| | | | The Ballparks page is fairly new and needs lots of work. We welcome any assistance you can provide. Please send your findings to us. Negro League and barnstorming games have been played in the following ball parks. Parks are listed in order of State -> City -> Park Name. |
| | | | | | Rickwood Field
This is the oldest baseball park in America. Rickwood Field was the passionate pursuit of a young Birmingham industrialist, Rick Woodward.  Woodward soon opened Rickwood Field up to another Birmingham team: the Birmingham Black Barons. African-American baseball fans could now go to Rickwood and watch "their" own team play at home, in a prestigious ballpark famous throughout the baseball leagues.
Woodward allowed the Black Barons to play every other week at Rickwood; the white Barons team would play on the alternating week.  Despite the inclusion of the Black Barons, race relations were not rosy at Rickwood. Black fans were allowed to attend white Barons' games, but could not sit with white fans. African-American fans sat in a separate set of stands behind the outer right field wall.
Every other Sunday, though, the roles reversed. When the Black Barons played, the African-American fans flooded the park.  Black fans filled the park; they sometimes had to set up extra bleachers on the grass inside the outfield walls just to accompany all of the fans. Any white fans who showed up to watch the great baseball being played by the Black Barons and their opponents found themselves sitting in the separate set of bleachers past right field, just where African-American fans had to sit during Barons' games. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wilmington Park In the 1940s, many Negro League games were played at Wilmington Park. The stadium in Wilmington was owned by Delaware's Carpenter family, which also owned the Philadelphia Phillies. Wilmington Park was home to the minor league Blue Rocks, a Phillies farm team also owned by the Carpenters.  The Philadelphia Stars of the Negro National League played many of their home games in Wilmington Park after losing their Philadelphia lease in 1947.
The Stars had replaced the Hilldale Club as the Philadelphia-area Negro Leagues representative. Hilldale, which was based in Darby, Pa., and played in Yeadon, folded in 1932. |
| | | | Barrs Field,
Durkee Field,
James P. Small Stadium Served as a home field of the Jacksonville Red Caps in 1938. The City of Jacksonville purchased Barrs Field from J.H. Durkee March 13, 1926, as was reported in the Jacksonville Journal. It was later renamed as James P. Small Stadium. |
| | | | Ponce de Leon Park
Location: Atlanta, GA. The original Ponce de Leon Ball Park opened on May 23, 1907. Costing $60,000 to build, the wooden stadium could accommodate about 9,000 fans. On Sept. 9, 1923, the wooden stadium burned to the ground, but a wealthy concessionaire named R. J. Spiller came to the rescue. Using $250,000 of his own money, Spiller rebuilt the park on a nearby piece of Ponce de Leon property across from a Sears & Roebuck warehouse building. The stadium was used by the white Atlanta Crackers and the Negro Leagues Altanta Black Crackers. |
| | | | While Hawaii did not host any Negro League games, in World War II, the U.S. Army fielded several baseball teams that featured Negro League stars. On such star, Bullet Joe Rogan played in the Philippines and Hawaii while he was in the Army. Rogan was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 |
| | | | | | | | South Side Park  South Side Park, located at West 37th Street, South Princeton Avenue, and West Pershing Road (formerly West 39th Street), and South Wentworth Avenue in the Armour Square community. This park served as home to the Leland Giants and other early Negro teams.
Photo is a bird's-eye view from the upper grandstand. SDN-050179, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Casino Park The Monroe Monarchs played at Casino Park in Monroe, La. The Monarchs were members of the Negro Southern League in 1932. According to the book "Green Cathedrals," the dimensions were 360 in left, 450 in center and 330 in right. Players of note with the Monarchs include Hilton Smith, Willard "Home Run" Brown, Barney Morris and Leroy Morney. The 1932 Negro World Series between Monroe and the Pittsburgh Crawfords brought legends like Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson to Casino Park. According to late Negro League Augustus Saunders, Gibson hit a home run in one of the games that landed on a passing train. "We always said it carried on to the next town," Saunders joked. The team was owned by a white man, Fred Stovall. The park and the facilities around it were considered some of the finest in the league. Even in the 1930s, both white and black fans attended the games. Thanks to Paul J. Letlow (The News-Star -- Monroe, La) for info on this park. |
| | | | | | | | Bugle Field
Location: Baltimore, MD at the 1500 block of Edison Highway. Bugle Field was one of the parks that hosted Baltimore Elite Giants games (photo coming soon). The field was torn down in 1949 to build the Lord Baltimore Press (now the Mars Supermarket Distribution Center). |
| | Maryland Park
Location: South Baltimore. The Baltimore Black Sox won the pennant in 1929 at Maryland Park. The location is now an expressway in South Baltimore at Russell and Bush Streets. |
| | Oriole Park
Location: 29th Street and Greenmount Avenue. This was one of the parks that hosted Baltimore Elite Giants games. The park was situated at Twenty-ninth Street and Greenmount Avenue, but was destroyed by fire in 1944. It is now home to the Beverages Capital Corporation and Barclay Elementary School. |
| | Westport Stadium
Location: South Baltimore. This was one of the parks that hosted Baltimore Elite Giants games. Games continued at Westport Stadium on Old Annapolis Road (now part of the Baltimore Washington Parkway) until the franchise disbanded in 1952. |
| | Municipal Stadium
Location: 274 E. Memorial Blvd., Hagerstown, MD. Municipal Stadium also used to host Negro League games and was the site of Willie Mays' first pro-ball appearance in 1950; there are historical plaques around the concourse. It dates from 1931, and though it is showing its age around the restrooms and such (and is constantly rumored to be in danger of replacement), it has some period touches that are uniquely minor-league, particularly the manually operated scoreboard out in left field.  Now home to the Minor League HAGERSTOWN SUNS.Municipal Stadium boasts the honor of being one of the three oldest Minor League baseball stadiums in the country.
From 1915-1929, Hagerstown's minor league teams played at Willow Lane Park, where Bester Elementary School is now located. When the city made the decision to build the school, the need for a new stadium was urgent. The Field and Athletic Association was created to find land and build a stadium. The organization struck a deal with the city, leasing a tract of land for 99 years at $1 per year. Municipal Stadium was quickly built on the land in a mere six weeks, just in time for the first home game on May 8th, 1930. Since then, the stadium has undergone two major renovations. The first took place in 1981, when Minor League baseball returned to Hagerstown after a 26-year absence from the city. About $546,000 was put into the stadium overhaul, which included the installation of a public address system, stadium lights, underground electricity, and new seats and bleachers. In 1995, $500,000 worth of improvements to the stadium were made, such as the installation of new seats, and upgrading the VIP section to include cup holders. The Sunset Grille and bar area was also added at this time. The stadium is still used today for the all of the Suns home games. |
| | | | The Playstead at Franklin Park
Location: Medford, MA  The Boston Royal Giants played here. Photo: Baseball at Franklin Park, image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
|
| | | | Valley Field
Location: Grand Rapids, MI During the 1950’s demise of the Negro Leagues, Ted Rasberry, owner of the Monarchs, moved his team to Grand Rapids. Valley Field served as home field for the Monarchs. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | Muehlebach Field,
Ruppert Stadium,
Blues Stadium,
Municipal Stadium
Location: Kansas City, MO.  This park served as the home of the Kansas City Monarchs from 1923 to 1955. The park was named Ruppert Stadium from 1938 to 1942, Blues Stadium from 1943 to 1954, and Municipal Stadium from 1955 to 1976.
|
| | | | | NORTH CAROLINA | | | | | | | | | | | | NEW HAMPSHIRE | | | | | | | Bacharach Park
Location: Atlantic City, N.J. Former greyhound racetrack that was coverted into a baseball stadium. Served as the home of the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants. |
| | Ruppert Stadium
Location: Wilson Avenue, and Avenues K and L, Newark, NJ  Ruppert Stadium was built in 1926. It was built by the New York Yankees organization and named after its beer baron owner, Jacob Ruppert on a 15 acre plot of land bounded by Wilson Avenue, and Avenues K and L. The stadium was designed by Charles A. Davids. It was built with a seating capacity of 12,000, but on special occasions in its 41-year life was known to have sandwiched in as many as 22,000. Ruppert Stadium served as a home for the ‘old’ Newark Bears in the international League, as well as for the Newark Eagles.
|
| | Hinchliffe Stadium
Location: Liberty and Maple Streets, Paterson, N.J. The 7,500-seat stadium was built for $240,000 in 1932 during the Great Depression. It was a public works project authorized by Mayor John V. Hinchliffe. The stadium is best known for its role in professional baseball as home to the New York Black Yankees of the Negro National League in the 1930s and '40s. It has been closed since 1997 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hall-of-Famer Larry Doby played baseball and football at Hinchliffe for Paterson's East Side High School. Doby was scouted at the stadium before going on to break the American League's color barrier with the Cleveland Indians in July 1947. The National Park Service put Hinchliffe on the national register on March 22, 2004 after it was one of five sites listed on New Jersey Register of Historic Places in February. Successful applications for state historic listing are automatically forwarded to the Park Service, and those sites are all but assured of listing on the national register. "Hinchliffe can be said to have hosted some of the most prodigious baseball in America," Flavia Alaya, a cultural historian and Paterson resident, wrote in Hinchliffe's application for historic listing. "This significance resonates not just in local and regional or even national sports history, but in national social history, given the enormous social significance both of sports and of the racial segregation of sports at the time." |
| | | | | | | | | | Dykman Oval
Formerly located at 10th Avenue and 204th Street in Manhattan, New York City.  The Oval was used for New York’s leading Negro baseball and semi-pro teams during the 1920s and 1930s. The park was home to the New York Cuban Stars, a team owned by Alejandro Pompez. He was instrumental with the installation of lights for night games in 1930. Several years later the team’s name was changed to the New York Cubans.
|
| | Yankee Stadium
Location: 161st St. and River Avenue, Bronx, N.Y. Opened:April 18, 1923
First night game: May 28, 1946  On February 6, 1921, the Yankees issued a press release to announce the purchase of 10 acres of property in the west Bronx. The land, purchased from the estate of William Waldorf Astor for $675,000, sat directly across the Harlem River from the Yankees' current Manhattan home, the Polo Grounds, which they shared unhappily with the landlord Giants of the National League since 1913. In only 284 working days, Yankee Stadium was ready for its inaugural game on April 18, 1923 vs. the Boston Red Sox.
Officially, 74,200 fans packed Yankee Stadium for their first glimpse of Baseball's grandest facility.
Yankee Stadium also hosted a number of Negro League baseball games including a 1930 series between the Homestead Grays and the Lincoln Giants. The stadium also served as home field to the New York Black Yankees. |
| NORTH CAROLINA | | | McCormick Field
Location: Asheville, N.C.
Built in 1924; rebuilt 1992; Capacity 4,000, lights installed prior to the 1930 season.  Throughout the 40s McCormick Field played host to numerous Asheville Blues (Negro Southern League) games, as organizer, owner and manager C.L. Moore proved that his entry in the Negro Leagues could compete with anyone. Moore’s teams would play host to the likes of Roy Campanella and Josh Gibson, among others
|
| | | | | | | | Crosley Field,
Redland Field
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio  Crosley Field was a baseball stadium that stood in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1912-1970. Various baseball stadiums had actually stood on the site since 1884, though the exact positions of the grandstands had been repeatedly shifted. Crosley was the home of the National League's Cincinnati Reds. In 1912, the stadium was rebuilt in steel and concrete at a cost of $225,000.
The stadium was known as Redland Field from 1912-1933, when team owner Powel Crosley chose to rename the stadium in his own honor - advertising his Crosley automobiles to boot. Crosley was the site of the first major league night baseball game on May 24, 1935.
 The field of play was known for the sloping hill that led up to the fence in left field, which remained throughout the entire time the stadium stood, and the short fence in center field. The team claimed that the fence was 390 feet away, but both the home and opposing pitchers were certain it was shorter.
The stadium began to decline in the 1960s, and the surrounding neighborhood became rather dangerous, particularly at night. These factors, along with the city's desire to build a single stadium that could house both the Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL led to the closure of Crosley and the mid-season move of the Reds in 1970 to Riverfront Stadium. Crosley Field was demolished two years later, and a business park now stands on the site.
This park also hosted the Cuban Stars (1921-1921), Cincinnati Tigers (1937) and Cincinnati Clowns (1942-1945).
|
| | Franklin County Stadium,
Jets Stadium,
Cooper Stadium
Location: Columbus, OH. Opened in 1932 as Franklin County Stadium The stadium was first erected in 1931 when Branch Rickey purchased the Columbus Red Birds. The team needed a new ballpark, so Rickey, taking advantage of low, depression-time prices, bought farm land at the corner of Glenwood Av. and W. Mound St. Red Bird Stadium was completed with a $450,000 price tag. Following the 1954 season Branch Rickey took the Red Birds out of Columbus, and the city was on the brink of the first baseballless summer since the turn of the century. Fortunately, County Commissioner Harold Cooper and eleven local businessmen brought in the Jets, and the park was renamed Jets Stadium for the duration of their time in Columbus, 15 years. In 1970 the stadium was crumbling, and city officials refused to purchase and repair the park, forcing the Jets out of Columbus. For six years, Columbus was without baseball and Jets Stadium was a crumbling weedpatch. Cooper successfully renovated the park with tax dollars and returned baseball to Columbus. The Columbus Clippers have since played at Franklin County Stadium, renamed Cooper Stadium in 1984. |
| | Mark Park,
Mark Park Farm Diamond,
Mark Greys Athletic Park
Location: Putnam Avenue & Ontario Street, Zanesville, Ohio. The park got its name from the Mark Manufacturing Company, who in the World War 1 period, employed over 1200 workers, and made castings for rolls at the half mile long plant. In 1918, The Mark Amusement Association leased the farm, a small recreation park on the corner of Putnam Avenue & Ontario Street. Department teams played games there that year. In 1919, the company bought the farm diamond, for the use of the plant men. It was named Mark Greys Athletic Park. During the season, bleachers for 1600 people were built. In 1920, a new grandstand and bleachers for 3000 people and a clubhouse was built. In 1923, the Eastern Ohio League was formed, and Mark Park was used for the Zanesville team in the league. In 1931, the Zanesville School Board purchased Mark Park for $3500.00, and the Eastern Ohio League team continued to use Mark Park as their home field. In 1939, a new Municipal Stadium was completed, and Mark Park was torn down. Today, the grounds have a row of houses on the south side of Ontario Street, where left field used to be, and where home plate used to be can be located among industrial equipment stored on the grounds. The actual dimensions of Mark Park were 304 feet in left, 386 feet in center, and 265 feet in right. Right field was so short that several feet of chicken wire was added to the top of the fence. In later years, several feet of chicken wire was also added to the top of the left field fence. On Thursday, July 28, 1938, an historic Negro League game was played at Mark Park. Josh Gibson, playing right field for the Homestead Grays, against the Memphis Red Sox, hit four home runs, two in one inning, for a 17-4 win for the Grays in the night game. This feat had not been accomplished before or since in a Negro League game.
Thanks to Mr. Wayne Stivers for info on this park. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | Hilldale Field - Hilldale Park
Location: Darby, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. This field used to host the Hilldale Field Club, which was taken over by Ed Bolden in 1911. He turned the team pro under a new name; the Hilldale Baseball and Exhibition Co., also known as the Hilldale Daisies. Bolden formed the Eastern Colored League to compete with Rube Foster’s Negro National League |
| | | | Ammon Field
Formerly located at 2217 Bedford Avenue Pittsburgh, PA. The current site hosts a marker which recognizes the historical significance of the ballpark and notes that Josh Gibson played there. This ballpark was located in the city's Hill District (up the hill from the current day Civic Arena). It was the home of some of the great Negro League teams from Pittsburgh. |
| | Forbes Field
 Location: Pittsburgh, PA. First night game: June 30, 1909
First night game: June 4, 1940
 Last game: June 28, 1970
Demolished: July 28, 1971
Capacity: 25,000 (1909); 35,000 (1938) The ceremonial first game at Forbes Field was on June 30, 1909. A  three tier grandstand extended from behind homeplate down both the first and the third base lines. Forbes Field became one of the first ballparks to have luxury suites, which were located on the third tier of the grandstand. |
| | Greenlee Field
Location: Pittsburgh, PA., 2500 Bedford Avenue and seated about 7500 in its uncovered grandstands. Opening Day: April 30, 1932
Demolished: December 1938 Greenlee Field was the first black-owned and black-built major baseball field in the United States. It was built in 1931 and was the brainchild of Gus Greenlee, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords.
Greenlee had bought the Crawfords in 1930, but was angered at the fact that his players, good as they were, could not use the dressing rooms when they played at Forbes or Ammon Fields--or any other white-owned field, for that matter. He soon determined to build his own field at which the Crawfords and other black teams could play. Various reports have the cost of Greenlee Field totaling somewhere around $100,000. It was designed by an architect named Bellinger. It was a steel and concrete structure with a high brick wall. The Pittsburgh Courier declared it to be a "mecca of the Hill district." On Opening Day the Pittsburgh Crawfords dedicated their new park with much pomp and circumstance. Before the game, both teams wearing their best marched with a band to the flagpole in center field. With the band playing the Stars Spangled Banner, a large American flag was raised. After honoring our country, the Crawfords gave the spotlight to Robert L. Vann, who was the editor of The Pittsburgh Courier. Vann welcomed at crowd and asked them to thank Greenlee for providing Pittsburgh with a place for its Negro League teams to play. Greenlee received a standing ovation. Newspaper accounts tell of a capacity crowd of 4,000 people. This may indicate that some of the seating for Greenlee Field may not have been completed. |
| | | | Cardines Field
Location: Newport, R.I.  When the barnstorming Elite Giants, NY Black Yankees, Phila. Stars, or Boston Royal Giants visited Newport to play the Newport Sunset League All-Stars, they played at Cardines Field. The stadium structure was built in 1937 and the grandstand took its current shape by 1941. The field is named for Bernardo Cardines, the first Newport resident to make the Supreme Sacrifice in World War I.
|
| SOUTH CAROLINA | | | | | | | | | | | Engel Stadium
Location: O’Neil and Third Street, City of Chattanooga  Joe Engel opened the Lookouts’ minor league ballpark on April 13, 1930. During the park’s heyday, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig ran the bases, and Satchel Paige (playing for the Chattanooga Black Lookouts) pitched from the mound.
|
| | Martin Park
Location: Memphis Tennesee Martin Park was located at 494 E. H. Crump Boulevard in Memphis. It is currently the site of a trucking company. There is an historical marker on the site noting it was the former site of Martin Park. |
| | Tom Wilson Park
Location: Nashville, TN Named after Thomas T. Wilson, owner of the Nashville Elite Giants. This park opened in 1929.  Tom Wilson, an African American nightclub operator, founded the Nashville Elite Giants either in 1918 or 1921. It played as an independent club until 1926, when the team became a member of the NSL. In 1930 Nashville joined the NNL, and Wilson moved the Giants into Wilson Park, a four-thousand-seat stadium located in Trimble Bottom
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sicks Stadium
Location: Seattle, WA
Opened:1938
Demolished:1979
 The 25,420-seat Sicks Stadium was named for Emil Sick, owner of the Pacific Coast League's Seattle Rainiers. On June 1, 1946, Negro baseball debuts in Seattle at Sicks' Stadium in front of 2,500 fans. The Seattle Steelheads split a double header against the San Diego Tigers as part of the new West Coast Negro Baseball League. The West Coast Negro Baseball League disbanded after two months and the teams reorganized under new names to barnstorm in the U.S. Midwest and in Latin America. |
| WASHINGTON D.C. | | | National Park -> Griffith Stadium
Location:Washington, D.C.  Opened:1891
Last game:September 21, 1961
Demolished:January 26, 1965
Capacity:32,000 (1921); 27,550 (1961).
The National League Washington Senators originally began playing at National Park in 1892. But the National League club went bankrupt and the new Washington Senators were formed, as part of the newly formed American League in 1894. Built of mainly wood, National Park burned while the team was at spring training on March 17, 1911. However, a new ballpark was immediately constructed of steel and concrete. The stadium was not completed by opening day, July 24, 1911, but a single deck was completed, so the ballpark opened. By mid season in 1911, the ballpark was completed. The grandstand extended around homeplate and down the baselines, and a second deck extended around homeplate and the infield. Bleachers extended from the left field foul pole to centerfield. Once completed the capacity at the ballpark was 27,410. A presidential box was constructed near the first base dugout for the President of the United States. William Howard Taft, became the first President to attend baseball games, and to throw out the opening pitch. The outfield wall at National Park varied in height (from 4 to 12 feet), and was very quirky. Centerfield jutted into the outfield because of a huge tree, and five houses, which owners would not sell to the team. In 1920, National Park was renamed Griffith Stadium after Clark Griffith, the owner. Also in 1920, the only addition was added to the stadium. The grandstand was double decked to both the left and right field foul lines. However, the new second deck of Griffith Stadium did not connect to the original part because the original stands were graded differently. Griffith Stadium remained unchanged after this addition. The black ball Washington Pilots and their big star, Mule Suttles played at Griffith Stadium, but the team folded after one season. In 1937, the Nashville Elite Giants moved to Washington. Two years later, the Elite Giants moved to Baltimore in 1939, and Josh Gibson and the great Homestead Grays from Pittsburgh moved into Griffith Stadium to replace them. In the late 1950's, the Washington Senators began to drop in the standings. The last game played at Griffith Stadium was on September 21, 1961. The stadium was demolished in 1965, and is now the site of Howard University Hospital. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
|
Site contents copyright 2000-2007, Negro League Baseball Players Association.
The NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION and the NLBPA logo are registered trademarks.
Please read our Terms of Use, Disclaimer & Privacy Policy
Web Site Design, Research, Development and Hosting have been donated by Metro Data, Inc.
Certain portions copyright 2000-2007, Metro Data, Inc.
| | | | | |
| |
|
