No, unfortunately, that's not a typo, this is
Lee Gehring Field not Lou Gehrig Field. Pretty close, though. It is a really nice park for a small city/large town and was pretty much totally built through the fundraising and work of a handful of volunteers. The beginning of the story of the building of the field will be found below. It's pretty long, so I've only included the first bit of the story.
This is a well lighted park with concrete dugouts, a large grandstand behind home and concession stands, picnic tables and pavilions on the first base side.
This field is the home of the
Libby Loggers, an American Legion League team, sponsored by Austin Reedy Post #97.
Lee Gehring Field
Dr. Scott Foss has a vision. The seed was planted when he was a teenager in the late 1980s playing Babe Ruth, and then American Legion baseball in the ballpark that is now known as Lee Gehring Field. Variously known as City Ball Park and Legion Field, the field was renamed in honor of Lee Gehring, a longtime local Legion coach who contributed much to the development of baseball in Libby.
Scott's story begins in 1989, when he was 15. Two local men, George Leo and Dave Benefield, decided to improve the baseball experience for kids in Libby. With time, money, and sweat equity, improvements began to take place at the ball field. Scott remembers helping George and George's son, Jeff, build the dugouts and lay bases. Scott helped stain the concession stand that was built in the early 1990s. In 1992, Scott and a friend, Ryan Schrenk, went door-to-door to raise money for lights for the field. The two enterprising high school seniors were successful, raising $15,000 and getting the lights installed that year. American Legion baseball as we know it today was taking shape. The field is now home to the Libby Loggers, an American Legion affiliated team that has been coached by Kelly Morford since 2006.
Depending on the age of your memory, the field might have been used to play football as well as baseball, or to run track, or you might remember that Logger Days used to be held there. It used to be filled with dust and weeds.
Not anymore.
From Libby, MT