Final Countdown - Last Two Games During Fan Appreciation Week
Link (Fort Wayne Wizards)

“Thursday the Wizards wrap up their regular season at Memorial Stadium with a 7:00 p.m. contest against South Bend. It’s the final Thirsty Thursday of the season, with $2.00 16-ounce beers and 20-ounce fountain drinks. The first 1,000 fans will receive mini replica Memorial Stadiums courtesy of Arby’s. Also, fans can register throughout the game for their chance to throw a ceremonial “last pitch” at Memorial Stadium.”

Stadium curtain call still to come
Wizards’ last game tonight, but events likely till next July
Link (JG)

“Even as thousands of fans plan to bid farewell to Memorial Stadium, they are reminded there will be an encore to tonight’s final act.

The Fort Wayne Wizards play what is expected to be their final game in Memorial Stadium this evening, the only home venue the team has known in its existence. Starting with opening day 2009, the team – which will announce a new name within the next month – will play its games downtown in the $30 million stadium portion of the $130 million Harrison Square development.

Randy Brown, Memorial Coliseum general manager, said Memorial Stadium will still be used next year after its main tenant leaves. He said it is being kept open just in case a problem arises with the downtown ballpark so the team will have a place to play next season.”

Finale gets hometown touch
Parker faces Wizards at Memorial Stadium
Link (JG)

“Growing up in Fort Wayne, Jarrod Parker went to his “fair share” of Wizards games at Memorial Stadium. Now Parker gets to pitch in the stadium’s professional swan song.

Parker, a South Bend Silver Hawks right-handed pitcher, will start at 7 tonight against the Wizards in the regular-season finale for the stadium and what might be the last Wizards’ game played there before the team (under a new name) will move downtown to the new ballpark at Harrison Square.”

Gold Medallist Visiting Memorial Stadium
Link (OurSportsCentral)

“United States volleyball Olympian Lloy Ball, fresh off winning a gold medal during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, is scheduled to throw out a ceremonial first pitch in the last regular season game at Memorial Stadium on Thursday.

The U.S. volleyball team captured their first gold medal since the 1988 Olympics with a four-set victory over top-ranked Brazil on Sunday. For Ball, it was his first medal in Olympic competition, serving as the setter for the U.S. team in 1996, 2000, 2004 and this year.

Ball, who hails from Woodburn, is also a former All-America volleyball player at IPFW. He has also competed for several years overseas. He is the third Fort Wayne area resident to win a gold medal in the Olympics, following swimmers Sharon Wichman-Jones in 1968 and Matt Vogel in 1976.”

Memorial Stadium, 1993-2009?
Link (JG)

“Though Harrison Square opponents lament the demise of the relatively young stadium, it was well worth the $6.2 million cost. The stadium brought professional baseball to the city, and the value of the team has grown since its debut season in 1993. Granted, the estimated demolition costs of $2 million add to the cost, but the Coliseum will gain about 800 parking spots, which will generate revenue. And if it remained open, the stadium would soon be due for expensive renovation.

Some advocates for downtown development had hoped Memorial Stadium would have been built downtown in the early 1990s. But the short time between the chance to snare the Single-A franchise, then located in Kenosha, Wis., called for extremely quick decisions and action, requiring land ready for development immediately.

Indeed, the one-year turnaround time from the opportunity to lure the team to the stadium’s opening remains a remarkable achievement.”

[...]

“The community will say farewell to the stadium sometime next year, but its main purpose – home for professional baseball – comes to a likely end tonight, only to be replaced next year with a bigger and better ballpark that will help invigorate downtown.”