Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

I was crushed to hear that David Flanders died over Thanksgiving. He was one of my heroes. Not only a man of honor, but the best baseball player Chilmark ever had. He had a try-out with the Boston Red Sox but turned down a lucrative career to play summer ball on the Vineyard. His home-run powers were legendary — swatting towering fly balls that disappeared forever in the pines at Toomey’s Field.

As self-appointed softball commissioner, I proclaim that Peaked Hill stadium off Tabor House Road be renamed Flanders Field. I have asked skilled craftsman John Scott to design and put up a sign to that end, to be installed over the backstop for the 2009 Chilmark softball season. There will be a dedication ceremony honoring my hero David Flanders to go along with it.

Bill Edison

Elk, Calif. and Menemsha