The legends and lore of the Savin Rock Amusement Park are part of the fabric of West Haven. Even some 56 years after the final buildings were torn down, residents of all generations are attracted to the stories and shadows of the place.
Some are interested in the rides and history that made the park the attraction it was for an entire region, while others are interested in one or two places – think the Virginia Reel, or Peter Frank’s Funhouse. But for a local sportswriter and entrepreneur, one place prompted him to write a monograph of one iconic venue: Donovan Field, later known as the West Haven Speedway.
For this 21-year-old, the stories of the park, both as a traditional sports venue and a place where stock car racing had a home, were too good to ignore. This past month he published Gloves, Engines & Glory: A Complete History of Savin Rock’s Golden Age of Sports. The focus is Donovan Field.
Hailing from the Borough of Allingtown, where he lives with his wife, Carlyssa, sports are a big part of Konareski’s life. As a 13-year-old he started a media company, New York Sports Show (newyorksportsshow.com, and on YouTube). He called it “a way to connect and bond with my grandfather, who was an avid Yankees and Jets fan.”
He relates the focus of the podcast-style show centers around historical stats, highlights, lesser-known players, and teams as well as a daily rundown of the previous day’s events in various leagues. Throughout his scholastic career, where he graduated from West Haven High in 2023, he continued the work and continues to this day. Currently he is a writer for the West Haven Voice, concentrating on not only sports, but items of general interest in his community. He is interning with a Texas-based media company, TDA Baseball, where he provides major and minor league stories and updates.
The idea for Gloves, Engines & Glory started out as an article for his webpage. Prompted by a drawing gifted him by his sophomore classmate Alice Benson, of the Speedway, he investigated its history. He soon found out his classmates never knew about Donovan Field or the Speedway, or in some cases the amusement park, and it began an effort to bring the past alive to a new generation of Westies.
From there, he found out more about the field and track, and realized its origins went back to the early days of baseball.
“I realized it needed to be something bigger than an article,” he said.
Savin Rock is not the major focus of the book, but a small plot of land within the park that hosted sporting events from just after the Civil War through 1967, when the venue met its demise.
Using old newspaper clippings found on newspapers.com, he scoured the various area publications as well as personal collections, and the book, Baseball in New Haven, by Sam Rubin, which covers the New Haven Profs, a team that utilized the shoreline field.
“I have a massive collection of Savin Rock and West Haven sports memorabilia. particularly when it comes to Donovan Field/West Haven Speedway,” he said. “I have book clippings dating back as far as 1906. I also have complete game programs, postcards, and ticket stubs as well. I chose the name “Gloves, Engines & Glory,” as the book showcases both the baseball and racing part of the field, in what is dubbed as a glory era for West Haven and Savin Rock.”
Donovan Field was used for baseball and football games as well as auto racing. The West Haven Blue Devils called it home and played the Hillhouse Academics there on Thanksgiving long before the two teams played to more than 45,000 at Yale Bowl during the 1940s and 1950s. The legendary West Haven Sailors used the diamond for their home games until Maurice ‘Mo” Quigley moved to the new Municipal Stadium (now Quigley Stadium) in 1947.
Reception of the book has been surprising to the young scribe, who thought the subject was rather limited. Instead, he found out the specificity of the topic was attractive. He said this limited scope is what is attractive to many.
“The early reception has been better than I thought,” she said. “I truthfully did not expect so many to be excited when I published the book, due to it being so specific in its category. The book is currently being sold exclusively with Barnes & Noble. It briefly was dubbed as one of their “Best new sports paperbacks,” on their website/app. I have received great feedback from several people so far who absolutely love it and how it has helped them learn more about the area.”
West Haven and sports are in his blood, and there is a bigger work on the horizon. A complete history of the West Haven Yankees, an AA team that called Quigley Stadium home in the 1970s is in the working stages. It promises to be even more detailed than Goves, Engines & Glory.
Drafting this book and writing for various outlets as well as his podcast is the fulfillment of a lifelong vocational dream, according to Konareski.
“All I have ever wanted to be was a journalist, so being able to do that and now be a published author has been such a blessing and I am so thankful to God for giving me this truly amazing opportunity,” he said.
Mission accomplished.
I’ll be going to Barnes & Noble to get this book. I can’t wait to read this.