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The baseball field at Heathwood Park in Kansas City, Kansas, will be renamed to honor Wyandotte County Sheriff's Deputy Elijah Ming, who was killed in the line of duty in July.
The Unified Government Commission voted unanimously 6-0 on Thursday night to rename the field the Elijah Ming Memorial Field.
The dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony are scheduled for mid-December.
"I think this is some of the most exciting news for baseball in Kansas City, Kansas," said Phil S. Dixon, a co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and author of several books on baseball history.
Before Ming wore his deputy uniform, he wore a baseball one — several times.
Dixon and Ming shared interests, attended the same church and both grew up playing at Heathwood Park.
"Every time I would see him, we would talk baseball," Dixon said. "Once he found out that I had the same interests as he did, that even brought us closer together. He was well-respected. People loved him, easy to talk to. He was a person who wasn't just being looked at as a police officer. They looked at him as part of the community."
Dixon described Ming as "a great guy" and said learning of his death was shocking.
"It was devastating news. It was one of those nights where I could hardly sleep," Dixon said.
The baseball historian emphasized the significance of the soon-to-be memorial field at Heathwood Park.
"I think it's important, I think it's historic, I think it's motivational,” Dixon said. “I could name a whole bunch of things I think it is, that's why I'm all behind it.”
The park holds deep historical significance beyond baseball.
Dixon shared that the property was originally owned by Nathaniel "Nat" Singletary, who owned the 8.5-acre tract of land. The city condemned the property and forced him to sell it for $12,000, equivalent to over $400,000 in today's dollars.
He says Singletary was the first Black man to run for mayor of Kansas City, Kansas.
"Most people don't know that history," Dixon said.
When Singletary owned the park, "they gave speeches, played football, they had track and field. They had a lot of things going on besides just baseball," according to Dixon.
The park was previously known as Booker T. Washington Park before being renamed Heathwood Park in 1911, a transition that Dixon says took a year to complete.
Dixon, who has over 40 years of combined experience playing and coaching baseball, has deep memories of the park's golden days.
He played for Douglas State Bank and coached teams, including JW Jones Mortuary.
Other notable teams that played there included Jack's Drive-In, Kansas City Jets, and Kansas City Giants.
"When you got to the age where you were playing night games down there, they had the grandstands, and you could go down there and it could be sometimes a couple hundred people there assembling, and the park they'd turn on the lights and kids would be out there playing, people would be in the grandstands,” Dixon described. “It was a marvelous place to be.”
Like Dixon, Ming spent his early years playing at the park.
"It was a place you wanted to be and looked forward to being if you were going to be a ball player, especially starting out as a little kid,” Dixon said. “You dreamed of being able to play some night baseball at Heathwood Park in front of that big crowd.”
Dixon emphasized the park's legacy of producing great players.
"There were so many great people who came from the park," he said. "To have the park re-named for someone who came through, I can't explain how overjoyed I was. I said, 'Who would have thought to do that?' It's a great idea."
A UG spokesperson said family members and some of Ming’s colleagues from the Sheriff’s department approached them at the same time about renaming the park.
Both family members and members of the Sheriff’s department were present at Thursday night’s meeting.
Dixon has taken on a mission to honor Ming's memory through the field dedication and hopes to revitalize the park's community spirit.
"I'm going to call every kid that I know and have them call every kid that they know and say, 'let's go down, almost like a reunion,'" Dixon said. "Knowing that it's coming down where there's not much around it now except baseball, I'm hoping maybe they'll do a walking trail, things like that, and bring back the true spirit that Nathaniel Singletary had, which will now be continued with [Deputy] Ming," he said.
Dixon is encouraging former players and community members to attend the December ceremony.
"I want to encourage all the ballplayers who played at Heathwood Park through all the generations," Dixon said. "I encourage everyone to come back to Heathwood Park, and let's make the renaming one of the most joyous things we could have in this city this December."
Ming's wife, Tiara Ming, posted about the field dedication Friday, writing: "Elijah, the community continues to show up for you and your pops, Mark Ming, made sure this happened for you! Deuce will be proud to carry your name and legacy. This is only the beginning #theelijahmingmemorialfield."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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