We Be Jammin’

Walking into Diethrick Park, Aug-2007.

A look at the main grandstand from the third-base bleacher.

The combination of trees and hills makes for a pleasant view.

Chronological Tour: Stop 101

• Location: Falconer Street, Jamestown, N.Y.
• Opened: 1941 as Municipal Stadium
• Additional names: College Stadium (1971); Russell E. Diethrick, Jr. Park (1997)
• Home team: Jamestown Falcons (1941-57, 1968-73), PONY/New York-Penn League; Jamestown Tigers (1961-65), Dodgers (1966), Braves (1967), Expos (1977-93), Jammers (1994-2014), New York-Penn League
• Capacity: 4,200

Rating: 2 baseballs

In 1997, the team was rocked when its manager, Dwight Lowry, died suddenly within an hour after a victory. The club also lost two players that season.

Still, the facility remains serviceable, with incremental upgrades taking place in 2001. The ballpark itself includes a main covered grandstand along with two long stretches of general-admission bleacher seating. Some views, but not many, are obstructed slightly by light poles that are located inside the stands.

Early pro teams here were known as the Falcons because of the field’s proximity to Falconer Street. The village of Falconer is less than a mile east of the ballpark.

The park was renamed for longtime city parks and recreation director Russell E. Diethrick Jr. prior to the 1997 season.

At the end of the 2014 season, the Jammers announced that they were relocating to a new stadium being built near the campus of West Virginia University, leaving the city without pro baseball for the first time in 38 seasons. Jamestown Community College will continue to use the field.