It probably seems strange today, the idea of the Church spending $100,000 – 1950s dollars! – to build a softball park in the Salt Lake Valley, and to hold yearly All-Church Priesthood Softball Tournaments. How many ways is it strange, at least in contrast to what you’d expect today? Well, it’s sports, especially non-basketball sports, linked to the Church as an official production; it’s a facility that, while available to stakes in the valley, was unavailable to Church members at any distance; it’s linked explicitly to priesthood, which seems odd in itself, and which makes no provision for athletic girls and women. It’s just not what we do now. But it was a big, big deal from the 1940s through the 1960s – and it did have an explicitly priesthood function.
In 1940, eleven stakes in Salt Lake City formed an “elders’ softball association,” with their first tournament taking place in 1941. The league was almost immediately adopted by the general Melchizedek Priesthood committee, chaired by Joseph Fielding Smith, who without doubt was its most ardent supporter throughout the lifetime of the program.
The point of the Church Softball Program – the whole point, outweighing recreation and health and sportsmanship – was a reactivation tool for young men who had dropped out of Church activity sometime in their teens after having been ordained to some office in the Aaronic Priesthood, or who had received the Melchizedek Priesthood before drifting away. It was conceived as an elders activity, but almost immediately membership rules were adapted to allow Aaronic Priesthood members who should normally have already received the Melchizedek Priesthood – age 20 and older, that is – to play with the league for one year only, in hopes that they would be reactivated by their association with active young men and qualify for advancement in the priesthood. Rules later expanded to encourage non-members 19 and older to participate. Attendance at Church and participation in quorum activities were requirements for playing ball.
It’s probably hard for us to really understand today how popular baseball really was as a participatory sport, but it was an incredibly popular activity as sponsored by the Church. By 1950, 545 teams took part in the all-Church tournament; in 1952 there were 804 teams (enrolling nearly 13,000 players); I don’t have stats for 1953, but 1954 produced 1165 teams.
Joseph Fielding Smith sent enthusiastic letters to stake presidents every year, urging them to appoint the best available men to conduct the program locally, and touting the benefits of the program as a reactivation tool. His reports included stories of young men activated, families sealed in temples, and other markers of success. I’d love to include some of the stories, but they’re general, referring to “a former bishop” and “a current stake president” rather than to members by names. Stats for 1954 record that the program involved 1,487 “senior Aaronic” men and had been credited with 47 convert baptisms and 486 reactivations during the year, through the men’s association with 5,892 active elders and hundreds of men then serving in bishoprics and stake presidencies, among other classifications.
To meet the needs of the program and its tournament, the George Q. Morris Softball Park (GQM was then a member of the Quorum of Twelve, if you don’t recognize his name) was opened in 1956. Below you’ll find the souvenir program of that park’s opening, followed by a newspaper article that should answer most of your questions about design and size and so on.
Play ball!
ADDED: See Church Ballpark, 1958 for an aerial photo of this site, furnished by Steve R.
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DESERET NEWS
28 April 1956
Elaborate Church Softball Park Ready in May
The huge new All-Church Softball Park at 2200 South Second West in Salt Lake City will be ready for play by May 20 or shortly before the Church Softball Committee, of the Church General Priesthood Committee, announced this week.
The All Church senior and junior joint tournament this year will be held at the new diamonds Aug. 21-25 when 64 teams will compete.
As a preview of the opening of the four-diamond park, open house will be held Saturday, April 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. Invited to view the excellent facilities offered are stake presidencies, bishoprics and various appointed persons connected with the softball program of the Church in the Salt Lake Valley.
Conducting the visitors on tours Saturday evening will be members of the Church Softball Committee.
Visitors will see the two large shower rooms where 20 men may shower at once, and the adjoining large dressing rooms. There will also be a snack bar, rest rooms, boiler room, utility room, press box in the center at the top of the bleachers, where officials and press may see any one of the four diamonds.
Between the diamonds and near the bleachers, one of these four areas has been cemented and will be used for volleyball. The other three such areas will be black-topped and used for shuffle board, and as picnic spots for families to enjoy their lunch or supper while observing softball games.
In addition, there is ample parking space available at the northeast corner of the recreation area or at the south end of the diamonds. Each diamond is lighted for night games.
Players bringing their families to the park will be happy to know that other attractions for young members of the family will also be provided. These will include swings, teeter-totters and horseshoes, to help make the acreage an all-family recreation spot.
According to Elder George Q. Morris of the council of the Twelve, under whose direction the softball committee functions, said, “This is the finest softball park in the West and we invite the various stakes of the Salt Lake Valley to submit their bids and to play their games here this summer.” Elder Morris said the additional facilities available at the acreage surpass anything he has seen throughout the country.
He added that this Melchizedek Priesthood facility should be used by all members of the priesthood in the Church and that as far as the senior softball tournament is concerned there are no age restrictions.
Already a number of stakes in the valley have taken options on various nights for their league play and others are advised to make inquiry immediately to be sure of the desired time for their games.
Heading the softball committee is Clark N. Stohl, athletic supervisor of the YMMIA with David S. Hatch, secretary and as members, LeRoy Owen, Edmond Mr. Evans, Malcolm F. LeSueur, Richard F. North, Floyd W. Millett, Keith R. McLaren and Paul Rose.
Elder A. Walter Stevenson, first assistant general superintendent of the YMMIA, also a member of the committee, acts as coordinator of the program.
Ground was broken for the new softball park early in June last year by Elder Harold B. Lee, of the Council of the Twelve and chairman of the Priesthood Committee. Present on that occasion was Elder Morris, Bishop Thorpe B. Isaacson, of the Presiding Bishopric, and Elder Jay W. DeGraff, softball director at that time for the Church.
The grandstands have a seating capacity of 2,500 persons. The entire acreage is surrounded by a high wire fence.
Construction valuation of the huge new park is in excess of $100,000. Ten acres of the land is devoted to the four-diamond park with five acres assigned as parking areas.
Some of the 1955 All-Church Softball Tournament games were played at the new park last August. However, with the additional improvements and completion of the park this year in time for this season’s tournaments, interest in the sport is expected to be increased.
I can tell you that if that program existed right now, it would probably snag up my semi-active RM (aspergers) son, giving him a social group to be with/practice social skills with, and a sense of belonging that he is seriously missing in Church. I wish something like this could still happen.
Another great piece of lesser-known LDS history. Thanks, Ardis.
This brings back memories. The event got so big as teams from outside of Utah and such began to join in the annual event. Stakes and Wards would charter buses, have uniforms and equipment managers. Men were called to manager this teams by calling, etc. It got so big in importance that teams were fielding ringers (pro, semi and college players). This was a big deal. It might have lost its original theme but, like all things, it began to have a life of its own. I remember old timers telling me about the trek to SLC for the tournament. Bigger than some Temple trips, LOL. Ah, the good old days.
I remember my ward my junior year in high school won our stake tournament, and we played in a regional qualifying tournament (I mostly sat on the bench – softball was never my best sport) in 1968. We lost, but I remember talking to people who had played at this park. I think that was just about at the end of the whole program.
Also, as a former Kaysville resident, I recognize a couple of the names on that roster for the Kaysville 3rd Ward team, as fathers of some of our friends while we lived there.
But yeah, major problems of inequity, and I remember allegations of providing false addresses to get the best players on a ward’s records so they could play.
This is a whole new level to the story that I hadn’t been aware of, but maybe should have expected — ringers! falsifying addresses! Wow!
As soon as I can get it uploaded, I’m posting a aerial photo of the ball park provided by Steve R. Don’t miss that.
I’m just old enough to have played in stake softball tournaments back in the day. Wonderful experience being around good men doing something astonishingly athletic for this bookworm.
(Basketball was a less happy experience, and I still can’t stand the sport.)
I see this as part of a conscious effort by the Church to promote a civil culture connected to and compatible with the Church. Really not a bad idea, and I think we may see more of it in the future as the civil culture around us collapses. If the culture will let us.
After reading the article: “Feh! Sports! I’m sure loads of people will come rushing back to church if we just have some fun activities!”
After reading Coffinberry’s comment: “Well, maybe? Actually, now that I think of it, I remember some youth softball nights that were pretty fun, and inspired a sense of belonging. Why am I so automatically negative about church sports?”
A few comments later: “Oh yeah, that’s why.” Hypercompetitiveness and lies always make a sociable game more fun.
(I still enjoyed the history and the photo; I’m just a curmudgeon)
There is a church softball facility something like this in North Las Vegas next to the Walnut and Carey chapel, though without grandstands. One of the four fields is gone now, with grass and picnic tables where the infield was. I had a terrible dream a few years ago of driving down Walnut and finding a cluster of five story apartment buildings. So far it hasn’t been fulfilled, but it continues to haunt me.
I remember the Stake Basketball and Volleyball tournaments.
Calling it the All-Church is a bit like the World Series for baseball; it really means “a pretty limited percentage.”
The Charles Redd Center put out a book in 2008 which is available as PDFs, Spiritualized Recreation: Mormon All-Church Athletic Tournaments and Dance Festivals by Jessie L. Embry.
https://reddcenter.byu.edu/Pages/Spiritualized.aspx
Addressing Ben S.’s “pretty limited percentage,” her chapter on softball starts with something from a 1961 Improvement Era:
“An Arizona dentist cancels all appointments for a week. A Canadian businessman works nights so he can leave the office. Five carloads of men leave Florida. A California electronics worker and his family change their vacation trip plans. They share two things in common: each man is a championship softball player, and all have the same destination–the annual All-Church Priesthood Softball Tournament in Salt Lake City, one of the world’s largest and most unusual sports events.”
The teams that won the All-Church Tournament the first five years at Morris Park came from San Antonio, San Diego, Mesa, Snowflake, and Mesa.
When was this park torn down and why?
So many great memories of going there to cheer my ward on. It was a great program.