Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, Men's Softball occupied every available ball field in Johnston and North Providence. Cricket Field, on Greystone Avenue next to the old Worcester Textile Mill was one such field, although one every team dreaded. The field was in terrible condition. The infield was a gravel pit at best, and if it rained at all the week prior to a game, the drainage was so poor that deep puddles saturated home plate and the entire base path. The dimensions of the field were tiny, so a ball hit over the fence to right field was treated as a ground rule double, not a home run. Playing left-center field as I did could get interesting. I caught more than one long fly ball while standing waist deep in the Woonasquatucket River.
Today, the Johnston Twilight Men's League has long since folded. Cricket Field no longer has a dirt infield, and the grass is kept a bit too high to play a viable game. Graffiti covers the sign at the park's entrance, and about the only people that use the field are neighbors walking their dogs. It was empty, as expected, when I stopped there for a shot in today's downpour.
Post processing started with a detail light filter in Topaz Adjust. The dynamic exposure, contrast, strength, detail boost, and dynamic saturation sliders were all adjusted. In PSE I converted to b&w using a gradient map in color blend mode. I adjusted levels, contrast, and brightness a bit, and then added a sepia photo filter.
