Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060027
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VICKER LENGTH: Long
He had to tell his wife, Joyce, about the softball field.
The conversation went something like this:
He: ``You know that piece of land down by the railroad tracks?''
She: ``You mean the one that's covered by brush, briars, and old scrub trees and has that 15-foot deep gully in it?''
He: ``That's the one. I have something I want to do with it.''
She: ``Like what?''
He: ``I want to put a softball field on it.''
She: ``Oh no.''
He: ``Oh yes. I've already talked to a contractor.''
She: ``I think both of you are out of your minds.''
Thirteen years later, Joyce Martin still may be able to make a case for her husband's mental state at that time, but the man was stubborn.
``Life's a risk,'' he said. ``You can't just sit there and wish.''
Thus, when it occurred to him that softball fields were in short supply in these parts, he decided to address the issue.
Turns out, that wasn't a bad idea.
``It's kind of surprised me because it's really been used,'' said Martin, 52.
Except for this year.
This year, it rained.
The result was that Martin has been able to stage only one of the tournaments that have kept the joint humming since it opened.
``One down year in 13 isn't bad,'' he said.
Being in the softball tournament business (he also works full time at the arsenal for Alliant Techsystems; Joyce substitute teaches and occasionally does hair) hasn't made the Martins rich, but then neither are they content to merely break even.
``After expenses, we usually have enough left for a nice vacation every year,'' he said.
A richly deserved vacation, Joyce opines. ``We've had fun but there is a lot of work to this.''
Right from the start that's been the case.
After the bulldozers, the loaders, and the dump trucks had done their noisy work, Joyce and the three oldest children - Jimmy Jr., Kevin, and Lisa - were dispatched to help smooth things out on the new field.
``I wish I had a nickel for every rock I picked up,'' Joyce said at the time. ``I'd be rich.''
The teams came from as far away as Saltville, Lynchburg, Martinsville, and West Virginia to play on the field with the 5-foot fences 275 feet from home plate.
None of the alphabet soup of softball sanctioning bodies interfered. When the boys played on Vicker Switch Field, as it came to be known; they played by Martin's rules.
``A lot of places, they'll have you designate one guy as your home run hitter and he was the only one who could hit it over the fence,'' Martin said. ``Anybody else who did, it was out.
``We give them a single. That makes it more exciting.''
Disputes have been relatively few, although Martin has had trouble over the years with more umpire turnover than he'd like.
``Some guys get to where they don't want to put up with it,'' Martin said.
He stays around at tournament time to arbitrate and make sure everything goes smoothly.
``He runs a good tournament,'' said Jim Shockley, a teacher and coach from Blacksburg who has played in many a Vicker Switch tournament. ``You have to make sure you're not running late when you're going to a tournament there because if you get stopped by a train, then you're going to sit for a while.''
The train whizzes through from time to time just a few yards behind the backstop. The ground rumbles and the players keep right on playing.
Vicker Switch Field isn't just for adults playing softball. Martin built it because his four kids and others were having difficulty getting enough time on local fields to practice T-ball.
For five years, Martin let Montgomery County use his field for T-ball leagues. He never charged rent. All he asked was that the county provide a portable toilet. He did the rest from the mowing (he's now on his second riding mower since the field has been opened, an 18-horsepower job, and it's almost worn out) to the lining of the field.
Which of course is right civic-minded of him, but that's the kind of guy he is. Martin also includes among his activities the chairmanship of the Montgomery County Planning Commission. He's also made a couple of unsuccessful bids at a seat on the county Board of Supervisors.
And he's definitely the leader when it comes to keeping up his field, which requires as much work as ever.
``He pampers that field,'' Joyce said. ``He'll mow that field and let our yard go.''
Still, he has a lot of neighborhood fans.
``The neighbors have been great,'' he said.
So, too, have the Martin children, all of whom have worked at the field from time to time. Autumn, the youngest, loves the field and asks every year when the teams are going to start playing again. It's been a family-oriented operation through and through.
``People would bring their kids and they could sit there and play in the dirt while the parent played softball,'' Joyce said. ``Now, some of those kids are coming back as players.''
The Martins have put a pop-top camper under a tin-roofed canopy and sell some concession items out of it - drinks, candy, and of course bubble gum. The fence signs have long since faded.
``They paid me for them once,'' Martin said, ``and I just left the signs up and never went back to ask them for money.''
Martin said that if he could find the right piece of property, he might buy it and open a new softball facility, one that had two fields so you could expand the tournaments and play both losers and winners bracket games at the same time. Such a complex could support a capital expenditure for improvements such as lights, which the old field has never had.
``I feel like you could do pretty well with something like that,'' he said.
by CNB