'It's like attending a funeral': Calgary Cannons owner, former GM, among those mourning Foothills Stadium

CBC

02-03-2025

They say there's no crying in baseball, but the demolition of a decades-old Calgary ballpark just might make fans shed a tear.
The city is in the process of tearing down Foothills Stadium as part of its plan to revitalize Foothills Athletic Park.
The stadium was once home to the AAA baseball team the Calgary Cannons, who played in the city from 1985-2002.
Team owner Russ Parker said that although he knew the stadium was coming down to make way for a new development, now that the demolition has officially begun, it's affected him emotionally.
"It's been a tough few days. It has," he said.
"It's like attending a funeral. You don't want to be there, but [you have to] pay it respect," he said.
Parker, affectionately called "Mr. Baseball" in Calgary according to his profile in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, reminisced about the Cannons' heyday in the 80s and 90s. He and his wife, Diane, were a major part of the franchise.
He remembers the time it snowed so much in Calgary that the Cannons couldn't play games for days.
He remembers when so many fans showed up to Foothills Stadium that they had to stand at the edges of the outfield behind a rope because there weren't enough seats.
He remembers his team doing a marvellous job of creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere at the stadium for all Calgarians to enjoy a baseball game.
"You know, you'd see people leaving the stadium, and they were happy. They enjoyed it, even even if it wasn't a win," the hall-of-famer said.
Joe McFarland, co-founder and host of baseball podcast Alberta Dugout Stories, said it's not surprising that Foothills Stadium is being torn down because the ballpark has been in a state of disrepair for years.
"It's sad, but at the same time, you kind of expected it, right?" he said. "It's been left to ruin for quite a while."
The Cannons moved to New Mexico following the 2002 season to become the Albuquerque Isotopes.
John Traub, the former general manager of the Cannons, worked with the team for more than a decade.
He said he's devastated that the Foothills Stadium is being torn down.
"It's sad. It kind of felt like a part of my soul was taken from me when I got the news the other day," Traub said.
He moved with the team to Albuquerque more than 20 years ago and is currently the general manager of the Isotopes.
"[There are] so many memories from being in that ballpark and living in Calgary and having baseball be such a huge part of our life... knowing how important baseball was to such a big part of the community up there," he said.
"Obviously the Parkers were there from the beginning, and if it wasn't for them, professional baseball never would have happened in Calgary."
Parker, who had a hand in building Foothills Stadium, said the memory that will always stick with him is the final game the Cannons played in Calgary.
"You know, that was a very emotional night for sure. We did everything we could over 19 years to keep the franchise vibrant.That was a tough night," he said. "We were on the world baseball map. So I'm very proud of that."
McFarland says the impact that the Foothills Stadium and the Calgary Cannons had on southern Alberta baseball fans is undeniable.
"When I first saw that this place was actually going down, my heart and my thoughts went immediately to Russ, because he poured his heart and soul into this place," he said.
"This was the grand place to be for baseball in Calgary... there's a lot of memories attached to it."
Traub agrees the legacy of the Cannons and Foothills Stadium in Calgary is powerful.
"It might not have been the flashiest stadium. It might not have been the Taj Mahal of minor league ballparks... That didn't matter," he said.
"People came to those games because they enjoyed when the weather was good, they enjoyed the entertainment that was put on. They enjoyed the interaction with the players. They enjoyed being able to come to baseball clinics and just being part of something that was really important to the community.