Bert has been traveling since September and spent a lot of time near curling rinks in British Columbia, then heading south to visit the Arizona Diamondback’s Chase Stadium in November followed by the Kansas City Royals Kaufmann Stadium.
Today Bert is visiting Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Carson Park diamond was host to professional baseball from 1937 to 1942 with the Eau Claire Bears and 1946 to 1962 with the Eau Claire Braves, both playing in the old Northern League where many major league players of the era got their start. Any local baseball fan (at least over the age of 40) can recite a long list of past baseball stars who graced the Carson Park baseball diamond. Future Milwaukee Braves who got their start with the Eau Claire franchise included: Bill Bruton, Wes Covington, Andy Pafko, Joe Torre, and even Mr. Baseball-Bob Uecker.
In 1952, the Eau Claire Braves roster included a rookie shortstop from Alabama who led the Northern League in hitting. Nobody would have guessed 61 years ago that this youngster, by the name of Henry Aaron, would go on to break Babe Ruth's career homerun mark and etch his name in history forever.