Ray Fosse Park, Marion, Ill.

Ray Fosse Park

Exterior of Warner Stedlar Field in Ray Fosse Park, Aug-2007.

A look at the field from behind home plate.

Quick Facts:

Location: Marion, Ill.
Opened: Unknown
Home team: May never have been used for professional baseball
Capacity: 600 (2007)

I had gotten the impression that the city of Marion had received a professional team during the minor league heyday of the late 1940s, but there is no mention of it in the nearly comprehensive historical list of minor league teams at baseball-reference.com. The field may have been used for semi-pro ball instead.

In any case, this is the largest field in what is now known as Ray Fosse Park, a municipal complex which currently consists of seven baseball and softball fields as well as children’s play areas, just off the main drag in Marion, east of the freeway. The park is at the location described in accounts as the home of Marion baseball in the 1940s, but the field may have been relocated.

Fosse, one of Marion’s favorite sons, is probably best known for being the catcher bowled over by Pete Rose during the 1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

When pro baseball arrived in Marion in 2007, it was at a new stadium on the other side of the freeway.

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