WEIMAR’S PASTTIME
ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM
Take Me Out to the Ballgame AN INTERVIEW IWTH TOM STRICKLAND AND LARRRY “BEAR” KANA BY MICHELLE BASNE STOKES PHOTOS BY LORI OLIVAREZ-LIGUES
Tom Strickland and Larry “Bear” Kana converged in my office to talk about their favorite subject – baseball. I watched in amazement as they transformed before my eyes into grinning little boys – excited to talk about their favorite pastime with passion. Weimar Veterans Memorial Park – Strickland Field and the Weimar Vets baseball team that calls the historic ballpark home, are close to their hearts for all the right reasons – small town pride, homeruns, foul balls, cold beer, peanuts, and a cheering crowd rooting for their home team. “Our field has a lot of history,” said Tom. “It was the first lighted field between Houston and San Antonio, built in 1948. I’ve been involved since 1976. I’m obsessed with the field and baseball. Always have been.
Above, Tom Strickland and Larry ‘Bear” Kana share a smile while reminiscing over basball, their favorite pasttime.
“When I came in ’76, I was a baseball coach and after eight years of doing that, it was hard to just pull the roots out. The very first fall when I was ushered down to the baseball field with the high school, former players asked me to do my best with it. I said that I would spend whatever I made back on the field. That’s when I came up with ways to make money and the rest is kind of history.” With a strong connection to veterans stemming from being a child of a military family, Tom and his wife maintained several close friendships with veterans over the years. Being a part of a baseball field honoring veterans was an easy choice for him.
“In all honesty, it repays me much more than anything else. The last ten years or so I’ve kind of called it my fountain of youth. Every time somebody from out of town comes in, they say, ‘We weren’t expecting this in this little bitty town!’ Kids walk around in amazement and coaches go around with their phones when they first get there and take pictures. One time I overheard a young man Dad, Dad! You on a phone call with his father, ‘Dad, Dad! You have to come have to come to to the game today. You have to come see this field! Hurry!’”
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the game today. You have to come see this field! Hurry!
“And they kind of put the ball and chain around my neck when they put my name on it in 2001,” shared Tom with a grin. “It’s usually when you’re dead and gone when they do something like that, but I guess they did it, obviously, to honor me. In the long run, it’s like I can’t go away and let it all fall into pieces as long as I’m capable of doing it, so I kind of have a goal of at least 50 years. I’ve got another five maybe if I make it!
Lots of baseball players from Weimar have gone on to play in the Big Leagues; too many to mention in this short article. The field’s ten minutes of fame came in 2010 when the movie Everybody Wants Some filmed several scenes at Strickland Field.
“It was wonderful,” shared Tom. “They came for a whole week and did all the prep work. They put new billboards over the existing ones on the bleachers and renamed it Southwest Texas College. And then, the next week, they were all gone,
20 | WEIMAR, TEXAS
