Recent
Visits |
LaGrave Field, Fort Worth
Cats
It is one of the most unique facilities in pro
ball: LaGrave Field, the home of the Fort Worth
Cats (independent; American Association), sits
where the original LaGrave Field sat from 1926
through 1967. The dimensions are the same as in
the original facility, home plate sits in the same
place, and the dugouts of the old ballpark have
been converted to dugout suites. And, being Texas,
there's a hitching rail beyond the outfield for
folks riding to the games on horseback.
Doug Kingsmore Stadium,
Clemson Tigers
Before its thorough makeover and renaming in 2003,
“Beautiful Tiger Field” described the home of the
Clemson Tigers. Not surprising, and not an
overstated moniker. While the ballpark and other
athletic facilities are closely connected to the
western edge of campus, the grandstand view
features an appealing pastoral feel, and although
the ballpark is now named for Tigers alum and
contributor Doug Kingsmore, it's still a beautiful
field.
QuikTrip Park at Grand
Prairie, Grand Prairie AirHogs
The aviation theme is strong
at QuikTrip Park at Grand Prairie, the new home of
the Grand Prairie AirHogs (independent; American
Association), but it's not overwhelming and
gimmicky. We were there opening night: it's an
impressive facility that raises the bar for indy
facilities and should allow the team to be
competitive in the increasingly crowded
Dallas-Fort Worth market.
|
Independent
Baseball News
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insight on the Independent leagues? The Independent Baseball
Insider offers unique coverage of every league, featuring
players, signings and trends. Delivered every Thursday
April-September to your computer.
WirzandAssociates.com
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Features |
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The
Fine Print |
Obligatory legal information:
This site is copyright 1998-2008 Kevin Reichard/August
Publications. All rights
reserved. My wife is a lawyer, so she will come and chop off
your hand in a legal fashion if you rip off this site
in any form. All logos are the property of their respective
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|
Crosley Field /
Cincinnati Reds / 1912-1970
Cincinnati is often
called the "cradle of baseball." When baseball
fans think about Cincinnati, they think about
firsts. The first professional baseball team.
Charter members of the National League and the
American Association. The first night game. The
first pitch of the season. For six decades this
city of baseball firsts played its games at the
"old boomerang at Findlay and Western," Crosley
Field. The park was a green oasis amidst the
smokestacks and warehouses of Cincinnati’s west
end. Crosley was intimate and unpretentious, and
its many stories and unique characteristics gave
the average fan a lot of baseball to experience.
Dating back to
1884, the Reds played baseball at the intersection
of Findlay Street and Western Avenue. League Park
was the first to open there, and as happened with
most wooden ballparks of the day, it burned to the
ground. In 1893, League Park was rebuilt,
columned, expanded, and renamed The Palace of the
Fans. The Palace of the Fans resembled a Greek
temple, with an extravagant façade and opera-style
private boxes. Alas, it too burned, in 1911, and
gave way to Redland (later Crosley) Field.
|
Crosley Field
opened as Redland Field on April 12, 1912, as the home of the Reds. Compare this
photo to the photo above and see how the park was expanded over the years. |
Redland Field, named
to honor the traditional color of Cincinnati
baseball teams, opened its gates on April 12,
1912. The hometown Reds rallied from a 5-0 deficit
to defeat the Cubs 10-6. Redland was built for
$225,000 and was another of the many classic steel
and concrete parks constructed during the first
ballpark boom era of 1909-1923. The red brick,
boomerang-like edifice was originally built
featuring a covered double-decked grandstand that
wrapped around home plate and extended about
thirty feet past both first and third base.
Single-decked pavilion seating continued into both
outfield corners. Total seating capacity was just
over 20,000. It was one of the smallest-capacity
parks when it was built and remained one of the
smallest in the league throughout its six-decade
history. The outfield bleachers only held 4,500
fans, all in right field. In fact, permanent
seating was never employed in left and center
field.
Despite the cozy confines for the fans, the park
played big. It was a pitcher-friendly 360 feet to
left, 420 feet to center, and 360 feet to right.
Throughout its early years, Redland was said to
have the hardest and fastest playing surface in
the league. (Coincidentally, and unfortunately,
years down the road at Riverfront Stadium, the
Reds would become the first outdoor team to play
its home games on the slick, billiards table-like
artificial turf.) Before the 1927 season,
responding to the popularity of Babe Ruth and the
Home Run era, the Reds turned their playing field
and moved home plate out 20 feet, creating better
dimensions for sluggers (339’, 395’, 366’).
By 1933 Reds owner
Sid Weil lost the team to bankruptcy. The bank
hired Leland Stanford “Larry” MacPhail to look
after the Reds. MacPhail, cankerous and
hot-tempered, would prove to be one of baseball’s
great innovators. His first move was to sell the
majority of the club to Powel Crosley Jr. Crosley
was one of the first millionaires whose fortunes
came from the new medium of direct mail, and he
turned that early fortune into a media empire that
included 50,000-watt radio station WLW ("the
Nation's Station") and the first NBC affiliate. In
a way, he was a predecessor of Ted Turner, buying
the Cincinnati Reds for $450,000 and using team
broadcasts as a way to prop up his radio and
television interests. In fact, a Reds TV broadcast
became the first sports program ever broadcast in
color.
It was said that
Powel Crosley was not a man of broad interests,
and his wife complained that they did little
together other than fish and watch baseball.
That's a little unfair: Crosley invented the first
compact car (which was sold through department
stores, not traditional dealerships), the first
car radio (the Roamio), the first refrigerator
with door shelving units (the Shelvador), and a
bed cooling system (the Koolrest). To
his credit, he gave the majority of ownership
responsibilities to his younger brother Lewis
(Lewis actually ran all the businesses for
Powell), changed the name of the park to Crosley
Field, and hired Larry MacPhail to be the general
manager.
Many of the major
structural renovations at the stadium happened
after the new administration took over. Between
the 1937-38 seasons, home plate was moved another
twenty feet out (328’, 387’, 366’) and in the
middle of their pennant winning season of 1939,
the Reds added roofed upper decks to the left and
right field pavilions. This gave Crosley Field
5,000 extra seats and the appearance it would
retain for the rest of its existence.
The park that was once rented out for dance and
film (in 1920 the Cincinnati Enquirer called it
“immoral dancing” with “vulgar conduct between
boys and girls in unlit parts of the grandstand”
had some of the most unique features and landmarks
in the game.
The Terrace in left field, similar to Duffy’s
Cliff at old Fenway and Tal’s Hill in present-day
Houston, was the scourge of National League
outfielders. Due to an underground stream, about
twenty feet out from the left field fence, the
ground sloped upward, gradually inclining until it
reached the four feet grade at the wall. Thus, the
left field fence measured 14’ high but was 18’
above home plate. In 1935, near the end of his
career, Babe Ruth playing with the Boston Braves
went back on a fly ball and tripped on the
incline, falling flat on his face. Ruth got up and
solemnly walked off the field in disgust. He would
not return to the game and retired a few days
later.
|
The scoreboard was the center
of signage at Crosley Field. Note the scoreboard's listing of Redlegs (as
opposed to Reds); during the Communist hysteria of the 1950s the team used
Redlegs as a nickname in order to avoid any association with those nasty
Russians. (Photo courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds.) (Click on the image for a
larger version.) |
Beyond the left field fence sat the Superior Towel
and Linen Service building. It was prominently
visible to all in attendance and was the target of
many a right-handed slugger. Perched atop the
laundry was one of baseball’s most well-known
signs (HIT THIS SIGN AND GET A SIEBLER SUIT --
Siebler’s) gave out a total of 176 of their
finest. Reds outfielder Wally Post led all hitters
with 16. Willie Mays collected seven suits, tops
among visiting players. The most famous home run
at Crosley cleared the sign and landed in the back
of a truck. It was calculated that Reds catcher
Ernie Lombardi’s moon shot traveled 30 miles.
Center field at Crosley was the source of some
controversy over the years. The three-story brick
Crowe Engineering Company building in center was
where 1950’s Reds’ skipper Fred Hutchinson would
position his sign stealers. That is at least what
the Cubs alleged. Also, a fluke play in center
cost the Reds a potentially critical game in their
pennant winning season of 1940. Street lights
behind the center field fence caused such glare
that canvas shields were placed on the fence to
protect the batter’s eyes. The shields were then
taken down for day games. Following a night game
on June 5th, someone from the Reds forgot to take
the shields down. In the ninth inning of a day
game two days later, the Reds’ Harry Craft hit a
shot that struck a shield above the center field
fence. The ball fell to the ground and Craft wound
up at third with a triple. Reds manager Bill
McKechnie argued for thirty minutes that the call
should have been a game-winning home run.
Ultimately, the umpires ruled against the Reds
because it was their fault, and predictably, they
lost the game in extra innings by one run.
Right field was the only section of Crosley that
was completely exposed to the sun and the
bleachers were thusly nicknamed the Sun Deck. A
huge sun burst was painted on the rear wall. At
night, naturally, the area was called the Moon
Deck. For two periods during the 1940s and 1950’s,
seats were installed in front of the Sun/Moon
Deck, cutting the distance in right field from
366’ to 342’. This area was called the Goat Run or
the Chicken Run or the Giles’ Chicken Run. This
was expected to aid the popular, sleeveless
strongman Ted Kluszewski. The right0field fence
intersected at a point with the center field
concrete wall. This necessitated a home run line,
a white vertical stripe painted on the center
field wall that read "Batted ball hitting concrete
wall on fly to right of white line – home run."
Never before or since has a ground rule been
painted on an outfield wall.
|
In the old day a television
broadcast from any ballpark was a major undertaking, and TV stations made a huge
deal of their remote broadcasting capabilities. Here's a promotional photo from
WLW-TV describing their remote capabilities. |
The Reds were pioneers in accommodating their
opponents. In the 1930s they became the first team
to install a clubhouse for the visiting team. And
an added bonus for the fans: both teams’
clubhouses were located behind the left field
stands. Players and coaches had to walk amongst
the crowd to enter and leave the playing field.
Of these fans, the most celebrated was Harry Thobe.
Dancing a perpetual jig, flashing 12 gold teeth,
the superfan and crowd entertainer attended almost
every game in the 1940s and 1950s, wearing his
customary white suit with red stripes, one red and
one white shoe, a straw hat with a red band, and a
red and white parasol.
Major upgrades were undertaken at Crosley prior to
the 1957 season. The red brick façade was painted
white, new lights were installed and the largest
scoreboard of its day replaced the old one in left
center. The scoreboard stood 58 feet high and 65
feet wide. Atop the scoreboard was eight-foot-tall Longines clock. In addition to showing scores of
all the major league games in progress and
displaying full home and visiting team line-ups,
the new board was the first to feature up-to-date
players’ batting averages.
|
Another view of he famous Crosley Field
scoreboard with the Longines clock at the top.
(Photo courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds.) (Click
on the image for a larger version.) |
Perhaps the greatest moment in Crosley Field
history came on May 24, 1935, when the Reds
defeated Philadelphia 2-1 in the first night game
in major league history. Twenty-six years earlier
in 1909, inventor George Cahill had shown off a
new portable lighting system. He built five steel
towers for The Palace of the Fans and strung
lights for an Elks Lodge game between Cincinnati
and Newport, Kentucky. In 1931, the Reds shared
portable lighting equipment with the touring House
of David baseball team for a night exhibition. By
the mid-thirties, with one in four Americans out
of work and the rest employed from nine to five,
Larry MacPhail was able to convince Powell Crosley
and the minority partners to try night baseball.
On that May night, with 20,422 onlookers in eager
anticipation, FDR threw a switch 500 miles away in
Washington and Crosley Field made history and
baseball was changed forever.
Because of their standing as the first
professional baseball team, traditionally the Reds
were allowed to be the opening game of opening
day. From 1876 to 1989, spanning the entire life
of Crosley Field, the official beginning of each
baseball season was in Cincinnati. The city would
throw a parade and the Reds, in addition to
hosting pre-game festivities, would bring in
temporary seating in front of the left and right
fences. The tradition of opening the season in
Cincinnati ended recently with Major League
Baseball acquiescing to ESPN and their Sunday
“Baseball Tonight” openers, and other nonsense,
like opening the season in Tokyo in March.
In 1929, the Reds became the first team to have
daily radio coverage. In fact, a few years later, MacPhail gave the great Red Barber his first
professional baseball radio gig. Crosley Field
also held the first “Ladies Night” in 1936.
“Ladies Night” took on a whole new meaning the
year before.
Two months after MacPhail and the Reds turned on
the lights for the first time, he had oversold the
teams’ next night game by about 10,000 tickets.
Fans from adjoining states -- Indiana, Kentucky,
West Virginia -- were pursued by the Reds to
experience night baseball first hand. The
marketing blitz proved successful and MacPhail had
another sell out. When the game started, however,
most of the out-of-towners had not arrived. Their
trains had been delayed. The ticket staff went
ahead and sold the late arriving tickets to an
anxious walk-up crowd. When the trains finally
arrived, fans were perplexed to see Crosley Field
full and their seats taken. Seeing the potential
for disaster, MacPhail went home and left his
secretary in charge. Arguments erupted and
fistfights ensued. Eventually thousands of fans
were let on to the field, stationed behind ropes
down the foul lines and in the outfield. In the
bottom of the eighth, a local burlesque dancer
named Kitty Burke rushed to home plate, grabbed
Babe Herman’s bat and asked Reds hurler Paul Dean
to pitch. After some trepidation, Dean obliged,
throwing under handed, and getting the showgirl to
ground out back to him. Later, Ms. Burke would
bill her stage routine as "featuring the only girl
who ever batted in the big leagues."
Another notable
Crosley Field moment was when the Mill Creek Flood
of 1937 drowned the park in 21 feet of water. Reds
pitcher Lee Grissom and traveling secretary John
McDonald rowed a boat over center field.
Crosley Field was
the site of four World Series (1919, ’39, ’40, and
’61) and two All-Star Games (1938 and 1953). The
most (in)famous series of all was, of course, in
1919. The first two games were played at Crosley
and won by the Reds. In Game One, Black Sox hurler
Eddie Cicotte hit Reds leadoff batter Morrie Rath
between the shoulder blades. This meant the fix
was on and pools of money switched hands, all to
be wagered on the Reds.
The Reds won
back-to-back pennants in ’39 and ’40. The first
year the Yankees swept the Reds, the final game
featuring a tenth inning collision at the plate
that knocked Reds catcher Ernie Lombardi out,
allowing two more runs to score, putting the game
out of reach at 7-4. The Reds got revenge the next
year. With the brilliant pitching of Paul
Derringer and Bucky Walters, they defeated the
Tigers in seven games.
The first of Johnny
Vander Meer’s back-to-back no-hitters was thrown
at Crosley on June 11, 1938. Nine years later
Ewell “the Whip” Blackwell almost duplicated the
feat. On June 18, 1947, Blackwell no-hit Boston.
Four days later, he went eight and one-third
hitless innings until visiting Brooklyn second
baseman Eddie Stanky broke up the bid in the
ninth.
More history was
made at Crosley on June 10th, 1944 when fifteen
year old Joe Nuxhall took the mound and became the
youngest player in major league history. His line
on the day: 2/3 of an inning, five runs on five
walks, two singles and a wild pitch. Final score:
Cardinals 18, Reds 0.
More firsts: the
first twin nine-inning no-hitter was thrown at
Crosley when the Reds Fred Toney went toe-to-toe
against the Cubs Hippo Vaughn. Crosley was also
the first parked leased to the Negro Leagues (the
Cuban Stars of the 1920s, the Cincinnati Tigers in
1937, and the Cincinnati Clowns in the 1940s).
The Reds
monopolized the Most Valuable Player Award from
1938-1940 (Lombardi, Bucky Walters, Frank
McCormick respectively) and the Redlegs of the
1950s (they weren’t called the Reds then because of
communist hysteria) marched out the most imposing
group of sluggers in the league: Wally Post, Ted Kluszewski, Gus Bell, Ed Bailey, and a rookie who
set a record with 38 dingers in 1956, Frank
Robinson. Some of the cogs and wheels of the Big
Red Machine, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Tony Perez,
Davey Concepcion and Don Gullett, had their start
at Crosley Field.
In 1970, in one of its last great moments, Crosley
Field was the site of Hank Aaron’s 3,000 hit.
By the 1960s, the economic growth that Cincinnati
was experiencing was all but absent from the
warehouses and factories of the west end of town.
When the Superior Towel and Linen Service laundry
left the area and took with it one of Crosley’s
hallmarks, it symbolically predicted the Reds'
abandonment of the area. The team, playing in the
major’s smallest stadium, was eager to jump on the
multi-purpose stadium bandwagon and flee to the
publicly financed Riverfront Stadium downtown on
the banks of the Ohio. The final game at Crosley
was played on June 24, 1970. Over 28,000 nostalgic
fans saw Johnny Bench and Lee May homer to edge
Juan Marichal and the Giants, 5-4. After the game,
a helicopter transported home plate to the new
digs downtown. Crosley would spend the next two
years as an auto impound lot and was eventually
bulldozed in 1972. An industrial park now occupies
the site.
Fifteen miles northeast of downtown lies the
suburb of Blue Ash, where a life-size replica of
Crosley Field stands as a memorial to the
venerable park. Six hundred of the original seats
were installed, the same ticket booths are used,
and there the colossal scoreboard sits, displaying
the batting orders, umpires, and line scores of
Crosley’s last game, forever frozen in time. --Joe Schwei
Dimensions
Year |
LF |
LC |
C |
RC |
RF |
1912 |
360 |
380 |
420 |
383 |
360 |
1921 |
320 |
380 |
420 |
383 |
384 |
1926 |
352 |
380 |
417 |
383 |
400 |
1927 |
339 |
380 |
395 |
383 |
383 |
1930 |
339 |
380 |
393 |
383 |
383 |
1931 |
339 |
380 |
407 |
383 |
383 |
1933 |
339 |
380 |
393 |
383 |
383 |
1936 |
339 |
380 |
407 |
383 |
366 |
1938 |
328 |
380 |
387 |
383 |
366 |
1939 |
328 |
380 |
380 |
383 |
366 |
1940 |
328 |
380 |
387 |
383 |
366 |
1942 |
328 |
380 |
387 |
383 |
342 |
1944 |
328 |
380 |
390 |
383 |
342 |
1950 |
328 |
380 |
390 |
383 |
366 |
1953 |
328 |
380 |
390 |
383 |
342 |
1955 |
328 |
380 |
387 |
383 |
342 |
1958 |
328 |
380 |
387 |
383 |
366 |
Capacity
1912 |
25,000 |
1927 |
30,000 |
1938 |
33,000 |
1948 |
30,000 |
1952 |
29,980 |
1958 |
29,603 |
1960 |
30,328 |
1961 |
30,274 |
1964 |
29,603 |
Attendance
Year |
Attendance |
Average |
Rank in League |
Record |
Standing |
1912 |
344,000 |
4,468 |
4th out of 8 |
70-83 |
4 |
1913 |
258,000 |
3,308 |
6th out of 8 |
64-89 |
7 |
1914 |
100,791 |
1,039 |
8th out of 8 |
60-94 |
8 |
1915 |
218,878 |
2,771 |
8th out of 8 |
71-83 |
7 |
1916 |
255,846 |
3,366 |
7th out of 8 |
60-93 |
8 |
1917 |
269,056 |
3,363 |
5th out of 8 |
78-76 |
4 |
1918 |
163,009 |
2,296 |
4th out of 8 |
68-60 |
3 |
1919 |
532,501 |
7,607 |
2nd out of 8 |
96-44 |
1/WS |
1920 |
568,107 |
7,378 |
3rd out of 8 |
82-71 |
3 |
1921 |
311,227 |
4,095 |
7th out of 8 |
70-83 |
6 |
1922 |
493,754 |
6,250 |
6th out of 8 |
86-68 |
2 |
1923 |
575,064 |
7,373 |
4th out of 8 |
91-63 |
2 |
1924 |
473,707 |
6,233 |
5th out of 8 |
83-70 |
4 |
1925 |
464,920 |
6,117 |
5rd out of 8 |
80-73 |
3 |
1926 |
672,987 |
8,749 |
4th out of 8 |
87-67 |
2 |
1927 |
442,164 |
5,527 |
6th out of 8 |
75-78 |
5 |
1928 |
490,490 |
6,288 |
6th out of 8 |
78-74 |
5 |
1929 |
295,040 |
3,783 |
7th out of 8 |
66-88 |
7 |
1930 |
386,727 |
5,022 |
6th out of 8 |
59-95 |
7 |
1931 |
263,316 |
3,420 |
7th out of 8 |
58-96 |
8 |
1932 |
256,950 |
4,636 |
5th out of 8 |
60-94 |
8 |
1933 |
218,281 |
2,763 |
7th out of 8 |
58-94 |
8 |
1934 |
206,773 |
2,651 |
7th out of 8 |
52-99 |
8 |
1935 |
448,247 |
5,898 |
5th out of 8 |
68-85 |
6 |
1936 |
466,345 |
6,136 |
4th out of 8 |
74-80 |
5 |
1937 |
411,221 |
5,140 |
6th out of 8 |
56-98 |
8 |
1938 |
706,756 |
9,179 |
3rd out of 8 |
82-68 |
4 |
1939 |
981,443 |
12,117 |
2nd out of 8 |
97-57 |
1 |
1940 |
850,180 |
11,041 |
2nd out of 8 |
100-53 |
1/WS |
1941 |
642,513 |
8,146 |
3rd out of 8 |
88-66 |
3 |
1942 |
427,031 |
5,546 |
6th out of 8 |
76-76 |
4 |
1943 |
379,122 |
4,861 |
7th out of 8 |
87-67 |
2 |
1944 |
409,567 |
5,251 |
6th out of 8 |
89-65 |
3 |
1945 |
290,070 |
3,767 |
7th out of 8 |
61-93 |
7 |
1946 |
715,751 |
9,295 |
8th out of 8 |
67-87 |
6 |
1947 |
899,975 |
11,688 |
8th out of 8 |
73-81 |
5 |
1948 |
823,386 |
10,693 |
7th out of 8 |
64-89 |
7 |
1949 |
707,782 |
9,074 |
8th out of 8 |
62-92 |
7 |
1950 |
538,794 |
7,089 |
8th out of 8 |
66-87 |
6 |
1951 |
588,794 |
7,640 |
7th out of 8 |
68-86 |
6 |
1952 |
604,197 |
7,847 |
7th out of 8 |
69-85 |
6 |
1953 |
548,086 |
7,027 |
8th out of 8 |
68-86 |
6 |
1954 |
704,167 |
9,145 |
7th out of 8 |
74-80 |
5 |
1955 |
693,662 |
9,009 |
7th out of 8 |
75-79 |
5 |
1956 |
1,125,928 |
14,622 |
3rd out of 8 |
91-63 |
3 |
1957 |
1,070,850 |
13,907 |
4th out of 8 |
80-74 |
4 |
1958 |
788,582 |
10,241 |
8th out of 8 |
76-78 |
4 |
1959 |
801,298 |
10,406 |
7th out of 8 |
74-80 |
5 |
1960 |
663,486 |
8,617 |
8th out of 8 |
67-87 |
6 |
1961 |
1,117,603 |
14,514 |
4th out of 8 |
93-61 |
1 |
1962 |
982,095 |
12,125 |
4th out of 10 |
98-64 |
3 |
1963 |
858,805 |
10,603 |
7th out of 10 |
86-76 |
5 |
1964 |
862,466 |
10,518 |
7th out of 10 |
92-70 |
3 |
1965 |
1,047,824 |
12,936 |
7th out of 10 |
89-73 |
4 |
1966 |
742,958 |
9,405 |
9th out of 10 |
76-84 |
7 |
1967 |
958,300 |
11.831 |
7th out of 10 |
87-75 |
4 |
1968 |
733,354 |
8,943 |
8th out of 10 |
83-79 |
4 |
1969 |
987,991 |
12,197 |
8th out of 10 |
89-73 |
3 |
Other Resources
This page covers the basics of
Crosley Field. For a more in-depth remembrance,
check out "Chuck" Foertmeyer's excellent
Crosley
Field site.
Trivia
- First MLB home run hit in
Crosley Field: Jimmy Esmond,
Cincinnati Reds, 4/21/1912.
- Last MLB home run hit in
Crosley Field: Lee May,
Cincinnati Reds, 6/24/1970.
- Player who hit the most home
runs hit in Crosley Field: Frank Robinson, 174 (all as a
Red), and Eddie Matthews (59 as a visiting player).
- Total home runs hit in
Crosley Field: 4,558
- Johnny Vander Meer is the
only man to throw consecutive no-hitters. The
first one was thrown at Crosley Field on June
11, 1938; he followed it up with a June 15
no-hitter of the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets
Field.
- The neighborhood surrounding
the Crosley Field site also hosted early
professional baseball teams. The 1869 Red
Stockings played two blocks away at Union
Grounds (the site is now part of the Cincinnati
Museum Center), while the 1882 Red Stockings
played at Bank Street Grounds, located tow
blocks away as well. Plus, the Reds' home before
Crosley Field -- the Palace of the Fans -- was
in the same location.
- It was not until 1938 that a
press box was added to Crosley Field.
- In 1947 pay phones were
removed from the ballpark to cut down on the
amount of illegal gambling on Reds games.
- By 1961 the Reds advertised
Crosley Field as being "air-cooled," as
Westinghouse fans were used at the ends of the
grandstand to circulate air throughout.
This page from the 1961 Reds program shows
the parking in the Crosley Field area as well as ballpark
highlights.
This page comes from a 1964 guide to
baseball..
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