Not forgotten

The Red Smith Banquet was last night. For those of you not from the area it is a big event that raises scholarship money for local high school athletes. Last night, the award winners were Donald Driver and Whitey Herzog. Jay Bilas was the guest speaker.

There is a photo gallery here. Pay particular attention to photos 23, 27, and 28. I won't post them here, because I like my job.

One of the awards given out last night as called "The Forgotten Man". That award went to someone with Timber Rattlers ties.

[John] Wollner, a visionary who pushed for the construction of the highly successful Time Warner Cable Field and Fox Cities Stadium, was honored with the "Forgotten Man" award.
...
While Wollner never wore an Appleton Foxes or Wisconsin Timber Rattlers baseball uniform or carried his glove to the old Goodland Field or Fox Cities Stadium, he was a most valuable player for several seasons.

Wollner was president of the Fox Cities Baseball Club Inc., from 1994 to 1997.

At one point, the old Foxes had to borrow $80,000 to pay off debts from the 1993 season. Attendance dipped at Goodland Field. Renovations were needed to keep the team in town.

"The options were to build a new stadium or to sell the team," Wollner recalled. "Obviously, we didn't want to lose the team. It was pretty serious back then."

The rest of the story is local baseball history.

There are some stories in the archives about the early days of the stadium. Looks like this week's Flashback Friday is going to be from 1994 or 1995.