The Tecumseh Thunder Baseball Club is celebrating its Diamond Anniversary.
It's been 75 years since baseball came to Lacasse Park, first as the Tecumseh Indians from 1943 to 1954, then the Red Caps until 1959. The team became the Green Giants as a tip of the cap to the town's biggest supporter until the processing facility was taken over by Bonduelle Foods in 1996.
That's when the Tecumseh Thunder was born. and club president Jamie Kell says while the names have changed, Lacasse Park will always been a town jewel.
"It's been kind of a staple in this town for 75 years," Kell says. "Everybody knows about the diamond. When you get out of town across Ontario and you tell them you're from Tecumseh and they're into sports they usually mention Lacasse Park."
Kell says several features of the park are part of baseball nostalgia.
"The grandstands have been here just about as long. It's a pretty memorable park and something that everybody notices and knows all about," says Kell
The field has been upgraded over the years, most recently with the expansion of the dugouts, something that reminds Kell of the 37 years of service from Don Fields.
Fields died in 2016 and now has his number is memorialized on Gene's Cabin, another iconic structure at Lacasse Park.
"Manager, player, grounds keeper, president of the ball club for a very long time," says Kell. "So we lost a lot and we're trying to keep up to his standards and trying to make him proud as we move on here."
The team held a double header Saturday to mark the occasion.