The Pittsburgh Pirates have trained in Bradenton, Florida since 1969. The ballpark in which they train, which has been around since 1923, has been known as McKechnie Field for the past 55 years. Now it’s getting a new name: LECOM Park, named after Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Bill McKechnie has an argument for being one of the best managers in baseball history and is very likely one of the most underrated. He’s a legend and people have invoked his name to refer to that charming old park in Bradenton since 1962. The odds that anyone who isn’t on the Pirates’ payroll calling it LECOM Park on a regular basis is pretty darn low, I reckon.
Which is how it should be. The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine isn’t paying you or me any money, are they? What’s more, calling it LECOM Park is more likely to confuse people than enlighten them, at least for many, many years. Unless and until it becomes more misleading and confusing to refer to it as McKechnie Field than LECOM Park, people should still call it McKechnie Field.
Technical accuracy has its virtues, but clear communication and useful and identifiable nouns are more important.
