Wet weather and poor field conditions weren't going to prevent the Tecumseh Thunder from giving one of their most dedicated supporters yet another honour Sunday.
A fixture at Burt Lacasse Park for decades as a player, a coach, a manager, and eventually head groundskeepers, Don Fields passed away in December of last year at the age of 70.
With his number already draped along the outfield fence, a plaque commemorating him will also be a permanent fixture outside "Gene's Cabin," the Thunder clubhouse at Lacasse Field.
Sue Fields says people had already committed to celebrate her late husbands life Sunday, so she wanted to go ahead with the ceremony off-the-field.
Sue and many who knew her late husband had a moment of levity knowing that Don wouldn't even want a ceremony in his honour damaging the immaculate ball diamond he laboured over for years.
"No, no way Don would let them on the field," says a smiling fields. "When I heard they canceled the games, they [Tecumseh Baseball] asked if I wanted to move it to another day ... I knew people had already made plans to be here, we decided to go ahead with things."
She told AM800 News, the fact everyone made it out to Lacasse Field, even though the games were canceled, shows what kind of community she and her husband supported for so many years.
"I just, I knew they'd be here. You know we've always had a community where everybody's surrounded you and that's exactly what's happened again today," says Fields.
Sue Fields takes a moment to admire the plaque placed on the wall of Gene's Cabin in honour of her late husband Don at Lacasse Park Sunday. (Photo by AM800's Gord Bacon)
Sue says it's fitting Don's name will be a permanent fixture at the park, it was his passion and hers as well.
The couple spent their summers at Lacasse, Don worked on the diamond, Sue helped out and ran the concessions.
"His spirit will always be in this park because he spent 24/7 here everyday. We moved two streets over just so he could be here at the ballpark all the time, a long long time."
She says the outpouring of support from the baseball community shows how much her husband gave to the sport in Windsor-Essex.
Tecumseh Thunder Baseball will wear #22 on their hats for the 2017 season in honour of Don Fields. #cklw pic.twitter.com/TfynJHmOUV
— Gord Bacon (@baconAM800) May 7, 2017
"The committee that's been behind me so much. Players that didn't have to come today, you know, they didn't have a game but they came, with his number on their hat. All that is so so special," she says.
Tecumseh Thunder players and coaches will also wear 22 on their hats in remembrance of Fields for the 2017 season.