UTICA — In 1946 we outgrew our “Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys” phase. For the next few years it was the Utica Blue Sox all the way.

It began with Sunday afternoon family drives in Dad’s ’41 Buick Special, listening to Nick Stemmler’s play-by-play of Blue Sox games. His typical baseball voice plus the “Quick-quick my Beverwyck” beer ads were music to our 10-year-old ears.

We were hooked, especially after our first visit to the splintery old ballpark in north Utica. It was located where the Red Roof Inn sits right now. Yep, there used to be a ballpark right there!

Our infatuation with baseball started right there. Dick’s revised lyrics to the Joe Raposo classic song with Sinatra’s vocals, “There Used To Be A Ballpark,” say it all.

Crack some peanuts with a hot dog and beer. Let the new lyrics take you back to a treasured time in Utica history:

We’d leave our muddy sandlot on a warm day in July
Thumb a ride way north on Genesee with our ball mitts by our side

Soon we’d smell the sizzling hot dogs and the foamy Beverwyck beer
Yes, there used to be a ballpark right here

Sawyer, Yogi, Caballero, Lou Possehl would get the win
Lopata, Granny Hamner and at first base, Billy Glynn

No creaky wooden grandstand or young heroes left to cheer
Yes, there used to be a ballpark right here

The Blue Sox would host Albany, maybe Elmira Pioneers
It didn’t seem to matter, Richie Ashburn got the cheers

Now a brand new Red Roof Inn has replaced McConnell Field
And the summer went so quickly those years
Yes, there used to be a ballpark right here!

To listen to the original Raposo/Sinatra song, Google “There Used To Be A Ballpark.”