Baseball Near the Louisiana Capitol



The main entrance to Pete Goldsby Field, Nov-2018.

A look at the seating bowl from behind first base.

Peering out from the stands behind home plate.

Quick Facts:
Pete Goldsby Field was built in 1956 to host semi-pro ball, a team appropriately called the Baton Rouge Red Sticks. The park, less than a two-mile drive from the state capitol, is managed by BREC, the parks and recreation agency for East Baton Rouge Parish. Goldsby was the youth sports director in the city prior to the formation of the BREC.

At its start, Goldsby Field hosted a team in the Evangeline League, a rapidly dwindling Class C loop. The Rebels had played for ten years prior at a no-longer-existing park on the outskirts of town. Reportedly, the vice chair of the BREC announced at the start of the 1956 season that no Negroes would be allowed to play at the parish facility. That action helped cause the demise of the league in mid-1957, as several teams in the league had black players who would not be permitted to play here or in Lafayette.

Twice in the 21st century, the park has seen independent baseball. The All American Association, which lasted just the 2001 season, saw the Blue Marlins play here. Many of that failed league’s sites wound up in the Southeastern League, which lasted two years, and a team known as the River Bats played in that loop.

Today, Baton Rouge Community College uses the park as its home field, and there is talk that a college summer league may come in for 2019.


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This page updated 13-Jun-2020