Jay Littleton Ball Park the field featured in the 1992 film “A League of Their Own” burned down in a fiery blaze in Ontario, California, Thursday. The fire started at around 11:30 pm, according to . The Ontario Fire Department rushed to the scene and was met with coming from the stadium and dugout.
“Unfortunately, the extent of the fire ...
has ended with a complete loss of our stadium,” Deputy Chief Michael Wedell said. In spite of their best efforts, nothing could be done to save the popular space, according to ABC 7 News. Jay Littleton Ball Park was built in the 1930s and featured a wooden frame grandstand.
It was the backdrop to many movies, but became best known after the filming of “A League of Their Own,” starring Tom Hanks, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and Geena Davis. The park is owned by the city and operated by the public works agency and was designated a historic landmark back in 2003. The entire community has been left reeling after learning the baseball field was destroyed.
The site was renovated several times, but officials noted there was likely a lot of old, dry wood remained part of the structure, which would have burned quickly. Aaron Matthiesen, president of the Ontario Eastern Little League, spoke out about the devastating loss. “It went up like a box of matches .
.. You’re literally watching history burn,” he said.
“The dugout here on the third baseline is where Tom Hanks had his iconic line: ‘There’s no crying in baseball!'” Matthiesen said, according to ABC News 7. Matthiesen went on to say the property became run down in recent years. “A lot of that has to do with the fact that the homeless (were) going in and breaking things and continually causing issues that made it unsafe for our players to be on the field and unsafe for our spectators to be in the stands,” he said.
He said he believed this may have played a role in the cause of , according to ABC 7 News. “That, of course, is going to be one of the potential causes but, at this point, there’s no indication ..
. that that would be the cause,” Wedell said. Fire officials are currently investigating the official cause of the and arson investigators were seen combing through the burnt remains Friday morning.
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