ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) – Plunging temperatures and chilly breezes weren’t enough to keep 4,000 avid baseball fans from celebrating the 100th Anniversary of McCormick Field on Wednesday night, as the Asheville Tourists tied the visiting Fayetteville Woodpeckers, 7-7, in a tune-up for Friday’s official opening night.

The star of the game? The field, of course, with home plate in the same spot it was on April 3, 1924, when the Asheville Skylanders beat the legendary Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers, 18-14, in an exhibition that started McCormick’s first century as Buncombe County’s hardball shrine.

Harkening back to 1924 prices, the Tourists had offered general admission tickets for the princely sum of 75 cents apiece. They sold out in 45 minutes.

Crowds gather outside McCormick Field, waiting to be let in for the 100th anniversary game. Photo by M.E. Sprengelmeyer/828newsNOW.com

 

First in line to get into the centennial game were 13-year-old Valeria Gutierrez Pacheco, and her parents, Rebeca Pacheco and Luis Gutierrez. Originally from Costa Rica, where soccer dwarfs baseball as the national pastime, they moved to Buncombe County five years ago.

Now they’re hooked on baseball – so much so that they came decked out in Tourists gear, determined to see history at McCormick Field before they drive to Chicago to see the Cubs play the Los Angeles Dodgers at another somewhat famous ball yard, Wrigley Field.

Why does she like baseball?

“It’s the adrenaline you get about which team is going to win,” the Cane Creek Middle School student said.

Her mother said they wanted to be part of the McCormick Field history and were determined to be first in line.

“Being part of the Tourist family is a good thing, and being part of the 100th game is a big thing,” she said.

Another early arrival was fan Leanne Brunton, who is known for “singing for her seats.” Over the past several seasons, she has volunteered to sign the National Anthem several times in exchange for tickets to the games. She’s still hoping to get on the schedule for this year, but she wasn’t going to miss the big party for McCormick Field.

Why? “Just to say you were there,” she said. “That’s the history geek in me.”

Asheville Tourist Collin Price prepares before the game. Photo by M.E. Sprengelmeyer/828newsNOW.COM

 

Next to her in line, Courtney Schaefer was sharing her family’s own history with baseball. A grandfather played in the farm system of the long-gone St. Louis Browns. An uncle was in the minors for the Boston Red Sox, and even played alongside future Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski, she said.

Originally from Kansas City, Schaefer had her own baseball history. She knew Negro Leagues legend Buck O’Neil and when she was younger, she babysat for the children of Kansas City Royals side-winding reliever Dan Quisenberry.

“My mom taught me to keep score. It’s in my blood,” she said.

As crowds gathered outside before the game, operations and guest services assistant Victor Chatman was guarding the front gate with the biggest smile. McCormick Field’s 100th anniversary game also was his first day on the job.

“It’s fun. It’s a great experience,” he told a reporter. “Nice people. Nice environment.”

A reporter asked him to imagine what Asheville must have been like a century ago, on April 3, 1924, when the gates first opened. He looked across the horizon and thought. “I feel it was like, not as many businesses, more a country kind of atmosphere.”

Some of those touches still are there, like the sharply sloping hillsides looming over the outfield walls. The original wooden grandstands burned down in the 1930s, and there have been waves of renovations since then. But baseball is still baseball. To die-hard Tourists fans, McCormick still is the way a barnstorming visitor named Babe Ruth once described it: “My, my, what a beautiful place to play. Delightful. Damned delightful place!”

Photo by M.E. Sprengelmeyer/828newsNOW.com