Rutherford Memorial Park

Overview of the fields at Rutherford Memorial Park, Oct-2007.

A Rutherford Bulldog awaits his turn to bat on diamond #2, Apr-2012.

A Babe Ruth tournament game underway on diamond #3, Jul-2012.

• Location: Monona and Darwin avenues, Rutherford, N.J. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1953
• Home team: Rutherford High School Bulldogs (1955-present)

As configured in 2018, the park contains two full-size baseball diamonds, with skin infields so they can also be used for softball, as well as four other softball fields, two practice diamonds suitable for Tee Ball, and the Little League field. There are also three playground areas within the park, including one renovated in 2018 and suitable for children of all abilities. An exhibition field serves as the home of football and soccer, with several other fields within the park convertible for soccer use.

Originally, diamond #3 was envisioned as the showcase baseball field, but in the mid-1980s Rutherford HS relocated its games to diamond #2. Both fields continue to see significant action, with adult amateur games making a comeback in the decade of the 2010s.

The webmaster has an emotional attachment to this park. While the log below only contains 42 baseball games (and several softball games) dating to 1978, I am sure I saw many other games at this park dating back to perhaps 1967. My father used to bring me down to watch high school games along with several of his friends. While I have no record of which of those early games I saw, I owe my father a huge debt of gratitude for taking me out to the ball game as a youngster. My father (who died in 2011) continued to watch the high school games with his friends until he remarried and left town in 2003. While I never played the game, I got hooked on it, and as of 2021 my total game count (that I can identify) is well over eight thousand.