The dedication of the 37-foot-long by 10-foot-high mural highlighting the History of Baseball at Marsh Field was held July 13.
By Ron Pesch
LocalSportsJournal.com
Some things take time for stars to align.
That certainly was the case for the creation of Muskegon’s newest art piece, where years passed between the initial pitch of an idea and the completion of a gem.
Conversely, as with some events, plans can swiftly unravel. Occasionally, they’re reshaped in even better ways. That certainly can describe what happened at the planned dedication of that gem, a mural highlighting the History of Baseball at Marsh Field.
Hosted at the corner of Laketon Avenue and Peck Street, on Saturday, July 13, plans were for a dramatic unveiling of a 37-foot-long by 10-foot-high hand-painted canvas. Instead, to the delight of a large audience, visitors to the site were treated to an impromptu art performance as they watched the installation, panel-by-panel, piece-by-piece, of Marsh’s past come to life. Here and there, families of those depicted within Muskegon’s latest mural interacted with the artists assembling the work. Snapshots were captured, creating permanent memories for those in attendance.
Since 1916, that corner has been the site for thousands of events and countless happenings, including boxing matches, football games, wrestling extravaganzas, and political and social gatherings. At one point, Marsh was even once the home of a pair of buffalo.
But of course, it is best known for baseball.
In 2010, the Lakeshore Baseball Club, LLC. led by Pete Gawkowski and Len Piasecki, forged a relationship with the city of Muskegon - owners of Marsh Field - to maintain and improve the facility and baseball diamond at the site. With assistance from Jim Grevel, and those who have followed, the site has seen massive improvements.
Bob Lukens, Muskegon County’s Community Development Director, came to town in 2011. He had previously worked with “The Walldogs” – a group of sign and mural artists, self-tasked with “capturing the sense of nostalgia and historical significance” in their work, the group had first formed in Iowa in 1993 – before he arrived in Muskegon. In 2013 he helped bring them to town for a project led by Capture Muskegon, a downtown art beautification group in which Piasecki was involved. Impressed with the skills of the artists, Piasecki planted an idea for a mural to honor Muskegon’s historic connection to baseball with Walldogs artist Jay Allen and various others . The seed would bloom, but not before Piasecki passed away.
Ten years later, Lukens bumped into Len’s son, Jason Piasecki at a Muskegon Clippers baseball game. Jason knew of the past connection and casually talked again about the possibility of a mural. Lukens suggested Jason speak with Judy Hayner, Project Director at MuskegonCity Public Art Initiative about the idea. Quickly, the ball was in play to make the project the eighth of ten monumental works of public art for the Muskegon community.
Once greenlighted, things moved quite fast. Piasecki chaired a committee and assembled a planning group that included Lukens, Hayner, Pete Gawkowski, General Manager of the Muskegon Clippers baseball team, his brother, Walt Gawkowski, Exhibitions and Collections Director of the Lakeshore Museum Center, Jeff Bessinger, the Voice of the Clippers, Tim Lipan, and (yours truly) local historian, Ron Pesch.
A storage facility previously built at Marsh featured a long wall that faced Laketon Avenue. It would serve as a beautiful backdrop for artwork. Considering the history of the idea, logically, the group wanted to work with “The Walldogs”.
An ad hoc group of individuals with strong ties to local baseball was gathered this past March to discuss concepts and capture names, stories, and goals for the project with the committee members. Also in attendance were a pair of Walldogs artists, including Allen.
The gestation period was rapid. Fundraising was completed within 2 ½ months, and “The Walldogs” quickly ran with the committee’s ideas. An incredible 72 faces appear in the final design by Allen.
The individuals depicted span over 100 years of America’s pastime – from the opening in 1916 to the 2020s. The challenge of the committee was reducing rosters to generational representatives. Baseball historian Marc Okkonen’s book, Baseball in Muskegon, first printed in 1993, became an indispensable resource for the group as dozens of teams and ballplayers from city and factory leagues to professional baseball squads were considered.
The mural’s overall design, as described by Allen, is based on a representational ‘bridge from the past to the future’, represented by the arch in the word ‘Marsh’ that links a pair of ovals. On the left, we are drawn into the field’s rich past.
The gentleman coming out of a dugout at the lower left is Bucky Harris, a member of the Muskegon Reds – the first team to play at the newly-built Marsh Field in 1916. Harris was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, housed in Cooperstown, NY, in 1975. On the upper left is Elston Howard, arguably the greatest of all who played in Muskegon. The New York Yankees purchased the contracts of Howard and teammate Frank Barnes from the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League in 1950 and assigned both players to their farm club in Muskegon. Both reached the Major League. Howard would become the first African-American to play for those Yankees. The 1950 Clippers team, featuring both players, appears within the oval, as do the Detroit Tigers, shown in the Marsh visitors’ dugout during a June 1940 exhibition game in Muskegon.
Also prominently featured within the left oval are elements from the days when the Muskegon Lassies represented the city in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
This unique era, brought to life for modern audiences in the blockbuster film, A League of Their Own, played out across only 14 midwestern cities between 1943 and 1954. Doris Sams, a five-time all-star, and two-time player of the year, can be spotted delivering a pitch.
The right oval captures the game’s more recent history, its current use and its exciting outlook.
The Muskegon Big Reds have called Marsh Field home since the start of the program in 1937. The 1951 Big Reds team, winners of a state high school invitational tournament hosted for many years in Battle Creek during the 1940s and 1950s, are depicted, along with that squad’s crack infield, Leland David, Earl Morrall, Jerry Stephens, and Bill Nyblade. A star in three sports, football, baseball, and basketball, Morrall earned All-America honors at quarterback at Michigan State and was twice named MVP at QB in the NFL.
Surrounding those images are in-action depictions of modern-day Muskegon Clippers. They represent the dreams entertained by almost anyone who ever picked up a bat or glove, past, present, and future. To the lower right is Blake Dunn, a 2018 member of the Clippers, who reached the majors this season, scoring time with the Cincinnati Reds. On the upper right is Q Phillips, a member of the 2022 Clippers, currently on the roster at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. To the far left, swinging the bat, is Montague’s Jacob Buchberger, playing Double-A ball this season in the Texas League in Springfield, Missouri, within the St. Louis Cardinals system. He played the 2017 Great Lakes Collegiate League season with the Clippers.
At the foundation of the mural are 12 Muskegon All-Stars, each with an individual oval around 15” x 18” contained in a star.
In addition, five more portraits highlight the builders, the movers and the shakers, that kept Marsh alive. Those featured include Okkonen, Charles W. Marsh, who spurred the building of the park, then donated the site to the city, Les David, longtime caretaker of Marsh Field, Harry Potter, who established the baseball program at Muskegon High School, then guided the team until he retired from coaching following the 1966 season, and Jack Tighe, brought to Marsh by the Detroit Tigers in 1940 to manage their new farm club team, the Muskegon Reds.
“Alicia Rheal and Lee Ann Gustafson did all the work inside the ovals,” stated Allen, “...with Alicia painting all the colorized main characters sitting on the ovals. My dear friend from Chicago, Robert Valadez, painted the 17 portraits of the all-stars for the field.”
The components were assembled at Allen’s Shawcraft Signs near Rockford, IL, then trucked to Muskegon. Traffic helped create the delay on installation Saturday.
As a final touch, the committee arranged the installation of six exterior stadium seats for viewing the artwork. Two come from old Tiger Stadium, two from old Comisky Park, and two from old Yankee Stadium. Marsh Field was once home to farm teams for Detroit (1940-41), Chicago (1948-49), and New York (1950-51). In addition, local artist Dan Parker was commissioned to do a special series of individual baseball card-style portraits highlighting some of the additional notables that have brought life to Marsh Field. They will appear in various spots around the park.
“I’m beyond words to express how proud I am to have been involved with this project,” stated Piasecki. “Combine Muskegon, baseball, and art, and you’ve got something special. Stop by the corner of Laketon and Peck and see for yourself.”
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