Larry Addington Field- Tri-State Tomahawks

The Frontier League is one of my favorites. They are starting to get some praise, but I feel like they deserve even more.

The league started in 1993. I wasn't keeping up with the league at that time but I have been following them for some time now.

Many of the first few teams in the league didn't make it. I won't go on with details about the early days of the league because Tim Perry's web site does a great job of that. Most of the info I know about the leagues comes from Tim's unofficial Frontier League History page (though it is linked to the official site of the league, giving it some level of "officialness").

http://flhistory.gofreeserve.com/

Tim Perry does an amazing job of covering every team that has ever been in the league, including the short lived Tomahawks.

http://flhistory.gofreeserve.com/Tri-StateTomahawks.htm

Also check out this site for more history and some better photos than the ones I have posted: http://www.digitalballparks.com/

I made the pilgrimage here a few weeks ago, because it did host professional baseball in the Frontier League's inaugural season.

"What's the big deal about that?" you might ask.

Think about how many parks in Kentucky that have hosted professional baseball. I can think of 4 active ones (linked to the left). The triple A Louisville team played at some before their current location, including one that is still standing. There are 2 former Frontier League parks that have hosted the pros in Kentucky.

Larry Addington Field is a very nice high school park. I enjoyed walking around there. I am sure the community is aware of how nice the field is. But it is not really a pro level field.

As I walked around, I thought about my favorite current Frontier League team, the Florence Freedom, and I tried to compare Champion Window Field (where the Freedom plays) to this park.

The Freedom are drawing very respectable crowds to the northern part of Kentucky these days. A Freedom game is exciting and happening. Most games I have been to have at least a few thousand in attendance. Parking is plentiful.

The two parks are totally different. One is a nice minor league park, the other is a nice high school park.

I cannot imagine opening night at the old Tomahawks park. According to the web sites mentioned above, the team drew less than 1000 fans for their entire shortened season. I would love to see some photos or really anything relating to that original Frontier League team.

But this park still stands, and the league is still around!