The Oneonta Tigers, a Short A affiliate of Detroit, play at Damaschke Field which was built in 1948. It would appear that the stadium area has received very little updating since that time, especially the area behind home plate. The seating is all bleacher seating, no backs, except for 2 rows of seats down each base line and six rows of seats immediately behind home plate. The seats are only available to box holders. The bleachers on the first base side are wooden and on the third base side are aluminum. Note the announcing booth on top of the covered seating area. The field is named in honor of E. C. "Dutch" Damaschke, Chairman of the Oneonta Parks and Recreation Commission from 1945-1975. The Tigers were playing the Lowell Spinners and lost 5-2. The box score was Spinners R-5, H-8, E-2 and Tigers R-2, H-7, E-2. The Spinners led for the whole game, which finished in 2 hours and 16 minutes. The field lines are RF-335', CF-401', and LF-333'. Homeplate was handpainted white instead of using the usual spray paint. This is the only baseball park that does not sell beer. The menu is very limited and even, we feel, underpriced, but that benefits the home town fans. Before the game there was an egg toss between Tigers players and some of the children attending the game. The scoreboard is new this year. A couple of the fans bring their own Sky Box Reserved Seating sign. The game tonight was free as it had been bought out by a local company, so it was packed with fans. Normal attendance is much lower we were told by an attending regular. We feel that several minor improvements could be made that would help make the game more enjoyable for the fans. One would be to put netting in front of the covered area--instead of the wire fencing with multiple supports which makes viewing the game very difficult. A second would be providing bleachers with backs for seating. To keep the children interested have some between inning activities and if space is available provide an activity area for them. In 2010 the Oneonta Tigers move to Norwich, Connecticut and become the Connecticut Tigers.
Attractions
National Soccer Hall of Fame tells the story of soccer in the US through interactive exhibits, videotape footage and artifacts. Fee