Here’s the downside of naming-rights sales: Many references to Stanley Coveleski at Four Winds Field at Stanley Coveleski Stadium, home of the South Bend Silver Hawks (Class A; Midwest League), are gone.
Stanley Coveleski, of course, was the former major leaguer who retired to South Bend after a Hall of Fame career and was a beloved member of the community: the ballpark sported his moniker since opening. With a new lease for the Silver Hawks and much investment in the ballpark, new team owner Andrew Berlin and team president Joe Hart set up a naming-rights deal with Four Winds. Some in the community, however, are distressed with the team and the lack of Stanley Coveleski’s name in many parts of the Cove, per the South Bend Tribune:
The arch above the center-field entrance that once read “Stanley Coveleski Stadium” now reads “Four Winds Field.” The same is true for the electronic sign outside the old entrance behind home plate….
As for the park’s namesake, Hart noted the team has hired famed Chicago artist Lou Cella to create a bronze statue of Coveleski to be placed inside the front gates in center field.
Even so, former South Bend Mayor Roger Parent, for one, wishes the Coveleski name appeared more prominently. Parent oversaw construction of the park in the 1980s and had a hand in naming it, even meeting with Coveleski at his west-side home to get the OK.
Then again, as long as the money is going into ballpark improvements, we’re guessing fans will forget about it by June or so.
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