IL Indianapolis Indians

Victory Field in the Spotlight

Published on July 9, 2021 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


Only 10 months separate two of Victory Field's most memorable moments during its 25-year run as home of the Indianapolis Indians.

The first took place in 2000 after the Indians rolled through International League opposition en route to an 81-63 regular-season record and IL West championship. Indy, in its first of a five-year stint as the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, bounced Durham in the semifinals 3 games to 2, overcoming a 2-1 series deficit. The Indians again walked the tightrope in the finals against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. On September 15 in a winner-take-all Game 5, Indianapolis held off the visitors 6-1 to seal the organization's second Governors' Cup title (also: 1963) and first league championship since winning the American Association in 1994.

The second memorable moment took place the following summer on the date of Victory Field's ballpark anniversary - July 11. Celebrating its fifth year, The Vic hosted the 2001 Triple-A All-Star Game. The midsummer classic pitted the Pacific Coast League All-Stars and IL All-Stars against one another.

With 15,868 fans in attendance - the sixth-largest crowd for Victory Field at the time - the PCL topped the IL, 9-5. Two Indians suited up for the home team, Brian Lesher and Mike Coolbaugh. Coolbaugh belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth for the IL's third dinger of the game to complete the scoring.

The game was broadcast on ESPN2, with current Washington Nationals television play-by-play voice Bob Carpenter in the booth. Bud Selig, in his fourth year as Major League Baseball's official commissioner, was in attendance with Rollie Fingers and joined Carpenter momentarily on the broadcast. Selig then worked his way into Indy's home booth for an interview with the Voice of the Indians, Howard Kellman, who was on the radio call.

"It was an incredibly festive night, as All-Star games often are," Kellman recalled. "The mood was great, a sold-out Victory Field. On the air, Bud [Selig] couldn't stop talking about how beautiful the ballpark looked."

The game in downtown Indy not only featured Selig, who had traveled from the MLB All-Star Game held in Seattle, Wash. the night before, but it featured light-tower power from a Louisville RiverBat and a between-inning promotion that saw a fan win prize money.

To Cal Burleson, who was general manager for the Indians, a handful of moments stood out as he soaked in the opportunity to host the Triple-A All-Star festivities. The first involved Anderson, Ind. native Carl Erskine.

"I remember Erskine being the featured guest speaker at the Triple-A All-Star luncheon," Burleson said. "He talked about playing alongside and befriending Jackie Robinson and discussed the advances that Black ballplayers had made in the game. Carl then compared Robinson's legacy to his own son, Jimmy, who had Down Syndrome and was striving for his own improved place in society."

Erskine concluded the speech by showing off his Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 World Series ring along with Jimmy's Special Olympics gold medal.

"In Carl's mind and to show the kind of person he is to this day, Jimmy's gold medal is a better achievement than his own World Series championship," Burleson said.

The second thing Burleson remembers most was getting to the finish line of a sellout. With a couple thousand tickets still available just a few days before the game, Burleson went rogue and made his own call to the bullpen - err, Indians' bank account - and dropped a last-minute $5,000 on advertising.

"I had to make sure this place was sold out," Burleson laughed. "Mission accomplished."

When the game was off and rolling, Burleson recalled two more things.

The longest home run in Victory Field history, unofficially, was hit in the bottom of the first inning by Louisville's Adam Dunn, a former Texas Longhorn quarterback and future collector of 462 career major league homers. Dunn, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound specimen, sent a 1-1 pitch down the right field line to West Street. The ball bounced off the pavement on the fly at an estimated 450 feet, but to Burleson, Dunn's first round-tripper isn't done traveling.

"A car pulled over, the driver got out and picked up the ball," Burleson said. "He got back in his car and drove away... so, that one's still going."

Kellman remembers the first blast quite well, too.

"I called Dunn's first home run, described it as being 'majestic,'" Kellman said. "It was such a towering fly ball."

Dunn wasn't finished, either. With the IL trailing 3-2 in the fourth, the left-handed hitter used his extension and ripped a 1-2 offering off the plate, yanking it over the fence in right-center. That one only sailed an estimated 420 feet. Following Coolbaugh's shot in the ninth, Dunn nearly got another but flied out to the warning track in right-center.

Burleson's last vivid memory on the special night at the ballpark took place, at least for him, on the Victory Field concourse.

With ESPN having the television broadcast rights, IL President Randy Mobley was the Triple-A negotiator to secure a certain amount of time for the IL and PCL to have their own spots between innings. One spot Mobley locked in came between the fourth and fifth frames, when American Hole 'n One covered the two baseball leagues for up to $100,000 in potential prize money during a "target toss." Contestant Brian Nelson won $1,000 when he successfully threw the last of three baseballs from the mound through a 12-inch target at home plate.

"I was standing on the concourse watching the [ESPN2] broadcast which was on a slight delay," Burleson remembered. "The crowd erupting when the contestant made his third throw is something I'll never forget."

July 11, 2001 is a day Burleson, the Indians front office and fans who attended will never forget. In the national spotlight, Victory Field looked every bit of an All-Star - majestic, some might say.

Twenty years later, it still does.

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