This past week, the corporate offices of ABF Freight (ArcBest) in Fort Smith, Arkansas were my business port of call. My fellow team members and managers gathered for a week of collaboration, quality training, and some team building exercises at work and afterwards. During the week, I had an opportunity after meetings were finished to explore a local baseball field or two in the Fort Smith area, and a bit beyond. More on the “bit beyond” later this week. My first field exploration in Fort Smith took me on foot from my hotel over to Crowder Field, home of the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith baseball team.

I mentioned being on foot because I decided to get some “exercise” in and decline the offers of a rental car from others on my team. I figured, heck it is only a mile or two up the road, how bad can it be? I changed into shorts, a T-shirt, my Nike baseball jacket (short sleeve with vents), and headed out to walk to the 2 miles or so to the field. I planned ahead and brought my water bottle filled with ice water. What I didn’t plan on was the nearly 100,000 degrees of heat and humidity I would face walking just about 2 miles up to the entrance of the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith campus. I was not prepared for that kind of heat/humidity/oven and when I saw the sign with the flowers and the bricks, then the stadium lights, I nearly cried out “Yippee” in exhalation.

When I arrived at the field, Crowder Field to be exact, I noticed a few open gates and some youth baseball players starting to file in for practice. Approaching one of the open gates, I spotted a man with a University baseball golf shirt on and approached him to introduce myself. Nice man, he was mentioning that the field was getting prepped for the upcoming summer collegiate baseball season, featuring the Fort Smith entry, the Fort Smith Marshals. Their opening night would be in 2 days, Thursday the 23rd. The Marshals play in the Mid-America Baseball League. If you are in and around Fort Smith, you should check out a summer collegiate game there.

At Crowder Field, I found some relief from the heat by staying near the shaded areas of left field. Down by the bullpen area, there were stacks of newly washed or maybe newly assembled picnic tables for the upcoming summer schedule of games. I checked out the scoreboard and surrounding areas around the left field foul pole before heading back up to the press box area. The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Lions play in the LSC or Lone Star Conference, which is in the NCAA’s Division II. The Lions finished the year (including LSC Tournament) at a respectable 26-28. Their head coach is Todd Holland, who has been at the helm of the Lions since 2014. Side note, in reading Coach Holland’s bio, it looks like or appears as though Crowder Field may be linked to Bill Crowder (1966-1998), who coached the Lions baseball team for over 3 decades.

After a trip over to the first base side and then back up to the press box area to catch one more glimpse of the field, I exited Crowder Field for the daunting task of walking back to my hotel. I still had some water left and a few drops of energy left in the tank, so I started out with a positive attitude. I was hoping a huge cloud would help me by covering up the omnipresent sun beating down on me. No such luck, so I took my time and didn’t overdo the walk back. On my way back, I stopped in at a retail store near the hotel called The Woodsman Company. I loved the name of the store, was super intrigued by what was inside, and especially loved the air conditioning inside even better. Even got me a T-shirt and a bumper sticker to show I was there. After some relief via the Woodsman, I made it back the 2 miles or so in the oppressive heat and lived to tell the tale.

It was an interesting experience visiting Crowder Field on the campus of University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. I planned for the heat with shorts and and a T-shirt and full water bottle of ice water but I did not plan on the sun repositioning itself right over my head for 2 miles. I felt like a pizza cooking a wood fire grilled oven for 2 miles there and back. Thank goodness for the shade of Crowder Field. Nice baseball field, lots of shade, great views of the park from the press box to left field and beyond. Good luck to the Fort Smith Marshals this summer as you play in the Mid-America Summer Collegiate Baseball League. And huge thanks to the Woodsman Company for being open for business and having an awesome selection of stuff for me to shop for and, more importantly, recover my energy. Overall, an awesome Fort Smith baseball experience there at Crowder Field.