Capital City Stadium, a field of memories (+reader emails)

It sits on five acres that hold a special place in Columbia’s psyche.

People in the twilight of their lives say they feel like kids again when their memories stray to breezy summer days and baseball at Capital City Stadium.

Younger folks get warm and fuzzy recalling more recent good times at the park — sipping beer and munching hot dogs with friends while “America’s game” played out around them in the Olympia neighborhood.

Serious baseball fans of all ages get giddy over having seen greats like Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson or Chipper Jones run the bases.

“The Cap, to us, was a nice escape from the daily grind, a chance to go back in time for a little while and enjoy the things that have been long gone in both our lives,” wrote Wes Bodenhamer, part of an out-of-state couple who made Columbia and the ballpark home in 2008.

Jim Miles cherishes that as a teen living in subsidized housing, minor-league ball at the stadium was a pastime he could afford. Later he would take his son.

The “leather of the gloves mixed with the sand and the popcorn, all created a familiar odor to me and a new one to him,” Miles, 42, wrote.

The reminiscences — requested by The State from readers — are sparked by the prospect that Columbia City Council might soon sell the stadium to make way for an urban Walmart-based retail center. The controversial plan, which council first approved in October then delayed under public pressure, is expected to be decided this month.

Professional baseball in Columbia dates to April 26, 1904. The Columbia Skyscrapers played the Augusta Tourists, whose lineup included a guy named Tyrus Raymond Cobb.

But the capital city has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the minor leagues. There have been many occasions when the crack of bats fell silent for years between teams. One lag lasted 20 years, until 1982. Currently, a college league uses the park for a few weeks during the summer. Once the site of concerts, community festivals and where USC students decorated homecoming floats, it sits empty most of the year.

The lack of activity hasn’t erased the ties the field holds.

Local attorney Malissa Burnette has photographs of her daughter, Grant, in a baseball uniform and cap taken in the stadium when she was 6 months old.

Grant Burnette LeFever became a “batboy” for the Bombers while in middle school. “I’ll never forget seeing that blonde ponytail bobbing out from under her helmet as she took balls to the umpire,” Burnette wrote. “I would hear people in the crowd say, ‘Is that a girl?’ ’’

Grant LeFever, now 20, grew into a softball standout at Dreher High School and a lifelong baseball fanatic.

The Rev. Sam McGregor Jr. has three generations of memories at Capital City Stadium. He lives in York but was raised in Lower Richland where his now 82-year-old father was a well-known dairy farmer and school board member.

Last summer, the Presbyterian minister, 45, took his youngest son and his dad to watch a college league game at the park where he spent time with his father in the 1970s.

“It dawned on me that I remember sitting in those seats with my dad,” McGregor said. “How neat that moment was — bridging three generations in the same space. It’s something that will always have special meaning to me.”

It has been only two generations of memories in the Miles family, but the emotions are equally strong for Jim Miles.

He remembers saving a few bucks from his earnings as a teenager in the mid-1980s to pay 50 cents admission and the cost of colas and hot dogs for a weekend series. When Miles couldn’t squirrel away enough money to get into Capital City, he admits he knew where holes in the fence were.

“I couldn’t afford to pay for a Carolina game,” said Miles, now a resident of Lake Carolina in Blythewood, “and I didn’t know that crowd.

“I fondly remember big David Williams (the Bombers unofficial mascot and cheerleader) giving his chants of ‘Give me a M. Give me a E. Give me a T. Give me a S. What do that spell?” Miles said. “And the crowd yelling back ‘METS!’ His rendition of ‘Mustang Sally’ was a highlight and I’m glad I was there so many nights.”

On a chilly spring day in 2002, Miles took his then 7-year-old son, Conner, to a game where the boy won prizes that were handed out often at the park. Conner got to be the sixth-inning announcer, won a bat, two free tickets and caught a foul ball.

“I wrote it all down on the foul ball and keep it displayed in my office,” Miles said. Later that summer, Conner got an autographed bat and glove from a young third baseman. David Wright would become a New York Mets all star.

“David Wright’s autographed items are worth several hundred dollars,” Miles said, “but my son’s foul ball and memories are priceless.”

More than 100 players who wore a Columbia uniform reached the big leagues between 1983 and 2004 alone.

A highlight year was 1991 when the Capital City Bombers won the South Atlantic League championship.

The teams have left engaging impressions:

•  Deaf outfielder Curtis Pride in 1990 went on to a successful career in the majors and showed what a sports role model should be.

•  General manager Bill Shanahan, who revitalized baseball in Columbia with his energy, zany promotions and his ability to work with local leaders

The tragedy of losing outfielder Tim Bishop in a 1997 auto accident on I-126 as he and a teammate drove to their apartment after an out-of-town game.

All that is part of what makes the park special for fans.

Bodenhamer, 28 and a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., said the stadium is a key attraction in Columbia. “When people ask us what are some of the good things about living in Columbia, The Cap and the Blowfish are always in some of my first comments.”

Some fans seem resigned that the stadium will become part of Columbia’s past.

“One thing is for certain,” wrote Carrie Walker, “I will miss my lazy summer days watching baseball at Capital City Stadium.”

Bodenhamer is among fans who are counting on another minor league field.

“We love the ballpark and hope somehow the intimacy and prices stay similar when something new happens,” he wrote.