It’s one thing to have seen Sandy Koufax pitching in his prime at old Connie Mack Field in West Palm Beach. It’s another to have seen Koufax, in retirement, catching a John Prine concert at the Carefree Theater.
Kevin Davidoff of Palm Springs saw all of that and more, and he has reams of photographs to prove it, along with just as many stories that brought to life the days when some of baseball’s greatest players called West Palm Beach their spring home.
Joe Capozzi
Artist Blessing Hancock laughs with Jimmy Williams as he tells stories of his baseball days from the 1950s in West Palm … read more
Representatives for the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals were only too happy to listen Saturday. They hosted an informal open house at the 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse, where more than a dozen local residents shared their memories and memorabilia.
At a long table next to the jury box and in front of the original judge’s bench that was used from 1916 to about 1928, artist Blessing Hancock and architect Fred Ortiz sat and listened for two hours.
They will try to use the stories and photographs as inspiration for abstract artwork and designs at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, which is set to open next year as the spring home of the Astros and Nationals.
Joe Capozzi
Roseanne Bush brought programs from games she attended with her father at Connie Mack Field. (Joe Capozzi / Staff Photo)
And the Historical Society of Palm Beach County hopes to use the material, too, for an exhibit on local baseball history that will open this year as a warm-up to the opening of the $144 million spring training facility south of 45th Street.
One of the first to offer stories was Jimmy Williams, who lugged the rusted remnants of the electronic box that operated the scoreboard at Connie Mack Field.
Joe Capozzi
Artist Blessing Hancock photographs baseball memorabilia form the collection of retired attorney Leon St. John. (Joe Capozzi / Staff Photo)
Williams was only too happy to recount the day in 1952 when Mack stopped by to offer words of encouragement to the locals who were building the city’s first Little League field at Phipps Park.
“I’m famous because I was the first batter in the first Little League game,’’ Williams, 77, said to Hancock as he looked at a photograph of his teammates, pointing out who was dead and who was still alive.
Leon St. John, a retired attorney, showed off albums of ticket stubs and programs from baseball games he attended in West Palm Beach and Jupiter. Roseanne Bush told stories of games her father took her to at Connie Mack Field, which opened in 1928 and closed in 1962 before being razed in 1992 to make room for the Kravis Center.
Joe Capozzi
Ken Davidoff shows off a photo he posed for as a kid with Dodgers manager Leo Durocher in West Palm Beach. … read more
Thomas Brown showed off baseballs autographed by Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and other Atlanta Braves stars at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium, which opened in 1962 and closed in 1997 before making way for a Home Depot.
Davidoff said he hopes the new ballpark will be as quaint and open as the city’s previous two spring training stadiums. “We don’t want you to turn it into a prison, where fans are walled off from the players,’’ he said.
Of all the residents who attended Saturday’s open house, Davidoff spent the most time with the team representatives as he showed off reams of photographs taken by his father, Bob.
Joe Capozzi
Jimmy Williams holds the rusted electronic box that operated the scoreboard at Connie Mack Field in West Palm Beach, which was … read more
Ken Davidoff was in many of the photos, as a boy sitting in the dugout with Leo Durocher, Roy Campanella and, of course, Koufax. “I was a stadium rat,’’ he said.
Years later, when Ken Davidoff was working as a photographer, he got a tip that Koufax planned to attend the Prine concert at the Carefree.
He brought a few photographs from Koufax’s playing days in West Palm Beach and had the retired Hall of Famer sign a few just before the concert started.
Joe Capozzi
Alex Molliner of Phipps Youth Baseball shows off trophies to artist Blessing Hancock and HKS architect Fred Ortiz. (Joe Capozzi / … read more
Joe Capozzi
As a kid, Ken Davidoff posed for this photo with Sandy Koufax at Connie Mack Field in West Palm Beach. Years … read more
