7/2/08

Monday night, as the day cooled and the light softened at Hayward Field during the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, I looked at the packed East Grandstand — the old stands — and tried to imagine the man for whom this magical place was named.

Bill Hayward was born 140 years ago today.

For a moment, I pictured him in a present-day context, like the baseball players coming out of that cornfield in “Field of Dreams.” But like the TV program “Amish in the City,” that seemed unnecessarily cruel to the man.