{"id":125768,"date":"2021-07-27T18:00:48","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T01:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=125768"},"modified":"2021-07-27T18:00:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T01:00:48","slug":"the-men-behind-courtright-emerson-ballpark-on-its-40-year-anniversary-by-ralph-emerson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=125768","title":{"rendered":"The Men Behind Courtright\u2014Emerson Ballpark on its 40 Year Anniversary ~ By Ralph Emerson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Arnold, CA&#8230;Mike Courtright, Born November 5th, 1964 and tragically killed in accident September 12, 1977 and Mark Emerson, Born June 5th, 1959 and tragically died in backhoe accident September 13, 1979.\u00a0 Courtright\u2014Emerson Ballpark is named in their honor.\u00a0 \u00a0The memories of the two young men who died too soon can live on every time somebody visits White Pines and plays on the field built for their remembrance.\u00a0 The field is a legacy left for the community they love. Below is a heartfelt message from Ralph Emerson, the brother of Mark Emerson, as well as a few photos and video from a men&#8217;s softball game earlier this summer.<\/p>\n<div id=\"kgvid_kgvid_0_wrapper\" class=\"kgvid_wrapper\">\n<div id=\"video_kgvid_0_div\" class=\"fitvidsignore kgvid_videodiv\" data-id=\"kgvid_0\" data-kgvid_video_vars=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;kgvid_0&quot;,&quot;attachment_id&quot;:125769,&quot;player_type&quot;:&quot;Video.js v8&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:&quot;360&quot;,&quot;fullwidth&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;countable&quot;:true,&quot;count_views&quot;:&quot;quarters&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;pauseothervideos&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;set_volume&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;muted&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;meta&quot;:true,&quot;endofvideooverlay&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;resize&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;auto_res&quot;:&quot;automatic&quot;,&quot;pixel_ratio&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;right_click&quot;:&quot;on&quot;,&quot;playback_rate&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;CourtrightEmerson21&quot;,&quot;nativecontrolsfortouch&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en&quot;,&quot;enable_resolutions_plugin&quot;:false}\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CourtrightEmerson21_thumb1-e1627427693385.jpg\"><meta itemprop=\"embedUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?attachment_id=125769&#038;kgvid_video_embed%5Benable%5D=true\"><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CourtrightEmerson21.mp4\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"CourtrightEmerson21\"><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Video\"><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2021-07-27T13:31:37-07:00\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<video id=\"video_kgvid_0\" playsinline controls preload=\"metadata\" poster=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CourtrightEmerson21_thumb1-e1627427693385.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"fitvidsignore video-js kg-video-js-skin\"><source src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CourtrightEmerson21.mp4?id=0\" type=\"video\/mp4\" data-res=\"720p\"><\/video>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div style=\"display:none\" id=\"video_kgvid_0_meta\" class=\"kgvid_video_meta kgvid_video_meta_hover kgvid_no_title_meta\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class='kgvid_meta_icons'>\t\t\t\t<span id='kgvid_kgvid_0_shareicon' class='vjs-icon-share' onclick='kgvid_share_icon_click(\"kgvid_0\");'><\/span><\/p>\n<div id='click_trap_kgvid_0' class='kgvid_click_trap'><\/div>\n<div id='video_kgvid_0_embed' class='kgvid_share_container kgvid_no_title_meta'>\n<div class='kgvid_share_icons'><span class='kgvid_embedcode_container'><span class='kgvid-icons kgvid-icon-embed'><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Embed: <\/span><span><input class='kgvid_embedcode' type='text'>https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?attachment_id=125769&#038;videopack%5Benable%5D=true<\/a>&#8216; onClick=&#8217;this.select();&#8217;&gt;<\/span> <span class='kgvid_start_time'><input type='checkbox' class='kgvid_start_at_enable' onclick='kgvid_set_start_at(\"kgvid_0\")'> Start at: <input type='text' class='kgvid_start_at' onkeyup='kgvid_change_start_at(\"kgvid_0\")'><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class='kgvid_social_icons'><a title='Share on Twitter' href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=false&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fnew.thepinetree.net%2F%3Fattachment_id%3D125769' onclick='window.open(this.href, \"\", \"menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=260,width=600\");return false;'><span class='vjs-icon-twitter'><\/span><\/a>&nbsp;<a title='Share on Facebook' href='https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnew.thepinetree.net%2F%3Fattachment_id%3D125769' onclick='window.open(this.href, \"\", \"menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=260,width=600\");return false;'><span class='vjs-icon-facebook'><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"kgvid-download-link\" href=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CourtrightEmerson21.mp4\" title=\"Click to download\" download data-alt_link=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?attachment_id=125769&amp;videopack&#091;download&#093;=true\"><span class=\"kgvid-icons kgvid-icon-download\"><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3975-e1627427533903.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-125799\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3975-e1627427533903.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3977-e1627427561480.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-125798\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3977-e1627427561480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3976-1-e1627427580455.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-125797\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3976-1-e1627427580455.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3966-e1627427596680.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-125796\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3966-e1627427596680.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>My Brother was my closest friend and died at age 20 but amidst the pain of losing him when<br \/>\nHis backhoe flipped over, a plan was developed to build a softball field in remembrance<br \/>\nof Mark and Mike. I was at the first excavation meeting on site with Ray Shires<br \/>\nand my Dad, who donated their equipment and time to do the Excavating for the field.<br \/>\nWhen you complain about the short fields or configuration, it came from that first day<br \/>\nAnd we knew nothing about building a softball field,, when wood bats were still used<br \/>\nRegularly but we kept adding length to field because homeruns were easy, so the fence<br \/>\nGot taller as bats became aluminum, titanium and composite. Certainly since 1981 at the<br \/>\nFirst game to now, much has changed but I love playing softball and especially at this<br \/>\nMemorial field.<\/p>\n<p>I suppose it is fitting that a softball field was chosen to remember these friends to all<br \/>\nBecause my Mom started the first Little League team in Arnold and with Ray Shires<br \/>\nWas my coach and my Brothers coach. My Mom wanted something for her boys to do<br \/>\nIn Arnold and from hers and others commitment to Arnold and the youth, there are now<br \/>\nMany activities for youth and adults to do but it started from a couple people and a<br \/>\nvision.<\/p>\n<p>The community donated money and time to do this project and to maintain it for all these<br \/>\nMany years, which is a bittersweet feeling for me as I have played on this field since it was built<br \/>\n40 years ago. As I still play all these years later, it is with a deep sense of sadness and remembrance<br \/>\nof how we got this field and that the lives of Mike and Mark will forever be etched in the minds<br \/>\nof every person using this field.<\/p>\n<p>Play and enjoy Courtright-Emerson Field<br \/>\nBut never forget the sacrifice<br \/>\nThat was made so you can<br \/>\nEnjoy it.<br \/>\nRalph Emerson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arnold, CA&#8230;Mike Courtright, Born November 5th, 1964 and tragically killed in accident September 12, 1977 and Mark Emerson, Born June 5th, 1959 and tragically died in backhoe accident September 13, 1979.\u00a0 Courtright\u2014Emerson Ballpark is named in their honor.\u00a0 \u00a0The memories of the two young men who died too soon can live on every time somebody [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":125770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,19,20,4,1,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arnold","category-entertainment","category-featured","category-life-style","category-news","category-sports","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CourtrightEmerson21_thumb1-e1627427693385.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/125770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}