried to recall which years the kids played ball.
The games and the years have begun
to blur. At one point, three players on the field were hers, she recalled. It
was a neat picture, she said – a Kodak moment of her kids illuminated
by the stadium lights, stopped in time.