Sports Column

Bye bye to the green box

By blake timm

The Forest Grove News-Times, Feb 28, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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There are the memories of others that gave that old box its character. There are the names of many a Little League, American Legion and Babe Ruth player written on the walls and trim inside the box, most notably above the scorer’s counter. My guess is that, somewhere on those walls, both a father and son have scribed their names, albeit decades apart.

There are tons of old trophies and brackets from the days of Forest Grove youth teams past. There is the non-functioning pay phone mounted just inside the door — a relic predating the technology age of cell phones and the Internet that figures into the press box’s demise.

The old green box will soon be gone, and I couldn’t be happier.

With all apologies to Ken and Nancy Bond and all those who have kept that box up over the years, I am looking forward to the change. No more nights of 35-degree weather, blowing on my hands while I try to keep score in my handy Glover’s long form.

No more plugging in a space heater only to watch its power output blow a fuse and shut down the scoreboard. No more hole in the net in front of the scoreboard operator, leaving an ill-advised work study student wondering if they should strap on a catcher’s mask. I am looking forward to a fully enclosed press box at the new Bond Field, with a heating system that won’t shut down midway through the fourth inning.

Most exciting, however, is the memories that will be made in the new park. A new Bond Field will attract more high caliber players to Pacific baseball. That will make the next eight years full of more great diamond memories.

Blake Timm is Pacific’s sports information director. He can be reached at timmbr@pacificu.edu.

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