DUANE W. MAYS

Inscription

DUANE W. MAYS
1905-1929. PROMINENT SEMI-PRO
BASEBALL PLAYER. CAME TO
THIS VILLAGE AS A YOUNG BOY.
ACCIDENTALLY SHOT ON HUNTING
TRIP RESULTING IN HIS DEATH.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2024

Originally named Duane Mays Memorial Field, this sports field is dedicated to a young man named Duane William Mays and his love of the game of baseball.

Born in Connecticut in 1905, Mays spent his earliest years in an orphanage as his father had died and his mother was unable to care for him. Sometime between ca. 1912 and 1917, Mays went to live with the Keogh sisters who travelled to Washingtonville, NY and opened a tearoom (Central Orange Courier, October 24, 1929). About 1917, Mays was living with the Charles Felter family with whom he became very close. As a young man, he worked as a plumber while playing for the Goshen Buick baseball team. Early on, Mays showed a great ability in sports and was “rated as one of the best semi-pro shortstops in the region” (Goshen Independent Republican, October 22, 1929).

On October 15, 1929, Mays and a group of friends were hunting in the Adirondack mountains. An accidental discharge from another hunter’s rifle struck Mays in the upper left thigh, splintering the bone. After a grueling race to a hospital in Gloversville, Mays refused amputation and succumbed to his injury on October 18, 1929. (Goshen Independent Republican, October 22, 1929)

After successful fundraising efforts by the Washingtonville community, four acres of land were purchased to honor the beloved baseball player. Volunteers assisted in cleaning up the area and grading it for a ball diamond and playground (Middletown Times Herald, May, 5, 1931).