 Exterior of Jay Littleton Ball Park, Jul-2008. |
 The seating bowl, as seen from down the third-base line. |
 Fans view the lush green field from behind a thick screen. |
|
Exterior of Jay Littleton Ball Park, Jul-2008. |
The seating bowl, as seen from down the third-base line. |
Fans view the lush green field from behind a thick screen. |
They started playing ball here over 80 years ago, and by 1937 a wooden grandstand was completed which stands to this day. Surprisingly, professional baseball only visited here for one season, 1947, with the Ontario Orioles, but the field continues to be utilized by amateur baseball. The day I visited, a regional tournament for the Senior League (ages 15-16) division of Little League Baseball was just getting started.
The park, officially dedicated to Joe (Jay) Littleton in 1998, is maintained expertly by the City of Ontario. Its well-preserved condition has enticed many a film crew to make the 50-mile trip east from Hollywood on I-10 to utilize the facility. Most notably, scenes from the movie Eight Men Out were shot here. The site has also seen use by numerous crews shooting commercials.
This is no slouch of a ball park, either. Foul territory is quite expansive, and the distance from the plate to the center-field wall, 402 feet, makes it seven feet deeper than Dodger Stadium, as one city staffer was quite proud to point out.