enlarge 2007 Telegram file

Today The Ballpark is in disrepair. Years of neglect have killed proposals to bring baseball back to the stadium, and the town has rejected plans to sell the land to developers.

enlarge 1988 Telegram file

Opening day 1988, with a wide swath of empty seats, foreshadows the fate of baseball at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. The love of park workers and a small corps of devoted fans weren’t enough to keep the game in town.

enlarge 1988 Telegram file

1988 Telegram file

enlarge 1988 Telegram file

A campfire in the Maine Phillies’ bullpen on an August night serves two purposes: It keeps players warm and the bugs at bay. It also illustrates some of the challenges faced at the park.

enlarge 1987 Telegram file

Still, fans had a good time while baseball lasted, as seen in the faces of Susan Dugas, left, and her sons Craig and James.

enlarge 1984 Telegram file

Marc Collette, who in 1984 was director of stadium operations at The Ballpark, models the Maine Guides uniform.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Graffiti marks the walls of the roof boxes. Weeds, some waist high, choke the concourse where Maine Guides fans walked to their seats.

Sunlight and rain have stained the wood siding. Small trees or overgrown bushes block doors to the clubhouse. The outfield is a meadow. Birds chirp and squirrels chitter.

The Ballpark, described as America's prettiest when it opened for its first International League season in 1984, is today a shocking eyesore. Tucked away in the pine grove that shields it from sight, it is a monument to abandoned dreams.

The last minor league game played here was in 1988. Attempts to bring The Ballpark back to life have died. Last month, Old Orchard Beach voters rejected a proposal to sell some of The Ballpark's land to a developer.

A group of volunteers believe baseball will be played here again.

"We all thought it was something special," said John Regan, the Old Orchard Beach High School basketball coach who worked as an usher nearly 25 years ago. "It was a fantastic time for a community as small as ours. To have a Triple-A team with ballplayers who were one step away from the major leagues made us feel like we belonged."

Small-market cities like Syracuse and Rochester, N.Y., and Columbus, Ohio, had Triple-A teams. They had larger populations. More people meant more baseball fans and more dollars spent on tickets and souvenirs. More local businesses to tap for sponsorships or advertising.

Old Orchard Beach was more accustomed to hosting vacationers drawn to the Atlantic Ocean and the boardwalk rather than baseball fans enjoying the national pastime. Jordan Kobritz, the determined attorney and baseball fan from Bangor, convinced the town it could do what Portland and other Maine population centers could not: get and keep a minor league team.

A PROMISING START

The Ballpark was full for its opener. Never mind it was a typically cold April day in Maine. For the first time in decades, the state had a professional baseball team. Regan probably would have worked for free.

Young fans, unable to buy a ticket, perched in the tall pine trees beyond the right-field fence. Regan didn't know it at the time, but Francois Bouchard, who would become one of his star players, was in a tree.

Marc Collette watched from the sideline. He was the 23-year-old manager of stadium operations. He and his staff of five had poured countless hours into getting the field ready.

"All I could think was, this was great for Maine, great for Old Orchard Beach. I was just out of college and I thought this was the best job."

Lorenzo Gray, the team's third baseman, lived in the same apartment complex as Collette. He became friends with Dave Gallagher, the center fielder who quickly became a fan favorite. He remembers talking to Butch Hobson, the former Red Sox third baseman, who had come to town with Columbus.

Even more, he remembers the ballplayers telling him The Ballpark had one of the best fields in the league.

Sandy Lord, a teacher at nearby Old Orchard Beach High School, worked in the souvenir stand where caps and T-shirts seem to fly off the shelves. She remembers Kobritz organizing a trip to Fenway Park to see Gallagher play after he was called up to the Indians.

The Ballpark had become her second home and the workers her extended family.

Businessman Lucien Huot bought four season tickets for that first summer and the next four. "I used to put my feet up on the visiting dugout. I got to see young ballplayers playing their hearts out."

That was the joy shared by everyone who went to The Ballpark. Watching games, making eye contact with players, getting their autographs. Kobritz and the partners in his ownership group invested their money in the team. Ballpark employees and fans invested their emotions.

The Maine Guides made it to the IL championship finals in 1984 before...