Bittersweet ending for CP-1 Hall of Fame during these changing times

ASHLAND, Ky. – It was a bittersweet scene Saturday afternoon as the curtain fell on the last CP-1 Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

There were a lot of handshakes, hugs and photographs on the field. And nobody wanted to leave.

One of the last photographs taken was a group shot of former CP-1 Hall of Fame members in attendance. We instructed those who came to step out onto the field one more time for the photograph. Looking around at this group of 37 men of various ages mingling on the big diamond for maybe one last time kind of got to me.

The photograph was taken, and the ceremony was over, but everybody stuck around for as long as they could. Most of them knew they would likely never be back on this field that had meant so much to them. I witnessed a few of them jogging (limping?) across home plate one more time – and not nearly as fast as I remembered them.

Others were swapping stories and selfies, laughing and remembering what it was like to play on CP-1. Even though it looked nothing like it did when they played here – the place got a major facelift from Gary Wright’s generous donation in 2008 – it was still the same to them.

As inductee Tim Holbrook said, he wore steel cleats for the first time on that field and remembered it sure was a long way from home plate to first base. Steve Smith, a catcher and 2024 inductee, said you had to catch a shuttle to track down a wild pitch it was so far from home plate to the backstop.

We lined up everybody and Sasha Bush of the Ashland Beacon climbed up a three-step ladder and took the photograph. It was a keeper. Three rows of baseball heroes. The CP-1 Hall has 100 inductees – make that 101 after a late surprise when they inducted yours truly at the close of Saturday’s ceremony –  and I wish more could have made it. Some of them are no longer with us and some are, well, older.

Five in the CP-1 HOF made it to the major leagues – the late Don Gullett, Brandon Webb, Drew Hall and umpires Charlie Reliford and Greg Gibson. What an accomplishment! Many others who played on CP-1 did so during their youth league years, then high school and American Legion and some in the adult league. Most of them remember the Fourth of July Post 76 American Legion tournament in the park where talent from around the country assembled in Ashland for four days of incredible baseball. It drew enormous crowds.

Ashland’s only high school state championship baseball teams called CP-1 its home field, too. That happened from1966-68 and has not come close to happening since. Graduating to the big diamond (nobody called it CP-1 but the newspaper, when it listed schedules for the week) was a big deal coming from the two Little League fields in Ashland that were five blocks apart – the American League on 22^nd Street and the National League on 17^th Street. It was a fierce rivalry that made everybody better.

The park was full of life, full of baseball, from daylight to dark. Coaches would come home from midnight shirts and put their equipment bag on the mound at 7 in the morning. That meant they had the field first for practice the next day.

Baseball has changed a lot in Ashland since the days when playing on the big diamond was special. High school teams have their own fields and youth baseball leagues are nonexistent in Ashland, save for a handful of Little League teams who now have only one league instead of two. There are no Babe Ruth Leagues, Junior Leagues or Senior Leagues. Only one school in the area uses the field regularly now.

For better or worse (and I know which way I lean), travel baseball has become the summer norm. All-star type teams are put together and play in tournaments all over the place during the summer. It must be a slice out of the family budget to spend multiple weekends in hotels and eat out every day.

It was much different than spending the day at the park playing baseball from daylight to dark – some of it organized and some of it sandlot.

I’m sure today’s young players are learning the game through the travel ball experience. They get a lot of swings against different competition. I understand things change and this isn’t the only area that does the travel ball. We also have travel soccer and AAU basketball that has competed for athletes with baseball.

Kids don’t have much time to be kids these days. They probably don’t have much time for backyard Wiffleball either – and that’s a real shame.

The big diamond seems to be fading away, missing the dirt flying and the sounds and sights that come with the game. They were alive again on Saturday with some sweet memories that cannot be taken away.

Unfortunately, CP-1 is more of a shrine to yesterday’s greats than a baseball field where young boys became men before our very eyes.

I wonder how long it might be before the walls come down to make space for something else.