Rockford celebrates its long history as a baseball town this weekend. Saturday afternoon is the grand reopening of Beyer Stadium, home of the famed women’s professional baseball team, the Rockford Peaches.
The Rockford Peaches first took the field 72 years ago and showed America that women could play hardball…in skirts , even. But Rockford’s baseball history goes back…waaaaaay back…150 years. Back to the Forest City Nine. It was an early team that included Byron native Albert G. Spalding, founder of Spalding sporting goods…and a pretty great ballplayer.
The celebration includes autographs from players from the Peaches and the Rockford Aviators, the city’s Frontier League team. There will also be music, souvenirs, historic items, and of course, the chance to see the work that’s been put into restoring Beyer Field.
It runs from 1 -5, with a program at 1:30. It's free, but organizers are asking for canned goods or jars of peanut butter to pass along to the Rock River Valley Pantry.
