By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The commissioner of Major League Baseball and the majority owner of the Cincinnati Reds were among the dignitaries who attended the official dedication of the new Meinken All-Star Field in Covington on Monday. The mayor of the city and the superintendent of Covington Independent Public Schools joined them in celebrating the renovation of the historic field that now has a new scoreboard and synthetic turf in both the infield and outfield.
But no one seemed happier to have the project completed than D’mitri Dozier, a Holmes High School baseball player who was selected to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. He grew up playing baseball on Meinken Field and knew the ragged condition it was in before the $800,000 renovation.
Holmes High School baseball player D’mitri Dozier shakes hands with former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tom Browning after the ceremonial first pitch at the Meinken All-Star Field dedication ceremony. (Terry Boehmker photo)
“There was times where (playing) in the infield you didn’t know where the ball was was going to go and you had to take a wild guess,” Dozier said. “The outfield was way worse because it was hilly and so uneven, so I’m really grateful for this.”
The dedication ceremony was part of the 2015 All-Star Game festivities taking place through out the area. Major League Baseball and the Cincinnati Reds donated $400,000 to the Meinken Field renovation through its All-Star Community Legacy Program. Additional money was acquired through public and private donations. The local sponsors included Ralph Drees, the R.C. Durr Foundation and Dr. Robert Longshore, who once had a medical practice in Covington.
“I’m very grateful and excited to get to play here,” Dozier, 17, said of the community support behind the renovation. “It’s like they gave us this perfect opportunity and we can’t waste it.”
Dozier, whose grandfather, Leo Cardenas, was a starting shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, threw the ceremonial first pitch to Tom Browning, the last Reds’ pitcher to throw a perfect game. Randy Marsh, a former major league umpire, also attended the dedication ceremony. He played and umpired games at Meinken Field when he was younger.
Two grandsons of the field’s namesake, John Meinken, were also in the crowd on Monday. In 1957, Meinken constructed three baseball fields on the property that was formerly used as a garbage dump, according to newspaper clippings. The fields were then owned and maintained by the City of Covington for more than 50 years. After the facility was converted to a single field with outfield fences, the city allowed baseball teams at Holmes and Holy Cross high schools in Covington to use it as their home field.
Last fall, the city sold the property to Covington Independent Public Schools for $28,000. That’s when city and school officials began working together to raise the funds that were necessary to upgrade the facility.
After the dedication ceremony on Monday, players from the Holmes and Holy Cross teams helped conduct a baseball clinic for children participating in the Covington schools summer program on the new, improved Meinken All-Star Field.
“It’s a blessing for the whole community,” said Eric Neff, who supervised the field renovation for Covington Independent Schools. “I’d say it will be the premier high school baseball field in Northern Kentucky and probably in the Greater Cincinnati area.”
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You might also want to see this NKyTribune story on Meinken Field.
