CLEVELAND (AP) – Even in Cleveland, League Park probably doesn’t mean much to a casual baseball fan. The former home of the Cleveland Indians sat neglected and largely forgotten for decades in a not-so-well-traveled east side neighborhood.
But the persistence and, after her death, the memories of a longtime Cleveland councilwoman kept her dream alive to restore the park where Cy Young threw the first pitch in 1891 and where Babe Ruth hit his 500th home run. And on Saturday, the city and baseball fans will celebrate its reopening.
Fannie Lewis died in 2008, but those who knew her well can still hear her hectoring council colleagues and administration officials like an outraged baseball manager to raise dollars for the project.
Cleveland public works director Michael Cox laughed when he recalled how hard Lewis fought for League Park.
“If she disagreed with you, she would fight you tooth and nail,” Cox said.