I didn’t grow up playing baseball or softball, but my friends certainly did.
When I was about eight years old, I vividly remember watching my friend practice at an indoor batting cage. I could remember the sound, the feel, the smell of the place.
Little did I know that walking into Tommy’s GrandStand this week, its last week of operations, would unlock this memory tucked into the back of my mind.
“The full service, grill and deli, with baseball batting cages, private baseball training tunnels, and automated golf driving range, serving the Reno & Sparks area …” as Tommy’s place describes itself on its website was filled with the chatter of children, the thwacking of baseball bats, and the sweet aromas of food that made you feel like you were seated during the first inning of a game.
Walking in, I was an outsider to this world, yet I could still remember the vivid and lively atmosphere I had been exposed to as a child. I could only imagine what type of love and nostalgia exists for this place by someone who spent a quintessential part of their childhood here. Well, I got a taste of that significance as soon as I started talking to the people who filled up the place.
It was clear Tommy’s bustling batting cages, bar and grill was an intergenerational experience. Grandparents, parents, and children were all invested in some part of the process. Some kids were there with their families, some with their group of friends. Adults seemed equally as consumed by the stimulating environment as they offered a watchful eye to their children’s batting stances and even closer eye to their youngest ones running around the arcade. Girls, boys, moms, dads, friends or family, every single person there knew the ins and outs of Tommy’s GrandStand. This wasn’t just a place for these people, it was a sense of home. A sense of community. A sense of childhood.
That is what Tommy’s Grandstand is all about. But as its website indicates: “We are sorry to say, as of May 7, 2023, we will be closing our doors, after 35 + years. Words will never describe how much we appreciated our Customers and the many who have become regulars and Friends.”