In March 1969, Willie Mays played a baseball game at a four-acre park in Yuma, Arizona. So did Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal — all three Hall of Famers appearing on the same field for a spring training game against the brand-new San Diego Padres. The field was Keegan Field, a community softball facility that had been hastily upgraded to handle a major league team. It was the only season the Padres trained there.
Yuma had tasted major league spring training before. The Baltimore Orioles trained at Yuma's Municipal Stadium in 1954 before returning to Florida in 1955. After that, the Chamber of Commerce spent years trying to lure another team.
The opportunity came in 1968. San Diego was awarded a National League franchise on May 27 of that year and needed a spring training home. The Chamber's chair, newspaper publisher Don Soldwedel, had a connection: he knew Padres president Buzzie Bavasi from Bavasi's years with the Dodgers. Yuma was a three-hour drive from San Diego, close enough to create a genuine fan pipeline. The Padres signed a five-year contract. The plan was to build a proper multi-field facility — Desert Sun Stadium — by spring 1970. For 1969, Yuma would make do with what it had.
What it had was Keegan Field, a 4-acre amateur athletic facility in Kennedy Park. Named for Frances Keegan, a local supporter of amateur athletics, the field was built for softball, not professional baseball. But Yuma renovated it with remarkable speed: bleachers, fences, dugouts, locker rooms, batting cages, concession stands, a press box, and a PA system were all added before spring training opened.
The arrangements were improvised throughout. The Padres' clubhouse was located behind the centerfield scoreboard, with outdoor showers at the adjacent Kennedy Swimming Pool. Visiting teams used facilities a mile away at Municipal Stadium. A civic group called Community Baseball Boosters raised $9,000 through a raffle, a barbecue, and bumper sticker sales to help fund the effort.
Spring training opened February 22, 1969. On March 7, the Padres played their Yuma home opener against the California Angels before 2,500 fans — a strong turnout for a borderland city welcoming professional baseball. On March 20 came the game that stands out in any account of Keegan Field: 1,837 spectators watched the Giants beat the Padres 8-5, with Mays, McCovey, and Marichal all in the San Francisco lineup.
The season ended at Keegan on April 3, 1969, when the Padres defeated the Oakland Athletics in front of 1,120 fans. Then it was over. Desert Sun Stadium opened in 1970, and Keegan Field returned to its original purpose — amateur softball, neighborhood games, the unhurried pace of a community park.
The field on which the Padres played in 1969 is still there. Kennedy Park continues to serve Yuma as a recreational facility, and the softball diamond where Hall of Famers once appeared is still in use — just not for major league spring training. Frances Keegan's name stays on the facility, still honoring the local supporter of amateur athletics for whom it was originally built.
The Padres' time in Yuma was brief, but the spring of 1969 left something durable: a connection between a city that wanted baseball and a franchise finding its footing. For one season, before the proper stadium was ready, a community softball field was good enough.
Located at 32.69°N, 114.61°W in Yuma, Arizona, within Kennedy Park. Visible from low altitude as a grassy area within residential Yuma. Nearest airport: Yuma International Airport (KNYL), approximately 3 miles to the south.