Leaving a legacy in concrete and peanut shells

The majority of the 159 Minor League ballparks carry the name of a corporate sponsor. This, for better or for worse, is a reality throughout professional sports.
But across the Minor Leagues, there are some three dozen stadiums that pay tribute to locally renowned individuals. Who are they? And what did they do that merited having large concrete structures named after them? This article takes a look at some of the most interesting examples.

Dr. Lewis McCormick (McCormick Stadium, Asheville Tourists)
Ballparks are generally named after businessmen, politicians and star athletes. Only one is named after a groundbreaking bacteriologist. That would be Dr. Lewis McCormick, who in 1905 declared war on a common insect. As stated on the Tourists' website, McCormick "started the 'Swat That Fly' campaign … in order to reduce the area's burgeoning problem with the housefly." An article on McCormick in Asheville's Citizen Times elaborates further, explaining McCormick "championed ordinances regarding cleaning stables and covering garbage dumps and stagnant ponds to decrease Asheville's fly population and reduce typhoid epidemics." Like nearly all radical thinkers, McCormick was met with derision before being recognized as a pioneer in his field. He died in 1922. The stadium named for him, one of the oldest in all of Minor League Baseball, opened in 1924.  
Hank Aaron (Hank Aaron Stadium, Mobile BayBears)
Hank Aaron needs no introduction, of course. The legendary slugger was born in Mobile, one of an impressive five Hall of Famers to hail from the Alabama city. The stadium named in his honor, home of the BayBears, opened in 1997. But what makes Hank Aaron Stadium unique is that the stadium grounds also include Hank Aaron's childhood home. Prior to 2010, the team transported the modest structure of the city's Toulminville neighborhood. It is now the Hank Aaron Childhood Home and Museum, which houses period-specific furnishings as well as a treasure trove of artifacts related to Aaron's career. The opening gala for the museum was attended not only by Aaron, but by fellow Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Bob Feller, Rickey Henderson, Bruce Sutter, Reggie Jackson and Ozzie Smith.

Bob Feller, Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter, Reggie Jackson, Hank Aaron and Rickey Henderson open the doors.
Jackie Robinson (Jackie Robinson Ballpark, Daytona Tortugas)
Jackie Robinson doesn't need an introduction either. Daytona's ballpark is named after him not because he is from that area, but because Daytona Beach played a small but significant chapter in his career. In 1946, when Robinson was gearing up for a season with the International League's Montreal Royals, an exhibition game vs. the parent Brooklyn Dodgers took place at the ballpark. This marked the first integrated game in professional baseball history (excepting 19th- and early 20th-century contests, before segregation was more formally codified within the sport). Originally named Daytona City Island Ballpark, the facility was renamed in Robinson's honor in 1989. A statue of Robinson stands outside the ballpark and a Jackie Robinson Museum is located on the stadium grounds.
Thomas P. McCoy (McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket Red Sox)
Mayor Thomas McCoy, the so-called "Prince of Pawtucket," was a staunch proponent of building the stadium that, in 1946, was named after him. Construction on the ballpark began in 1938. Its location atop a sinkhole led to construction delays and vast cost overruns, leading to its designation as "McCoy's Folly." Dan Barry, in his comprehensive book Bottom of the 33rd (detailing the longest professional baseball game of all time, which took place at McCoy Stadium), wrote McCoy "had all but willed [the ballpark] into existence." After all, he was a man "who controlled Pawtucket so completely that the line blurred between man and city."
McCoy was ultimately vindicated, of course. The ballpark - his ballpark -- opened in 1942, after four years of construction and $1.5 million spent. It is still hosting professional baseball, as the oldest Triple-A ballpark.  
Jim Cashman (Cashman Field, Las Vegas 51s)
"Big Jim" Cashman also was a larger-than-life figure who wielded massive influence within the city he called home. Cashman, originally from Missouri, arrived in Nevada in 1905 and soon established himself as a multi-faceted entrepreneur and developer. He operated a stagecoach line, sold automobiles, ran an airline and sold tractors to the Hoover Dam project.

Cashman, a longtime Clark County Commission officeholder, later played a key role in making Las Vegas an entertainment destination via his establishment of the burgeoning city's annual Helldorado Days festival (which persists to this day). The need for entertainment facilities led to the construction of Las Vegas's first stadium, which bore his name. The modern-day Cashman Field, which opened in 1983, was built on the same site.
"Big towns run on money, but small ones run on heart," wrote A.D. Hopkins in his 1999 Las Vegas-Review article on Cashman's life and times. "For 40 years, much of Las Vegas' pulse emanated from the pudgy chest of Big Jim Cashman."
Did you know? More stadiums are named after politicians than any other individuals. In Minor League Baseball, this includes the following facilities: Thurman Field, Modesto Nuts; G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, Potomac Nationals; Daniel S. Frawley Stadium, Wilmington Blue Rocks; Joseph P. Reilly Ballpark, Charleston RiverDogs; Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium, Connecticut Tigers; Edward J. LeLacheur Park, Lowell Spinners; Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, Tri-City ValleyCats; Hunter Wright Stadium, Kingsport Mets; Calfee Park, Pulaski Yankees and Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium, San Antonio Missions.