Don Larsen, the only man to throw a perfect game in a World Series game, is heading fundraising for a new facility in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, potentially to house a summer-collegiate team.
“We are extremely pleased that Don has agreed to be the honorary chair for the fundraising campaign,” said campaign chair Ron Ouren in a press release. “He is truly a legend and has been an inspiration to young men and women for many years.”
Larsen threw the perfect game in the 1956 World Series for the New York Yankees; one of baseball’s iconic images is catcher Yogi Berra jumping into Larsen’s arms after the final out.
The 800-seat, $2.5-million ballpark is envisioned as the home to American Legion and North Idaho College games, with summer-collegiate ball a possibility.
We’ve always held the Rocky Mountain area is a perfect place to run summer-collegiate teams; cities like Pocatello, Twin Falls, Bozeman and Butte hav adequate facilities already in place, along with mushrooming summer populations and growing economies; if the Helena Brewers (rookie; Pioneer League) do indeed end up moving to Casper, that would be another open ballpark in what’s maybe more appropriately a summer-collegiate market. Right now the area sits between the West Coast League and the Mountain Collegiate League and ripe for expansion of a current league or establishment of a new league. (Why do we care? You’ll see in the next week.)
Speaking of Casper: the Mountain Collegiate League setting up shop this summer at Mike Lansing Field is the Casper Cutthroats.
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