Thousands flocked to Ramsey Park on Friday afternoon to watch history being made.

OK, it wasn't exactly thousands.

More like ... let me count 'em ... one, two, three, four ... actually, perhaps a dozen or two were there when the first pitch was thrown at Coeur d'Alene's new American Legion baseball field at the city-owned park.

That first pitch, thrown by Lumbermen right-hander Devin Kluss and caught by catcher Colton Gray, was taken low for a ball by Darian Barlow, leadoff hitter for the Spokane Northstars.

It came at 5:02 p.m., a total of 306 days after the Lumbermen's final pitch at McEuen Field, their home for 45 years. Coeur d'Alene's new field was built on the site of a former landfill. Their old field is now filled with dirt, soon to become a reconstructed park.

Barlow eventually drew a walk, if you're keeping track of such milestones at the first game on the new field. Kluss struck out the next two batters, and Barlow was eventually thrown out trying to steal third.

MOMENTS BEFORE the first pitch, a worker was pounding nails into the press box, which is still under construction, which is fitting, as the field is a work in progress. But for a few tweaks, the field is largely ready to go.

For one thing, there is a smallish black tarp serving as the batter's eye in center field. A bigger one will be needed, as the background otherwise is pretty light. (That wasn't a problem at McEuen Field, where trees and Tubbs Hill served just fine as a batter's eye.)

The first base hit at the Ramsey Park field was by Jacob Gonzales, the Lumbermen's No. 6 hitter, who blooped a double down the right field line in the second inning (though he was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple).

The first runs were scored with two out in the top of the third, when the Northstars' Zach Day doubled to right-center field, bringing home Andrew Reid and Barlow.

Looks like the city workers put a lot of TLC into the facility. Each team has a combination batting cage/bullpen located out of play down each baseline. Fans are allowed to park in the Kroc Center lot near the diamond - just don't park in the reserved parking spots. There are plans to eventually name the field.

THERE IS a little more room behind the plate and in foul territory than there was at McEuen, though it is not spacious there by any means. The dimensions at Ramsey Park - 316 feet down the lines, 355 in the alleys, 375 to dead center - make the park slightly larger than McEuen, at least in the power alleys. The sun field is in right field at Ramsey - it was in left at McEuen, where even the infielders on the left side had to squint.

Netting has been placed above the fence in left field, stretching to dead center, to protect softball players on the nearby field.

A few foul balls sailed over the walking/running/biking trail behind third base, and the first foul ball clanked off the Kroc Center behind first base in the fourth inning. Smartly, some netting has been hung to protect the Kroc's windows in foul ball range.

Finally, at 6:46 p.m., a Lumbermen batter flied out to left field to end the game, with the Northstars winning 3-0.

Overall impressions - emotions aside, it's the new home for Coeur d'Alene American Legion baseball, it's a nice park, so embrace it, iron out the kinks and make some new memories.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.