Withers Field

The ground on which baseball was played is now a large, mostly open grass field surrounded by a paved walking path. A variety of trees are alongside portions of the oval trail. At one end of the former athletic field stands a spruce tree and not too far behind it is the official reminder of what once was here, as where home plate had been in the park's Withers Field days is marked, appropriately, with a granite home plate that's inlaid within a larger home plate-shaped slab of concrete. Inscribed into the granite plate are these words: "This monument marks the location of home plate to many major league affiliate teams. The Senators, Cardinals, Twins, Cubs, Braves and Reds." The monumental plate was placed in its place in 1993, which was the year the current park opened.

While the home plate memento is hidden, the grandstand that would've begun near the first base bag and continued down the right field line can't be missed. Framed by brick, the grandstand is 12 rows of bare concrete tall. The whole thing is uncovered and spans the equivalent of six sections, as there are five vertical rows of a dozen small concrete steps that are laid directly onto the otherwise continuous span of "seats" in the simple as they come grandstand.

Information about the origins of Withers Field is hard to come by, other than the field itself was dedicated in 1948, so I can't confirm a date of debut for the grandstand. It certainly looks old though and if you venture around to its backside you can see that it was more than just a simple structure on which people sat.

Although its insides are now sealed, the underside of the stands most likely was home to everything that a stadium needs to host fans. Numerous windows midway up the brick facade of the grandstand are boarded up with wood, as is the arched doorway entrance in the middle of the building, but their presence figuratively sheds light into what the now permanently dark confines would've contained, as you can imagine the concessions, bathrooms, hallway, ticket taking and selling spaces just by looking at this side of the relic of Wytheville's ballpark.

The relic itself still serves a purpose, as a portion of it is now incorporated into the Town of Wytheville Recycling Center. So if you see some cars in the parking lot, they're most likely there to place their recyclables in dumpsters that are in front of the far end (right field side) of the former home of Wytheville's minor league baseball teams.

One other aspect from the Withers Field era still stands. That's the stone wall that was built by the Citizen's Work Administration in 1934. Made of locally quarried limestone, the wall was the ballpark's right field backdrop when it was behind the outfield fence in the 1980s. But as recently as the decade prior it actually was the outfield fence. The stone wall is now a featured part of Withers Park, given the Wall of Honor moniker since it's directly behind memorials dedicated to Wythe County's war casualties, distinguished citizens and top athletes.

Certainly the least important marker in the grand scheme of things, the "Sports Hall of Fame" marble marker is etched with plenty of names, most if not all not known to outsiders, but the name engraved into one of the cornerstones of the display pays homage to MICKEY "WINTERS" WEINTRAUB, STATESMEN FOUNDER. Weintraub was the "colorful owner-player-manager of the Wytheville Statesmen," according to a 2009 obituary, although he appeared to have played and managed (under different names!) for Wytheville only in 1948, which was the year the town's first minor league team was founded, although they didn't pick up the Statesmen nickname until 1949. The Pioneers were the name of the '48 squad, which Weintraub presumably owned.

Separating fact from fiction is always part of the fun of baseball's Golden Era lore, and the unusual sight of seeing a stadium separated from its playing field makes Wytheville's Withers Park worth a brief stopover if you're in the area.

Where home plate once was is marked by a home plate marker. The stadium's brick exterior is still intact, although its windows and doors are boarded up, so what's actually the back and underside of the grandstand cannot be entered.

Location and Parking

The best place to park is probably the McWane Pool lot, although if school is not in session then the small parking lot for Spiller Elementary School can be used. The school's lot is above and behind the stone wall that ends Withers Park's confines and parking there allows you to overlook the whole park.