Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park is a collegiate and former minor-league baseball park in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. The full-time home of the Wake Forest University baseball team, starting in 2009, it was also previously home of the Winston-Salem entry in the Carolina League (currently the Winston-Salem Dash), a role it played since the park opened in 1956.
The ballpark is located at 401 Deacon Boulevard, directly east of BB&T Field, home of the Wake Forest University "Demon Deacons" football team. It is bounded by Deacon Boulevard to the south (first base), Shorefair Drive to the east (right field), and BB&T Field to the west (third base). West 32nd Street lies to the north (left field) behind a group of buildings and a parking lot.
Formerly known as Ernie Shore Field, the park was named for major league pitcher and North Carolina native Ernie Shore, who was a teammate of fellow pitcher Babe Ruth when they played for the Boston Red Sox during the 1910s. After Shore retired as a ballplayer, he served as Forsyth County Sheriff and baseball guru for many years. He helped spearhead the drive for a new ballpark, after the decades-old South Side Park had burned. The effort was successful, and the "Twins", as they were then called, had a new home. Since then, the team has gone through various nicknames and is currently called the "Dash".
The park was also the home field of the Demon Deacons baseball team until they opened Gene Hooks Stadium on campus in 1981. Because Hooks Stadium lacked lights, some early-season and necessary night games continued to be played at Ernie Shore Field. Like their now-demolished on-campus ballpark, the renamed Ernie Shore Field honors former Wake Forest athletic director Gene Hooks.
The baseball park was used for some key scenes in the 1990 movie Mr. Destiny starring James Belushi and Linda Hamilton. In that movie, Belushi's character travels back in time to "try again" in a life-altering high school ball game.
With the resurgence of minor league baseball during the 1980s and 1990s, the stadium underwent many renovations to modernize the facility.
The transfer of the stadium to Wake Forest University began in December 2006, when tentative agreements were put into place to sell the field to the University after a new stadium was constructed in downtown Winston-Salem for the Dash. . The sale was completed prior to the 2009 baseball season. The new ballpark's construction experienced various delays. The Dash had hoped to begin the 2009 season at the downtown park, but pushed the date back to mid-season. Wake Forest University accommodated the Dash for as much of the 2009 season as necessary. On June 2, the club announced the opening of the new ballpark for the 2010 season., allowing Wake Forest complete control of Wake Forest Baseball Park.
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—Susan Griffin (b. 1943)