A joyride in a golf cart turned into a neighborhood gut punch at Cherokee Park, where a viral video shows someone carving rough circles across a freshly refurbished baseball diamond and leaving weeks of volunteer work in ruins.
The clip, shared widely in local circles, captures a golf cart doing tight donuts in the wet grass, tearing up both the infield and outfield. When the cart finally left, it had scattered clumps of turf, deep ruts and fireworks debris across the small field, which neighbors and adult-league volunteers had just brought back to life for summer play.
Organizers say the surface is now too damaged to safely use, putting weekend games on hold while they scramble to figure out how much time, money and labor it will take to fix the mess.
In an interview with First Alert 4, volunteer Mike Roth said he had poured “probably over 50 hours and hundreds of dollars” into restoring the diamond before the vandalism. He called the damage devastating and said the field is now unplayable until it can be leveled and reseeded.
The hit is especially painful for the St. Louis Skeletons, an adult recreational team that recently hosted a regional tournament there in June. Volunteers say the team cannot return to the field until repairs are complete.
City field, neighborhood amenity
According to City of St. Louis Parks, Cherokee Baseball Field is an official city amenity that can be reserved by permit through the Parks Division, which also handles scheduling and maintenance requests. That status has neighbors hoping the city will not leave them to shoulder the recovery alone.
Volunteer organizers and neighborhood leaders say they want the parks department to help coordinate or cover at least part of the repair work, given that residents had already invested their own time and money getting the field into game shape.
Volunteers mobilize for repairs
Roth and other volunteers say they are now working with the Benton Park Neighborhood Association to mount a repair push. Alderwoman Jami Cox Antwi told First Alert 4 that the city supports residents in cleaning up the field and that the parks department may be able to assist.
“We’re obviously going to restore the field, it’s going to take a lot more work and time and hands,” Roth said, outlining plans to drag, level and reseed the torn-up turf before any games resume. Organizers say they will set up volunteer workdays and share details through neighborhood channels.
So far, it is not clear whether police have identified the golf cart driver or opened a criminal case. Volunteers are urging anyone with video, photos or information to pass it along to neighborhood organizers.
For now, the focus is on logistics: rounding up enough people, tools and materials to turn the scarred diamond back into a playable field, and hoping the next big story out of Cherokee Park is about a ballgame instead of a joyride.
