Historic Ballpark Featured in Films Burns

A Southern California baseball field dating to the 1930s, which appeared in films including A League of Their Own and was the setting for a famous baseball movie line, has burned down. The fire at Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario began about 11:30pm Thursday, KABC reports. Firefighters arrived to find major flames rising from the stadium and dugout. Officials said the ballpark, including its wooden frame grandstand, couldn't be saved. Investigators were working on determining the cause of the fire. The ballpark is owned by the city and was designated a historic landmark in 2003.

It's where the scene was filmed in which Tom Hanks, as manager Jimmy Dugan, declares "There's no crying in baseball" in the 1992 movie. Eight Men Out, The Babe, and an episode of The X-Files also used Littleton for filming, per the Los Angeles Times. Mostly, it was used for baseball games for more than 80 years; it was named for a local leader in youth sports. Participants went to the site Friday morning, per KNBC. "If you look up and down the street, you have baseball lovers everywhere," said Aaron Matthiesen, president of the Ontario Eastern Little League, adding that some of them were in tears. "This ballpark has been the heart of Ontario, it's a historical ballpark, place to play for our kids." (More stadium stories.)