By AMANDA LEHMERT
STAFF WRITER
FALMOUTH - Arnie Allen won't be around to see the opening pitch of the Falmouth Commodores' season this June.

But he will be there in spirit.

Allen, 53, died of cancer in October.

Now, with phone calls and e-mails from determined Falmouth baseball enthusiasts coming as frequently as hits in a five-run inning, this week selectmen voted to name the Commodores' home field after a man some regard as the biggest fan in Falmouth baseball history.

The Arnie Allen Diamond at Guv Fuller Field will be dedicated June 18. The team will also retire Allen's No. 30 jersey that night.

"It keeps his legacy alive and we can celebrate his life and what he meant to the Commodores when we open the season," team general manager Chuck Sturtevant said.

Those who knew Allen said he left a lasting impression on players, fans and everyone connected to Falmouth baseball.

"There are not a lot people who give 46 years of their life to anything," said Darin Weeks, president of the Commodores volunteer committee. "He's an institution."

Allen began working with the Commodores, one of 10 teams in the Cape Cod Baseball League, in 1957. A learning-disabled child, he worked his way up from bat boy. Sturtevant promoted him to equipment manager in 1987.

Away from the game, Allen worked for a landscaper and at the Quarterdeck restaurant in Falmouth for many years. But baseball was his passion. He helped coach Little League, Babe Ruth and high school baseball teams, Sturtevant said.

Allen was an ever-present figure in the dugout at home games, yelling words of encouragement to generations of players.

He also gave the umpires a fair amount of grief.

"There were a couple of times ... I literally had to hold him back," Sturtevant said. "He took it so seriously. He really thought if you were going to put on a uniform, you play the game right."

Even as esophagus cancer invaded his body in 2002, Allen wanted to be at the field. In the final season, sometimes the pain was too much.

Lorie O'Brien of Hyannis choked up a little Monday night as she spoke to the selectmen about her brother. Allen had seven other sisters and brothers who live in Mashpee, East Falmouth, Texas and Missouri.

"He has been with that team for many, many years. I want you to know how special he was to them," she said. "Naming the field after him is a great honor."

The team will build a showcase in the field house for Allen's retired jersey, Sturtevant said.

(Published: January 30, 2004)