The Eugene Emeralds play their games at Civic Stadium, which is a rare gem of a park that dates back to 1938. It has the feel of an old park very much similar to something out of the movie The Natural, with huge grandstand seating and an enormous wooden roof covering the seats. The roof also acts as a sound barrier so you can’t hear anything in the outer concourse area, which is where all the food and concessions are located. Unfortunately for the Emeralds and their fans, it appears as if the sale of the old ballpark is forthcoming as the owners (Eugene School District) are looking to sell it to developers. Tonight was a pretty good night for fundraising, thanks to Bryan for getting us an item to raffle off.

Interesting Phillies fact about the Emeralds—for a brief stint of time from 1969 to 1974, the Emeralds were the AAA affiliate for the Phillies and played in the Pacific Coast League. During that time, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, and Greg Luzinski all played for the Emeralds. After 1974 the Phillies ended their relationship with the team and the Emeralds returned to the Northwest short-season A league.