For generations, the sound of baseball has echoed through Lannan Park.
Parents who once stepped into the batter’s box there have returned years later to watch their own children and grandchildren take the field. Friendships have been formed in those dugouts, summer evenings have been spent along those baselines, and countless Portland kids have learned lessons about teamwork, perseverance, and community on those fields.
Now, Portland Youth Baseball is preparing for an exciting new chapter with a simple goal: bring baseball at Lannan Park back to its glory days.
And thanks to the generosity of several community partners, that vision is quickly becoming a reality.
One of the biggest reasons for the excitement surrounding the future of Portland Youth Baseball is the incredible support of Shirley’s Way.
Shirley’s Way has made a generous commitment to help upgrade the facilities at Lannan Park, providing improvements that will benefit not only the children playing today, but generations of Portland families to come.
Their generosity does not stop with the ballpark itself.
For the Spring 2027 season, Shirley’s Way will cover the registration fees for the first 150 children who sign up to play Portland Youth Baseball.
That means 150 young players will have the opportunity to put on a uniform, join a team, make new friends, and experience youth baseball without their families having to worry about the cost of registration.
Removing that financial barrier is an investment in much more than baseball. It is an investment in Portland’s kids.
The playing fields themselves will also receive some much-needed attention.
Metro Councilwoman Donna Purvis has committed $10,000 toward new dirt for the baseball fields, helping Portland Youth Baseball improve the playing surfaces and create fields that players, coaches, parents, and the entire neighborhood can be proud of.
Meanwhile, Portland Now, Inc. is leading a fundraiser to help purchase bleachers for Lannan Park, giving families and fans better places to sit, cheer, and enjoy the games.
These projects may sound like simple improvements, but anyone who grew up around a neighborhood ballpark knows they mean much more.
A good ballpark becomes a gathering place.
It is where grandparents sit behind the backstop and cheer a little louder than everybody else. It is where parents spend spring evenings talking with neighbors. It is where kids hang around after their game to watch their friends play. It is where a neighborhood becomes a community.
That is the atmosphere Portland Youth Baseball wants to bring back to Lannan Park.
When players take the field in Spring 2027, they will also look the part.
Portland Youth Baseball players will take the field in brand-new jerseys, giving the league a fresh look while building pride among the young athletes representing Portland.
The league is also planning more home games at Lannan Park, meaning families will have even more opportunities to gather at the park and support their hometown teams.
And, because everybody knows baseball and ballpark food belong together, fans can also expect upgraded concession stand offerings during the 2027 season.
The vision is to make a night at Lannan Park something families look forward to again. Come watch a game, grab something from the concession stand, visit with neighbors, cheer for the kids, and enjoy an evening together right here in Portland.
At its heart, the effort to revitalize Portland Youth Baseball is about much more than wins and losses.
It is about giving children a safe place to belong.
It is about teaching teamwork, discipline, sportsmanship, and responsibility.
It is about bringing families together and giving young people memories they will carry with them long after they have played their final inning.
Most importantly, it is about honoring the history of Lannan Park while building something special for its future.
Generations of Portland residents have played baseball on these fields. They remember the packed ballpark, the cheering families, the friendships, the rivalries, and those summer nights when Lannan Park seemed like the center of the neighborhood.
The goal is to see those days again.
With facility improvements supported by Shirley’s Way, free registration for the first 150 players, Councilwoman Donna Purvis’ $10,000 contribution for field dirt, Portland Now, Inc.’s bleacher fundraiser, new jerseys, more home games, and improvements to the concession stand, the pieces are coming together for something special.
But perhaps the most exciting part is what all of this represents.
People and organizations throughout the community are coming together and saying that Portland’s kids are worth investing in.
There is a new energy building around Lannan Park.
The fields are getting ready.
The uniforms are coming.
And before long, the sound of bats cracking, gloves popping, children laughing, and families cheering will once again fill the park.
Special thanks to our core group leading the charge to make this a reality: Bradley and Katie Stewart, Shawn Gibson, Tori Barksdale, my wife Samantha Hightower, Dylan Cook, and Crystal Williams.
Baseball has a long history at Lannan Park, but its best innings may still be ahead.
