Misfortune, opportunity, generosity and sometimes a combination of those factors have almost always been involved in improvements made at Oneonta’s ballpark, whether it was called Damaschke, Neahwa Park or Elm Park Field.

If you attend this Friday night’s Oneonta Tigers home opener against Tri-City and haven’t been to a game at Damaschke Field in recent years, you’ll notice extensive renovations have been made since last September.

Misfortune played into this round of improvements, after New York State Electric & Gas Corp. and the city of Oneonta reached a settlement involving an environmental cleanup.

NYSEG once had a manufactured-gas plant next to the ballpark, which operated until the early 1950s. A by-product of the gas, coal tar, seeped into the soil and spread. A cleanup and then a massive removal of the toxic soil took place, including under the buildings and bleachers that were formerly along the first-base line. A new clubhouse, office, restrooms, concession area, novelty shop and ticket booth, all now along the third-base line, are results of the latest renovations.

Still standing is the 1939 steel grandstand, a bit of nostalgia and a reminder of another period of big renovations to the ballpark. Misfortune and generosity allowed this round of improvements, followed by opportunity.

The Great Depression primarily allowed the grandstand to be constructed, replacing one that was built shortly after the ballpark opened in 1905. The Works Progress Administration created many jobs and construction projects during the Depression, and the grandstand was one of many in the Oneonta area.

Oneonta also had a baseball enthusiast at the time, William F. Eggleston, owner of the Oneonta Grocery Company. In his will, Eggleston established a trust fund of $5,000 to be matched by the city for the new grandstand. The WPA furnished the rest of the funds and labor in the more-than-$15,000 project.

By 1939, Oneonta had a baseball stadium that was considered by many as similar in quality to the best minor league baseball venues of the day. However, Oneonta did not field a professional baseball team at the time.

That soon changed, as opportunity knocked. In early 1940, some franchises in Canada were looking for a new home in the U.S., in the Canadian-American League.

Oneonta Mayor Daniel Franklin and his colleagues Donald Grant, Dorr Hickey and Charles Bowdish worked to make a deal with the Cornwall, Ontario, franchise in moving it to Oneonta. The Oneonta Sports Association quickly filed papers of incorporation and sold $10,000 in stock at $5 per share.

The new Oneonta baseball team, named the Indians that year, was hastily put together. But the opportunity created with the new team also called for increased seating capacity at Neahwa Park Field. New wooden bleachers were built along the third base line, another WPA project.

Oneonta fielded very successful teams in the Canadian-American League from 1940-51, when the league folded. After the first year, Oneonta was affiliated with the Boston Red Sox.

Oneonta re-entered the ranks of professional baseball in 1966, when an opportunity to relocate a franchise from Wellsville came about. Oneonta joined the New York-Penn League that year as an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, but after only one year became a farm team of the New York Yankees. In 1999, Oneonta became an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

Since 1966, improvements were gradually made to Damaschke Field. Medical Coaches donated the first Yankees scoreboard, and in more recent years, both Medical Coaches and Wilber National Bank provided another scoreboard. Medical Coaches also donated a "Sportsmobile" for team use in 1975. The Dewar Foundation upgraded lights at the stadium. The dressing room for the home team was a gift of Angela and Albert Farone. A concession stand, ticket booth and batting cage were built by the Oneonta Athletic Corporation. The New York Yankees provided a training facility, including $60,000 in equipment.

Except for the scoreboard and lights, all these additions were removed or demolished last September.

This weekend: An Otego native made his mark in the glass-container industry.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.