Elida High dedicates Oscar Acosta Field

ELIDA — Oscar Acosta’s legacy will forever be felt by Elida and Portales High School baseball, and generations of Elida players will play on a field that now bears his name.

The newly built Acosta Field, named after the late Elida native and former professional baseball pitcher and major league pitching coach was dedicated Friday afternoon with a 14-13 victory against the Portales junior varsity.

“This is great,” Elida coach Jimmy Ward said. “If you drive around and take a picture of the old field we’ve been playing on — this is just awesome. We’re very fortunate.”

Ward has been a long-time friend of the Acostas after rooming with Oscar in college.

“Oscar and I were good friends,” Ward said. “It’s just a shame that Oscar can’t be here to see what we’ve done.”

After graduating from Elida High School in 1977, Acosta played at Lubbock Christian University before pitching professionally for three years in the minor leagues. A torn rotator cuff ended his playing days, but launched him into a career as a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs.

Acosta was managing the Gulf Coast Yankees, a rookie league affiliate in Tampa Bay, Fla., when he died in a car accident in April 2006 while visiting the Dominican Republic on a scouting trip.

Ward hopes Acosta’s work ethic and love of the game will be passed on for years to come.

“Even the kids that never knew Oscar, I hope they know Oscar through me, because we were such good friends,” Ward said.

Many of Acosta’s friends and family also attended Friday’s event, including his widow, Kathy, and son Ryan.

“We’re all very honored that this was able to come about,” Kathy Acosta said. “(Oscar) grew up here, and to come back here and have this field dedicated in his name is very touching.

“I’m very proud and very happy for the town, that they would honor him this way, because he wouldn’t let you do anything like this if he was here. He’d say, ‘Let’s play ball.’ He was just that type of person — always doing for other people.”

Oscar’s son, Ryan, pitched at Elida and Portales High School and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in last spring’s draft. He’s currently pitching for the Cubs’ Class A affiliate in Peoria, Ill., which begin its season Thursday night.

“The people here are one of a kind,” Ryan said. “They built this field, they worked hard on it and they built it for a good cause.”

“I’m glad (Portales) could be the ones down here to play Elida (in the first game),” Kathy said.

According to Ward, “If you build it, they will come,” a line made famous by the Kevin Costner baseball movie “Field of Dreams,” is also appropriate in Elida’s case. Twenty players came out for the sport this spring at the Class 1A school.

“This is the most I’ve had out in years,” Ward said. “Some of them have never played the game. They come out here to enjoy the new field and it’s going to really help our program, I think.”