Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 4.29.15

12 | APRIL 29, 2015 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM Park Re-Dedicated for the Founding
Facts
FIGURES
Numbers in the news
$599.7
million
Amount in economic benefit Montana received in national park tourism in 2014, according to a U.S. Geological Survey analysis published last week.
4,590,395
Number of visitors to Montana’s national parks in 2014, according to the same report.
593
More STD cases reported across the state from 2013 to 2014, inciting warnings of caution from healthcare officials
49
Increase of STD cases in Flathead County from 2013 to 2014, with a total of 313 cases last year.
Father of Kalispell Baseball
Thompson Memorial Park named for Kalispell resident who pitched in first World Series
By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
For the first time in a long time, the smell of grilling hot dogs floated in the air as two Pee Wee baseball teams warmed up at the classic field in the heart of Ka- lispell’s east side neighborhood. The young players tossed around baseballs in the freshly cut grass, bringing back an old tradition.
The scene on Saturday would have brought a smile to the face of John Gustav Thompson.
Last weekend over 100 people gath- ered to celebrate the life and legacy of John “Gus” Thompson, the so-called “fa- ther of baseball in Kalispell.” A rededi- cation ceremony was held for Thomp- son Memorial Park, a public site that has changed names over the years at Ninth and 10th Streets East and Seventh and Eighth Avenues East.
The ceremony marked the conclusion of a two-year effort by a group of baseball enthusiasts in the community to restore the park to its original namesake. Along the way, a collection of volunteers and businesses rallied together and rebuilt the park to its new prominent stature with a field fully furnished with dugouts, a backstop and an official plaque from the Montana Historical Society detailing Thompson’s remarkable history.
“I know my grandfather would be very appreciative and proud of all the volun- teer work that was done here,” said Bruce Thompson, the grandson of Gus Thomp- son, who flew to Kalispell last week from Washington to attend the ceremony and visit his late grandfather’s hometown.
Born in Iowa in 1877, Gus Thomp-
Bruce Thompson speaks to a crowd of over 100 people who gathered for the re-dedication of Thompson Park, which is named after Bruce Thompson’s grandfather, John Gustav Thompson, a Kalispell resident who pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series.
DILLON TABISH | FLATHEAD BEACON
son played his first professional baseball game for the Helena Senators in the sum- mer of 1902. A year later, Thompson made his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That fall, the Pirates advanced to the first World Series in Major League Baseball, facing off against the Boston Americans. In Game 5, Thompson, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound right-hander who earned the nickname “Cyclone,” tossed two innings. The 26-year-old struck out one batter and allowed three hits. The Americans went on to win the best-of- nine series, 5-4, but Thompson’s appear- ance remains an historic one for the state of Montana and Kalispell.
Thompson spent two years in the ma- jors and six in the minors. He starred for Seattle in the Pacific Northwest and was one of the best pitchers in the Northwest League. In 1909, he tallied a record of 32-7.
Thompson and his wife, Edna Knapp, a Kalispell native who was a member of the first high school graduating class here, moved to the Flathead Valley in 1909. Thompson opened a pool hall and cigar store in downtown and it eventu- ally evolved into a sports bar. Thompson brought his passion for baseball to town and even organized a game between a
group of Kalispell players and the Chicago White Sox, which was traveling the coun- try and playing pickup games one sum- mer. Thompson also became a revered an-
glerH. e passed away in 1958 and is buried in Conrad Memorial Ceremony. His head- stone reads, “Grand Old Man of Baseball.”
Over the years, the city park in the east side neighborhood became a bastion for baseball. It was one of the sites the city used for Pee Wee baseball games and a gathering place for pickup games with the neighborhood kids.
“There’s a lot of history at this park,” said Dan Johns, who first played baseball at the field in 1955 and became an enthu- siast of the sport and advocate who spear- headed the creation of Kidsports Com- plex.
“Back then there were no video games, there were no indoor recreational facili- ties. This was it. If my parents couldn’t find me, they would come over here.”
Johns praised the community mem- bers who led to the re-emergence of Thompson Memorial Park, including Bet- sy Wood.
Wood and others first approached the city council in late 2013 to ask for the park to be renamed after Gus Thompson since it had been changed to Eastside Park.
Johns also praised Steven King, an 18-year-old Kalispell resident who worked for almost 50 hours installing the dugouts and backstop and earned his Eagle Scout along the way.
For Bruce Thompson, it was a special honor to see the park’s dedication to his grandfather. Seeing a new generation of young players on the field brought back good memories from his childhood.
“Some of the fondest memories with my grandfather when I was a young kid were coming over here and visiting with him and playing catch,” Thompson said. “Playing catch with a World Series pitch- er, my grandfather.”
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