Alan Greenwood

It has been a debate since Holman Stadium opened in 1937:

Is Nashua a baseball town?

Thankfully, the powerful engines driving each side of that topic have cooled considerably.

Maybe that’s why the following observation from John Stylianos 75 years ago caught one baseball scribe’s eye.

JULY 7, 1947 – “Any doubts about Nashua being a good baseball town ought to be thoroughly dispelled by the attendance records for the Fourth of July week when thousands of hometown folks were away enjoying vacations at beach and summer resorts.

“From Wednesday night right through Sunday night, the total attendance at Dodger home games was 6,134, no figure to be sneezed at. On Wednesday night, 1,637 saw the saw the game against Lawrence and on Thursday night 1,217 paid were in the stands. On the holiday afternoon, 1,491 saw the cellar-dwelling Providence Chiefs play Nashua and on the traditionally poor Saturday night here, with al stories open, 874 were in the stands. The attendance last night was 915.”

JULY 8, 1952 – “An exhibition golf match featuring Miss Beverly Hanson, 1950 Women’s National Amateur Champion, will be played at the Nashua Country Club golf course tomorrow afternoon starting at 2 p.m.

“Miss Hanson, now a professional, is a member of the Pro advisory and Technical Staff of the MacGregor Golf Co. She will team up with seven-time New Hampshire amateur champion Tommy Leonard Jr. in an 18-hole match with Nashua Country Club professional Phil Friel, whose partner will be Dr. Marion Fairfield, high-ranking woman golfer from Nashua.”

JULY 9, 1977 – “Happiness to George Scott is playing for a pennant contender and leading the American League in home runs.

“Boston’s burly first baseman currently doing both, and is so content that he declined invitations to rip his old team, the Milwaukee Brewers, or their fans, who had come to boo him Friday night.

” ‘I got nothing against nobody. I got a lot of friends here, and I just can’t throw away the five years I played here,’ Scott said.”

JULY 10, 1982 – “On paper, Stan’s Place has the potential to be the best in the team’s storied history.

“That says a lot about a team that has won an unprecedented three straight New Hampshire Major slow-pitch softball championships. And after an inconsistent start this season, the Nashua powerhouse may have finally put it all together on the field with a 6-4 win over Holden Insulation to open the 13th William J. McGowan Tournament at Holman Stadium on Friday night.”

JULY 11, 1987 – “Nashua North moved on to the finals of the East Invitational Bambino Tournament for 9-10-year olds Friday night with a 10-7 win over Nashua East in a winners bracket showdown.

“Jack Willette was the winning pitcher for North and also had two RBIs as the winners scored four times in the first inning. North added four more in the third, with key doubles from Rich Rivard and Steve Leavitte.”