By Kim J. Harmon

COOPERSTOWN, New York – Ted Williams belted two home runs there in 1940.

Mickey Mantle homered there in 1954 against the Cincinnati Reds.

A 21-year-old Steve Carlton pitched a complete game there in 1966, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-5 win over the Minnesota Twins, and taking his first step towards the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Willie Stargell – with the chants of the crowd in his ears – comes off the bench there in 1980 and clouts a pinch-hit, two-run homer to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 11-8 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Built in 1939 and only 66 years old, Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York is a hallowed piece of baseball ground (certainly in the same regard as Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Wrigley Field) and Newtown and Pomperaug High Schools had the wonderful opportunity to play a South-West Conference game there last Saturday.

For both teams, it was a complete baseball experience and it began last Saturday morning on the three-and-a-half hour bus ride from Southbury to Cooperstown.

First it was a screening of The Natural with Robert Redford and then it was a screening of Major League with Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes and Bob Uecker and though the weather appeared ominous and raindrops spattered the windshield of the bus as it reached upstate New York, once the bus turned on to Route 80 and moved past the lake the sun broke through the clouds.

It was a great day for baseball.

Doubleday Field hosts some 300 games each year as high school, college and summer league teams flock to Cooperstown to play alongside the ghosts of so many baseball legends. The field is nestled up against a quiet neighborhood with a church behind the left field fence (just 296 feet down the line) and homes just beyond the right field fence. These yards get peppered each year with balls hit during the Home Run Derby at the start of each Hall of Fame game (Boston and Detroit will play this year) and though the fences looked close and inviting, the wind was blowing in and no Newtown or Pomperaug balls left the yard.

At least none that were fair.

It was a great way to celebrate the grand Game (upper case G) of baseball even though it wasn’t a grand game (lower case G) of baseball; Newtown committed nine errors and lost 12-0. But the result was secondary to the occasion as a few dozen players had a chance to play on one of the most historic fields in the country.