In the Beginning: How the Big Train Came To Be
Bruce Adams was trying to figure out how to raise money to improve fields for kids and wasn’t making much progress. The breakthrough moment came on August 28, 1995. Bruce’s family was in Oneonta, New York as part of a summer long trip across America researching a Fodor’s travel guide to family baseball vacations. He found his 5 year old son Hugh at the bullpen chatting it up with some newly minted professionals in the New York-Penn League. One of them asked if Bruce knew about summer college baseball and recommended the Shenandoah Valley League in Virginia. After spending weekends the next summer falling in love with the Valley’s combination of excellent baseball and small town charm, Bruce realized he had his plan. Paul Newman made salad dressing and donated the profits to educational and charitable causes. Bruce was pretty sure it would be more fun making baseball than salad dressing.
Bruce pitched his plan to business leader John Ourisman — we would build a ballpark, start a summer college baseball team, and use the profits to improve fields for kids. John became the indispensable partner and co-founder who raised the bulk of the money to build the ballpark. Bruce and John believed it was important to establish an organization that would accomplish more than just hosting baseball games. They wanted to create an organization that would help build a stronger community. In 1998, they established the Bethesda Community Base Ball Club (with Base Ball spelled as two words in the fashion of the nineteenth century) to build Shirley Povich Field and oversee the operations of Big Train baseball.
The first order of business was to create a suitable place to play the games. John and Bruce recruited sponsors and community partners and developed an agreement with the Montgomery County Parks Department for the use of what was already a baseball field within Cabin John Regional Park. Over and over during the process, the exact right person or firm would step up at just the right time. Miller & Long, a Bethesda-based construction company, built the stands. Sandy Spring Builders constructed the clubhouse. Hopkins & Porter built the hand-operated scoreboard. The Davis Family donated funds for the picnic pavilion. University of Maryland All American Derek Hacopian signed on to manage the team.
Led by John Ourisman, the group raised in excess of $500,000 from its founding members. In order to raise the final $100,000 and begin to build a fan base, Bruce circulated a brochure seeking grassroots support. This time the inspiration wasn't Paul Newman but rather John Lennon: "Imagine... a team of our own playing in a league of our own right near home." Donors were promised inscribed seat plaques. Astonishingly, the 606 seat plaques and the opportunity to be listed on a permanent plaque just inside the enterance to the new ballpark sold out in just two months.
John and Bruce wanted to create a living baseball history museum. In naming the team and the ballpark, they chose to honor two icons of the Washington sports world — Walter Johnson and Shirley Povich. The history lesson starts right away as murals of Johnson and Povich greet fans as they enter Povich Field.
The team name "Big Train” came from the nickname of the great Hall of Fame pitcher Walter "Big Train" Johnson. Johnson pitched for the Washington Senators for 21 seasons, lived for a time in Bethesda, and served as an elected member of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. He won 417 games for the Senators and posted an earned run average of 2.17. The greatest right-handed pitcher in history, Johnson recorded 110 complete game shutouts. Walter Johnson's grandson, Hank Thomas, was the Big Train's general manager as the team's first season got underway in 1999.
Shirley Povich Field honors one of the nation’s premier sports writers. During his 75 year career at The Washington Post, Shirley Povich was at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 for Lou Gehrig’s “luckiest man on the face of the earth" farewell and at Camden Yards to cover Cal Ripken, Jr. breaking Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games on September 6, 1995. Povich championed integration of Washington’s sports teams, noting that the colors of Washington’s NFL team were “burgundy, gold, and Caucasian.” Povich received the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s most prestigious award at the 1975 induction festivities at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
The groundbreaking ceremony for Povich Field occurred on December 18, 1998, with members of Shirley Povich's family in attendance. Construction began in January. The entrance area was inspired by Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, and the hand-operated scoreboard was designed to honor Ebbets Field. The red brick and dark green sets evoked Camden Yards in Baltimore. By June 4, 1999, Shirley Povich Field had been completed and welcomed fans through its front gate for the inaugural Big Train game, with the Big Train beating the reigning AAABA champion Arlington Senators 7-2.
