Tuesday, March 11, 2008

USA Baseball Stadium, Millington, TN



USA Baseball Stadium in Millington, TN (just north of Memphis), was the training facility for the USA Olympic Baseball team from 1986-1996. It has always been so much fun to be able to see world-class baseball amidst the small-town charm of this stadium. We spent many a summer afternoon or evening here, and I think that my sons first fell in love with baseball here. My older son still asks to occasionally drive by it...it is a place full of memories for us.
We have watched Troy Glaus, Jacque Jones, A.J. Hinch, Braden Looper, J.D. Drew, Matt LeCroy, Jim Parque, Travis Lee, Jeff Weaver, Adam Kennedy, R.A. Dickey, Augie Ojeda, Billy Koch, Scott Schoeneweis, and Mark Kotsay play as Olympians in the early part of their careers at this stadium. A list of USA Stadium alumni can be seen here. At that time, the USA players would live with host families in the area.
The stadium is still in use and is host to service academy, collegiate, and high school tournaments and championships.

12 comments:

Jim Klenke said...

Very cool. I would love to be near a place like that.

Jim Klenke said...

Very cool. I would love to be near a place like that.

George Townboy said...

Very nice post. I'm a Red Sox fan (who isn't, right? LOL), so I'm familiar with J.D. Drew.

slim said...

Memphis has lots of interesting history . . . thanks for sharing it.

It looks like you've had a bout of cloudy and stormy weather there. Hope you get to photograph with bright sunlight soon ;)

Lezard said...

If only I could get to understand baseball one day! I probably need to come over to the States to start having any kind of feeling for it!!! Thanks for visiting The Hague Daily!

Anonymous said...

It is odd sounding to you since you know all about this place but I had never heard of it and never even thought about where these people practiced baseball. I wonder why people do not think about these kinds of things?

That the players were able to live with host families does make it special to a lot of people.

Thank you for your visits to my blog.

Isadora said...

It looks so lonesome...then again, so does Elvis.

Clueless in Boston said...

Looks like a very nice stadium. And you don't have to put up with all the overpaid professional whiny athletes. I'm a minor league fan and enjoy that more than the pro league, but you can't entirely escape from it in Boston.

Joy said...

Wow! That must have been fun. Basketball I understand. Other sports, nah.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comments. How is the weather where you are? Is it as blustery as it is here in Norwich?


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Steve Buser said...

Seems like great memories and proud memories.

Halcyon said...

I know next to nothing about baseball, so those names don't mean much to me. But it's neat that your city has been able to help launch some of baseball's big stars.

smilnsigh said...

I'll bet it's a place of grrrrrrreat memories.