May need a TOTT for this one. DO NOT STAND ON THE ELECTRICAL BOX!! You will need to find another way to retrieve it.
Over the course of the town's history, the ball park's home was in several different locations, both in and out of town. On May 30, 1903 a baseball team was formed, the name being the Cortland Base Ball Association. Bylaws and rules governing the association were adopted. One rule prohibited any games on Sunday. Another rule prohibited profanity on the grounds. The grounds were leased from Charlie Krapp and were located in the south part of town. It was controlled by a board of three directors: president, secretary and treasurer. W.E. Robbins was manager and Oscar Sherman, captain.
In 1935, the Village Board and the Booster Club appointed a committee to see about a proper location for a new ball park. The new field was located on the north side of First Street. "The new Kitten Ball Park is located in the corner of the golf course. Opening of the park will be May 14, eight teams have been listed from the immediate surrounding communities. Two games will be played every Tuesday and Thursday night. Admission 5 cents under 14 free." Plans were to have night football in the fall. In the late 1940's it was moved to the first mile corner north of town on the east side of the railroad tracks.
In the early 1950's, the field was moved back to town to the present day location at Fifth Street and New Hampshire Avenue. "On October 15, 1954, the Cortland Raiders met the Liberty High School team on the newly erected athletic field. At half-time the dedication of the field was held...speakers expressed their thanks to all who donated money and time to erect this field for the enjoyment of the people of this community." At that time, home plate was in the southeast corner of the dirt field. It was well lighted with eight poles with double lamps. A small wooden structure used as the concession stand sat on the south side, along with bleachers on the east and south sides of home plate.
With the completion of the new Norris School and grounds in 1969-70, football games were no longer played at this location. In the late 1970's, permanent changes started to occur at the ball park and continued over these past 30 years. The field was turned so home plate was in the southwest corner; new fencing was put up; larger seating stands were built; an electronic scoreboard was added, and an enclosure was constructed at the top of the seating stands from which the scoreboard could be controlled. Ray Thomsen donated money in the mid 1980's to build a new concrete concession stand in memory of his wife. Picnic tables were added for convenience, trees were planted, a sprinkler system was installed, and a group of volunteers built a wooden play set on the grounds. In 2004, the old wooden playground equipment was replaced with new modern, composite equipment in vivid colors, similar, but much smaller in size, to that which was placed in the community park.
Clarence Hartwig became the town maintenance man in the mid 1980's and continued in that role for over two decades. Of all the responsibilities that position entailed, improving and maintaining the ball field was his passion. He loved the game; he never missed a night down there to watch whatever team was playing. Around 2005, Clarence started building the new T-ball field and dugouts located west of the main field. Over the years he worked hard, most of the time by himself; on occasions with help from his son and grandsons and even a ball park neighbor helped dig post holes in the early morning hours. Clarence put his heart and soul into this ball park, his pride clearly making it the impressive site it is today!
Around 2006, trees were donated and planted behind the main outfield area and a newer scoreboard was purchased. In recent years, agri-lime replaced the in-field area of both fields. This enabled the fields to be used almost immediately after a rain. At the same time, the in-field area of the main field was set up for three different baseline lengths in order to accommodate whatever team was playing on the field. In 2008, a hand-held remote control unit for the scoreboard was purchased using a memorial donation from the DeBoer family. The most recent improvement was new fencing put up around the in-field portion of the main ball field, the dug outs and batting cage.
Various teams use these fields including T-ball, boys player pitch, boys baseball, girls coach pitch, girls 12-14 and under softball, men's fast pitch softball, and Norris Titans baseball. The ball field is also host to the annual fireworks show held every year during the Cortland Fest summer event.
Cortland is very proud of its ball fields. All of it was possible with monies given by the Village Board, memorial donations, concessions funds, and a lot of hard work!