On a sunny and chilly December morning in 1998, a hearty band of baseball fans and local government officials joined the Johnson and Povich families for a groundbreaking ceremony for Shirley Povich Field. The setting was Field #1 in Cabin John Regional Park, a ballfield with decades of history and a gorgeous backdrop of evergreen trees beyond the outfield fence.
The Bethesda Community Base Ball Club (BCBBC) had proposed replacing the existing aluminum bleachers with real MLB quality seats and the tiny press box with a two-story brick clubhouse complete with a concession stand, bathrooms, and souvenir stand on the ground level and a press box on the second floor. BCBBC’s formal request to upgrade the ballpark and name it in honor of Shirley Povich Field was approved by Montgomery Parks on December 21, 1998.
Shirley Povich’s son Maury spoke for his mother Ethyl and siblings David and Lynn at the groundbreaking: "I am speaking for all of my family when I tell you how proud we are that this is happening. My father is one who would shy away from awards and recognition. He was never into that… But when David and I extended the offer of naming the field after him, in typical simplistic Povich fashion he said: 'Well, this is an offer I can't refuse.' He was so excited about it."
Don Graham (BCBBC Founding Member), Maury Povich (Shirley Povich’s son and BCBBC Founding Member), John Ourisman (BCBBC Founder & Chairman), Bill Hussmann (Montgomery Park & Planning Chair), Bruce Adams (BCBBC Founder & President), Eric Leibovitz (Big Train batboy), Carolyn Johnson Thomas (Walter Johnson’s daughter), Hugh Adams (Big Train batboy), Hank Thomas (Walter Johnson’s grandson and Big Train General Manager), and Derek Hacopian (Big Train coach). Troha Tutera Group Photography.
A year of planning was complete. It was time to build the ballpark. And there wasn't much time. Youth and amateur teams had permits to play in April and the Bethesda Big Train's opening night was just six months away. A Herculean effort by the local building community led by John McMahon of Miller & Long and Phil Leibovitz of Sandy Spring Builders got the job done. The 606-seat grandstand was completed in just three months, allowing play to begin that April. The clubhouse opened just days before the Big Train's June 4, 1999 inaugural contest against the Arlington Senators.
Founder and Chairman John Ourisman took the lead in raising more than $500,000 and recruiting much more in in-kind services. Architect Alan Sparber labored long hours to produce our community jewel. Founder and President Bruce Adams conceived the red brick clubhouse with the Doubleday Field-like arch and the Ebbets Field-like hand-operated scoreboard. Peter Kirk, who had built minor league ballparks for his Keys, Baysox, and Shorebirds teams, served as our mentor on ballpark construction and proposed the idea of Camden Yards quality seats on a concrete grandstand. Hopkins & Porter built the hand-operated scoreboard and the dugout and bullpen benches.Montgomery Parks upgraded the ballpark lights.
The Montgomery Parks Foundation served as the fiscal agent for the Bethesda Community Base Ball Club, allowing us to raise funds and get the project moving. Scores of large corporate and individual donors were joined by hundreds of smaller donors who supported the project by purchasing seat plaques and commemorative bricks. Credit also goes to the government agencies that put this project on a fast track to success - The Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission, the Montgomery County government, and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. The result of this exceptional partnership is Shirley Povich Field, one of the nation's finest amateur ballparks.
On November 6, 2021, Povich and Johnson family members gathered at Povich Field with Big Train fans and Montgomery County officials to dedicate a sculpture of Shirley Povich interviewing Walter Johnson. These two icons of Washington sports were sculpted in bronze by Toby Mendez, a nationally acclaimed artist for his sports figures at Camden Yards and Fenway Park and his Thurgood Marshall in Annapolis.
Maury Povich, Casey Anderson (Montgomery Park & Planning Chair), Toby Mendez, Hank Thomas, and Mike Riley (Montgomery Parks Director). Eye on the Ball photography
On June 3, 2023, Big Train baseball dedicated the David Povich First Base Grandstand to honor the memory of David Povich, the oldest child of Shirley and Ethyl Povich. David, an accomplished lawyer, a great Washingtonian, and an avid baseball fan, was a loyal supporter of Bethesda Big Train baseball. When David died in August of 2022, the Povich family urged friends to donate to help maintain the excellence of Povich Field. The Povich family’s inspired idea led our Bethesda Community Base Ball Club to establish a David Povich Improvement Fund within our 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. By the end of 2023, in just sixteen months, the fund had raised $340,000 The first $20,000 allocation from the fund went to replace the 284 badly faded seats in the first base grandstand.
Those interested in supporting our efforts to maintain the excellence of Shirley Povich Field through a tax-deductible contribution to our David Povich Improvement Fund will find information about the fund here.
