Jon Faulkner believed he had the perfect name for the field, and found a lot of support along the way. The Homer City Council agreed, and two weeks ago passed a resolution naming the field for former Homer Police Chief Michael Daugherty, who died last year.
Faulkner, a good friend of Daugherty's, felt sure of his decision for several reasons.
"Mike was just a wonderful guy," Faulkner said. "He was always so involved in the community. He loved Homer."
Daugherty was a local resident for 25 years, and was chief of police for 20. He was the president of the Alaska Peace Officers Association and acted as interim city manager on several occasions.
"Mike was well-liked by almost everyone because of his sense of caring and support," Faulkner said. "He did so much to maintain community support too."
Daugherty coached little league baseball and was a committed fund-raiser. He wrote grants and applied for assistance to build the backstops at Karen Hornaday Park. But he didn't stop there. With the help of a friend, Daugherty built the backstops himself out of fencing, and installed them on the fields.
"That was the first real field we'd ever had," said Faulkner. "Mike worked hard on it."
Tim Bowler, who has been helping with the plans to refurbish the field, said that he is not sure if all of the work will be done in time.
"We're a little behind schedule right now," Bowler said. "You have to understand that all of this has to be done by people who are volunteering their time. They have jobs and families to work around."
Bowler said he hopes that this will be an ongoing project on the field, and is planning upgrades to the dugouts and fences.
"We're also working toward getting some new grass put in after we reshape the infield," he said. "It may take a couple of years, but it's going to look really nice."
Daugherty was a strong contributor to little league not only through his volunteer work, but also with monetary donations.
"Mike was a real strong supporter of all youth sports," Faulkner said. "He always found a way to help out, whether he coached or managed or sponsored a team. He was involved somehow."
According to Faulkner, Daugherty was a "pretty good" baseball player in northern California before he headed north.
"Mike liked all kinds of sports and he supported things like hockey and soccer," Faulkner said. "But I know baseball was his first love."
When Faulkner first came up with the idea of naming the ballfield after Daugherty, he decided to approach Robin, Mike's widow, first.
"I wanted to have her approval on this before I did anything else," Faulkner said. "Having her feel as strongly about it as I did gave me a lot of motivation to get things rolling."
Faulkner presented his proposal to the Homer Little League board of directors, where it was approved unanimously. He then had to present the same proposal to the Homer City Council.
"Since they actually own the land, they have the final decision," Faulkner said. "I was pretty sure they would be OK with it, though."
Faulkner was right. The council approved the name-change proposal unanimously, and Faulkner started making plans.
"We decided we wanted to make the field a bit nicer, too," he said. "The infield was like asphalt and it was covered with potholes. There was no grass on it at all."
According to Faulkner, workers stripped off the bad dirt and filled it with a more appropriate mixture of soil and sand. He said he hopes to get everything ready on the field before Homer hosts the Major boys regional tournament in early July.
"I think this is the first time in history we've been able to host it," Faulkner said. "The tournament brings a lot of teams to town and it's an excellent opportunity for us. We want to have a nice ballfield for the kids to play on."
Faulkner said he feels that the ballfield is on its way to becoming a fitting tribute to his old friend.
"I think it's the perfect recognition for Mike," Faulkner said. "He put a lot into the baseball program around here."
Faulkner also recognized the amount of volunteer time and labor that is put into maintaining the fields and how significant that is to the success of the program.
"For a town our size, we have a really strong baseball program," Faulkner said. "Part of that is because we have very talented kids. But I think a lot of it is because of volunteers who make it a real community effort."
Michael Daugherty had a passion for baseball and loved his community. He worked hard for both and believed in volunteering. The evidence of his passion is now the Michael L. Daugherty Baseball field.
Anyone who would like to make a donation to the Michael L. Daugherty Baseball field Fund can do so through Wells Fargo Bank, Faulkner said.
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