A’s, bid farewell to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium

Opened in 1935, the stadium has served as the home of the National Baseball Congress World Series for 84 years. However, the historic structure is being torn down to make way for new, more modern facility.

“I saw a lot of memories flood back to me. When I walked in there it always felt like you were coming home,” Pat Eberly said.

Clarinda A’s manager Ryan Eberly said attending the NBC World Series this year brought a wide mix of emotions. The A’s first attended the World Series in 1973 and since that time Ryan has seen the stadium through the eyes of a bat boy, a player and now a manager.

“For me, walking in and out of there for the last time had a tremendous wow factor,” Ryan said.

Other members of the Eberly family attending the World Series this year included Rick Eberly and his family; Rod Eberly and his family; and Jill Sunderman.

“I was glad all three of the boys were down there and that Jill was also able to come down. It was good to have the family there because they all grew up down there,” Pat said.

The Wichita Wingnuts, a minor league team that had also utilized Lawrence-Dumont Stadium since their formation in 2008, were informed in May by city officials that this would be the final season for the stadium. That news also confirmed this would be the final year the NBC World Series would be able to call the stadium home.

“I was very shocked about it, although I probably shouldn’t have been. Like with many old structures, it needed updating and sometimes that’s just not possible,” Pat said.

“You could see the understructure of the stadium had suffered a lot of wear and tear over the years,” Ryan said.

Since this was going to be the final World Series played in the stadium, the NBC wanted to commemorate the event by inviting several past champions and perennial participants to attend the World Series.

Clarinda last attended the World Series in 2013. However, since first appearing in the World Series in 1973, Ryan said the A’s had only missed six or seven tournaments.

“Since this was going to be the last year of the stadium, we felt like this was something we had to do,” he said.

“I felt like it was something we were really obligated to do. They were so insistent about wanting us to be there as a former champion and we have always done well down there,” Pat said.

Regularly placing in the top 10 of the World Series, Clarinda put together a magical run during the 1981 tournament. The A’s defeated the Liberal, Kansas, Bee Jays to claim the World Series championship.

“The 1981 World Series has to be the greatest moment in A’s baseball history with us winning it all,” Ryan said.

To open the World Series this year, the A’s squared off against former Jayhawk League rival Hays, Kansas. Ryan said shaking hands with longtime Larks manager Frank Leo during that game brought back a lot of memories over the many battles the two teams have had.

Clarinda played two other games as part of the pool play format used for the NBC World Series. The A’s suffered a 16-8 loss tot he San Diego, California, Stars Aug 5 and were defeated 11-0 Aug. 7 by the Wellington, Kansas, Heat.

Still, Pat said the A’s program received a fond welcome from the crowds attending their games.

“Several of our fans had on their A’s shirts and many of the fans down there expressed how glad they were we were back. They still remember the tradition we brought and that was very gratifying,” Pat said.

The 2018 NBC World Series came to a close Saturday, Aug. 11, as the Santa Barbara Foresters won the title with a 6-5 victory over the NJCAA National Team. The win gave the Foresters a tournament-record seventh championship.

Now, the NBC must turn its attention to preparing to host the tournament at a new venue. The organization has reached a two-year agreement with Wichita State University to play the World Series at Eck Stadium.

The home of the Shockers, Eck Stadium seats an estimated 7,850 people compared to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium that had a capacity of slightly more than 6,000 fans.

Since opening in 1985, Ryan said Eck Stadium underwent four renovations that have transformed the facility into an excellent baseball stadium. He said the stadium is familiar to many of the teams in the World Series because the NBC has played some of its elimination games there in past years.

“It’s a very nice stadium. It just does not have the history Lawrence-Dumont Stadium brings to the tournament. When you look at the major league Hall of Famers, All-Stars and players that have gone through there, you are talking about a lot of history,” Ryan said.