Baseball was a popular past time in Wilsonville during an era community baseball that ran around 1910 to 1930. The highlight was 1914, the year the Wilsonville Athletic Club won the state Championship.
Regular Sunday play on this site was against teams from Salem, Canby, Mt. Hangel, Woodburn, St. Paul, Sherwood, Stafford, Tualatin, the "Sweetbriars" from Pete's Mountain area and even a train car load of players from the Oregon Penitentiary. This marker is positioned in what would have been centerfield. Home plate was northwest of this marker, the first base line parallel to the railroad tracks.
Wilsonville during those years was led by the four Baker brothers, who learned the game on their own baseball diamond at the family farm off Grahams Ferry Road. One of the brothers - Del - went on to play for the Detroit Tigers. He later became the manager, leading the Tigers to the World Series in 1940 where they lost to Cincinnati in seven games. His baseball career spanned 50 years.
Another Wilsonville team member was Andy Hasselbrink, a life-long baseball enthusiast for whom the new playing field at Wilsonville Memorial Park was dedicated in 1973.
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