Strawberry Field is located on the grounds of talent manager Rick Messina's home in Encino CA. The field originally was an entry way to the garage with a garden and a basketball court to go with it. It was soon realized that with the high retaining wall of the back hill and the high side wall that seperated the properties, it could be made into an ideal wiffle ball stadium. Over the course of two years Strawberry field was honed from a piece of coal into a beautiful diamond. No pun intended.
Eventually the garden was taken out along with the airconditioning system and relocated more towards the front of the house because it was in the way of the left field line and it just wouldn't look like a ball field with an airconditioning unit/garden on the grounds. Balls would get lost, players would trip over it, grounders would richochet off it --you know what I mean. That was the first big step. Little by little things were added. Rick bought some old stadium seats from the Anaheim Angels when they redid Edison Field and promptly had them placed in the outfield above the fifteen foot retaining wall. This truly gave Strawberry Field an authentic stadium look ala old Comisky Park or Wrigley field minus the ivy.
Then the back ten feet of the field was painted a sandy beige to simulate the warning track with the rest of the playing surface painted green to naturely simulate a grass field or astro turf if you're from Houston. A pitching mound was drawn in as was the batting box and dimensions. The retaing wall and right field line wall were painted a beautiful forest green to cap off the park. Foul poles were soon added with New York Mets and Cleveland Indian Flags respectively hanging to apperently represent both American and National leagues or because they were on sale. The Mets flag I can understand because the owner is a huge fan but Cleveland. Pah-lease!
The original backstop was a mattress until a comic decided it would work better in his apartmernt. Eventually a mesh screen was put in its place and a 28" by 34" tin was hung on the screen to serve as the strike zone. Not long after, lights were added for night baseball and a sound system so the players could jam and play at the same time. The biggest and most impresive addition came with the dugout. Bill, Rick Messina's right hand construction man, put together a state of the art dugout with a television, watercooler, bat rack and cubby shelves for glasses, wallets, keys and of course sunflower seeds. The mahogeny stained pine gives it a great look. The icing on the cake would have to be the video system which was installed so players from inside the house could view the game or watch replay to analyze their swings and throwing mechanics.
Strawberry Field was primarily designed for wayward comics to come to and forget about their miserable lives for one day a week. (Sometimes two if there are some good playoff games to watch on Saturday). It gives these losers a chance to see how their lives could have been if only bal, bla,bla,bla,bla, bla. For the married guys it gives them a chance to get away from the family and the constant nagging that goes with it. It's an escape where one day a week a man can feel like a king, smoke a cigar, take a swim, play some video games, barbeque, play whiffle ball, have a beer or whatever suits them and basically live off the real king. If you too are interested in playing a wiffle ball game at Strawberry Field e-mail Rick Messina. Please submit picture and resume. We are always looking for out of town opponents. Thank you and God bless.