By Phil Hecken, with Ron Bolton
Follow @PhilHecken
Readers will recall I featured Ronnie Bolton (who posts on Twitter as @OTBaseballPhoto and who you should definitely follow) earlier this year with some great football played on baseball field photos and writeups, and more recently with some MLB Opening Day specials. As his twitter handle implies, Ronnie’s specialty is old baseball photos. I frequently have Ronnie in for sub-ledes showcasing players or uniforms relating to the lede for the day. But that won’t be happening today because Ron has another lede for us, and it’s a great one: a look at some of baseball’s landmark stadiums and ballparks, from their construction through early use.
We don’t often feature baseball stadia on Uni Watch (though I seem to more than Paul), but I don’t know if we’ve ever featured these beautiful buildings before they housed the great (and sometimes not so great) teams of yesteryear. That all changes today.
So without further ado, here’s Ron with a look at …
The Building of Baseball Parks of Yesteryear
By Ron Bolton
Cleveland Municipal Stadium
In the photo above, construction is well underway on one of the first multi-purpose stadiums designed for both baseball and football. It would be known as Cleveland Municipal Stadium, a mammoth-sized ballpark that would cost $2,500,000 to build along the lakefront and could hold up to 78,000 for baseball and 83,000 for football.
It would open on July 1, 1931, and two days later the stadium hosted a Max Schmeling heavyweight fight that drew 37,000. The first Major League baseball game was not until the following year on July 31, 1932, when the Cleveland Indians lost to Lefty Grove and the Philadelphia Athletics 1-0.
One big misconception we keep running into is that this huge venue was built with the hopes of winning the bid for the 1932 Olympics. The problem with that thinking is Los Angeles was awarded the Olympics in 1923, five years before Cleveland Municipal Stadium was approved by voters.
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was one of the first of its kind (along with Philadelphia’s Shibe Park), in that it was constructed with concrete and steel, unlike most of the ballparks of that era that were wooden structures and prone to fires.
Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss also had it designed as a three-tier ballpark with a 74-foot tall grandstand. Even so ground was broken on January 1, 1909, construction didn’t fully get underway until March 1st and from there it would only take an astonishing 122 days to complete.
The first game at the newly minted 25,000-seat ballpark was on June 30th when they lost to the Chicago Cubs 3-2 in front of more than 30,000. But despite the Pirates losing their first game at Forbes Field, they would christen it that year with the franchises first World Series title when they would beat Ty Cobb and his Detroit Tigers in seven games.
Houston Astrodome
The inspiration for the Astrodome goes back to the time of the Romans and their use of a type of awning called a velarium that covered the Colosseum, protecting it from both sun and rain. In Houston, this concept was essential to luring MLB to their fair city due to the brutal weather elements. The summer days could reach over 100 degrees with high humidity and also produce thunderstorms.
During the time that the Astrodome was under construction, the Houston Colt .45’s would play three brutally hot and unbearable seasons at Colt Stadium. Rusty Staub of the Colt .45s said of the conditions:
“I don’t care what ballpark they ever talk about as being the hottest place on the face of the Earth, Colt Stadium was it.”
Construction on the Astrodome began on January 3, 1962, adjacent to Colt Stadium. It would open 40 months later on April 9, 1965 in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees. The first batter ever at the stadium was Mickey Mantle who led off for the Yankees, Mantle would also hit the stadium’s first home run in the game.
The Astrodome would close for baseball for good in 1999 and it still stands today.
Dodger Stadium
There was nothing easy building this Los Angeles ballpark that today stands as the third oldest in the majors in an area known as Chavez Ravine. For one, a mountain was cut down in size and over 300 acres of rocky terrain was leveled that required the moving of 8 million cubic yards of earth. The grading process took over 31 months to complete. Once this herculean undertaking was completed it was on the to the next one – constructing Dodger Stadium.
Over 40,000 cubic yards of concrete and 13 million pounds of reinforcing steel was used in building Dodger Stadium. Some of the precast pieces were too big to transport, so the engineers built a casting yard (three acres big) to make the pieces on site.
Despite at one point having a construction crew almost numbering 350, Dodger Stadium nearly missed its opening night due to heavy rains that caused major delays, but in the end they managed to get it built in a timely fashion and on April 10, 1962, baseball’s newest cathedral opened as the Dodgers hosted the Cincinnati Reds on Opening Day (Reds won 6-3) in front of 52,564.
Weeghman Park/Cubs Park/Wrigley Field
Its hard to believe that Wrigley Field was first built for anyone other than the Cubs, but indeed it was. In 1912, a new upstart league hoping to challenge the American and National League was formed and called itself the Federal League. As expected it had a Chicago team and it was owned by businessman Charles Weeghman, who, knowing to have any chance to chip away at the Cubs and White Sox, would have to make a big splash, like a new steel-and-concrete ballpark at the cost of $250,000.
Ground was broken on the single-deck ballpark on March 4, 1914 and seven weeks, 160,000 bricks and $250,000 later, Weeghman Park was ready for opening day. It also took 45,200 cubic feet of concrete, 1,900 cubic feet of hollow tile and 1,700 yards of plastering and it was designed by architect Zachary Taylor Davis, who also designed Comiskey Park years earlier.
The Federal League would fold after just two seasons and the following year (1916) the Cubs would move in and Weeghman Park would be renamed Cubs Park. In 1927 they would add an second deck increasing the seating capacity from 18,000 to 32,000 and about the same time it would take the name we know it as by today, Wrigley Field.
Yankee Stadium
The New York Yankees and their young slugging superstar Babe Ruth are being chased to the street by their Polo Grounds landlord (Giants resentful owner Charles Stoneham), who mockingly suggested they build a ballpark in Queens. Well, instead of Queens, the Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert built it in the Bronx with only the Harlem River now separating these two hated rivals, furthermore the location was in view from the Polo Grounds as well as positioned so it’s back was facing the Giants ballpark.
Who knows if that was purposely done since most ballparks are positioned with the sun in mind, but I always at least wondered if the enclosing of the Polo Grounds soon after was a result of Stoneham wanting to keep the glimpse of the Yankees newest ballpark away from Giants fans eyes.
Ground was broken in May of 1922 and when Yankee Stadium opened for it’s first game on April 18, 1923, it would easily become baseball’s biggest venue capable of holding over 70,000. It would cost $24,000,000 to build and required 20,000 cubic yards of durable concrete, created personally by Thomas Edison.
Thanks, Ronnie! Great job, as always. Nowadays, stadia don’t get built in mere months (and with proposals, voter referrenda, revotes if those first votes fail, design and construction, etc.) some new parks don’t get built for years, sometimes taking over a decade. But back then, when such pesky things as OSHA and displacement of peoples/condemnation of property not really a problem, these edifices went up with speed. They were all beautiful; some still are. They don’t make them like they used to, that’s for sure. Great look back at the beginnings of these behemoths.
Kreindler’s Korner
I had the distinct pleasure of featuring the wonderful artwork of artist Graig Kriendler on two occasions over the summer and fall of 2017.
For those who don’t wish to click the links, Graig paints baseball heroes (and regular guys) from the past, and is an immense talent.
Occasionally, I will be featuring his work on Uni Watch.
Here’s today’s offering (click to enlarge):
Title: “King Carl’s Court”
Subject: Carl Hubbell, 1934
Medium: Oil on linen
Size: 29″ x 35″Carl Hubbell’s claim to fame usually comes down to what he did during the 1934 All-Star Game at the Polo Grounds in New York. Though he gave up a single and a walk to the first two batters, he settled down in time to strike out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx to end the top of the inning, and then Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to start the second. Five Hall of Famers, three of whom are considered legends of the sport. No biggie. It seemed like a natural choice to paint him that day, which was a hot and steamy July 10th. I did my best to make it seem as such with the very bright sun beaming down on him, as well as keeping everything in the painting pretty warm in temperature. Even the cooler greens and blues still shade a bit towards that end of the spectrum. Also keeping those edges in the background pretty soft helps give the illusion of that summer haze. As a cool side-note, the painting also gave me the opportunity to show a little detail that Uni Watch had pointed out years before, the pinned numbers on the back of the player’s jerseys – you’ll notice it floating above the BVD sign in right field.
Thanks, Graig! You can (and should!) follow Graig on Twitter.
Click to enlarge
And now a few quick words from Paul: In case you missed it on Friday afternoon, my latest ESPN column is about the innovative Force3 Defender catcher’s mask (being worn by the catcher on the right — you can tell by the telltale springs). It’s an interesting design and has some interesting implications for the world of sports gear endorsements. You can get the full scoop here.
While we’re at it, here are my assessments of the new uniforms released a few days ago by the Jaguars and Dolphins.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Phil fiesta.
“A Uni Watcher’s Wet Dream”
On Thursday evening, the boys from the “Hall Of Very Good” (Shawn Anderson & Lou Olsen) hosted Uni Watch pal and logo/designer/writer/genius Todd Radom and me on their show. Todd has a new book entitled “Winning Ugly: A Visual History of the Most Bizarre Baseball Uniforms Ever Worn” coming out next month (I already have a copy and let me tell you, it’s awesome). You can pre-order it now on Amazon. So the focus of the show was Todd’s book and many of the glorious/horrendous/wonderful uniforms contained therein (mostly 70’s and 80’s, but really spanning the 130+ years of baseball history). Todd’s not only a great friend, but an incredible designer and also a damn fine writer too! I recommend everyone get their hands on a copy of this book — I promise you: you will NOT be disappointed!
We had a lot of fun on the show, so if you have a few minutes, give it a listen below:
You can also click here for the show AND notes, which provides some links to the stuff we reference on the podcast.
Hope you guys can give it a listen, and I’d love to have your feedback! Thanks!!!
Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil
Baseball News: We don’t normally comment on color vs. color jerseys in MLB anymore, but a couple readers (Andrew Cosentino, Justin Hicks) both pointed out the matchup between the A’s & Red Sox Friday night. Andrew loved the contrast between kelly and navy and Justin loved the old school stirrups. … On Friday night, the visiting locker room at Chase field misspelled Joey Lucchesi’s last name on his locker nameplate (from Adrian). … Also from Friday, the All Star Game patch on Michael Taylor’s jersey was starting to come off (from Joe Nocella). … Some teens still “get it.” Nice stirrup action in a local HS game-Bainbridge v. Ballard HS (from John Kimmerlein). … Some Minor League promos are better than others. Then there are the Potomac Nationals. … Yakult Swallows are wearing some different alts this weekend (from Graveyard Baseball). … Also from Graveyard Baseball, here’s a look at the 2018 Orix Buffaloes alts in action. … The Carolina Mudcats wore special Chewbacca themed uniforms for Star Wars Night (from Carolina Mudcats). … For reasons unknown to me, the Phillies broke out their Sunday alternate uniforms on Saturday (from Blake Fox). … That threw off César Hernández, who was wearing a red helmet yesterday with the Phils’ third unis. Everyone else wearing the typical blue helmet (from Cody Tucker). Here’s another look (from Gary Bates). … “Mississippi State is wearing what might be the ugliest uniforms of all time. Maroon tops with black pants,” writes Logan Ballew, which prompted this humorous reply from Miss State. … The Chicago Cubs have updated the team flag. There are now three blue stars in the center, representing their World Series titles, and 17 red stars for their N.L. pennants (from Kenneth Traisman). … I bet you never thought you’d see Joey Bats in a Black Panther jersey. If you watched the Florida Fire Frogs last night, you would have (from MiLB Promos). Here’s a look at those jerseys in action (from Dustin Smith). … Also from MiLB Promos, “Since 2016 Friday nights in Scranton have been highlighted(almost literally) by @swbrailriders Glow in the Park Nights. Thanks to @adamgiardino we have a look at the new 2018 edition of the Glow in the Park jersey & hat (old version on the left).” … Still more from MiLB: the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes wore these California Earthquake Authority jerseys last night. … As you all (should) know, Paul had a great ESPN piece on the C-flap helmet extension earlier this month. Here’s a nice piece from The Seattle Times examining the Mariners use of the device. … Bryce Starkey writes, “Have we discussed how the Rockies have a picture (sic) #0?” … New uniforms Trinity Baseball (from Taylor Stakes). … OK, just how awesome is this photo of Jose Cardenal riding a turn-of-the-twentieth-century bike? (from SABR Bio Project). … “Renato Nunez has two accent marks on his NOB,” says Steve Dodell, who asks, “Is this a first? Is this getting out of hand?”
NFL News: Tweeter Paul Friedmann “Found this old lunch box in a vintage shop in Northampton, MA. Crappy shape, but @UniWatch worthy.” … Reader Al N. Kreit was channel surfing and caught this glimpse of the jersey creators backstage at the 2015 NFL draft. … Taste is obviously in the eye of the beholder: Here are the “Best” Color Rash jerseys of 2017 (from Michael Sal Anthony Prosciutto).
College Football News: Has a new Oregon Football uni been leaked? Ian Gerig explains: “The recruit on the right side of the picture in the tweet is wearing a black uniform that the Ducks have never worn and a black helmet with a shiny duck head that the team has never worn.” … During their spring game yesterday, Notre Dame was back to their “classic” helmets (from Bryan). … Although the Akron Zips official colors are blue and gold, that didn’t stop them from playing a blue versus white spring game, which displeased Zip alum Jimmer Vilk. … ULM has new uniforms done a “brand refresh” (from Chris Mycoskie).
Hockey News: Merrimack College unveiled new uniforms for the men’s and women’s teams Friday night. For the first time ever, both teams will wear the same uniforms. … Did hockey players wear caps on ice? “While researching the 1926 Pittsburgh Pirates-Montreal Maroons playoff series, I found this in the March 24, 1926 Montreal Gazette,” writes Jerry Wolper. “And, sure enough, if you look at the team photo I used, you’ll see a couple of guys in the back row wearing caps.” … Really nice one from Ray Hund: From the 1998 book Hockey’s Golden Era: Stars of the Original Six by Mike Leonetti. This book features photographs from the Harold Barkley archives.
NBA News: Good article from The New York Times which points out that before a playoff game on Friday, the Cleveland Cavaliers took off-court fashion to a new level, wearing coordinated ensembles by the designer Thom Browne (from Tommy Turner). … A bit old but great: In honor of the NBA Playoffs Quadruple Overtime are doing a very cool bobblehead giveaway! These 4 big men were the definition of 90s basketball. More details in this tweet. … Hon. David Holt, the Mayor of Oklahoma City, was spotted wearing a Jordan Brand OKC jacket (from @RobertD1017). … Looks like the NBA told Joel Embiid to cover the Giro logo on his mask strap with NBA logos between Games 3 and 4 (from Beb Hanna).
Soccer News: Independiente’s new PUMA kit is pure art, and it’s inspired by their 1948 Championship winning side (from FourFourTweet). … Minnesota United FC will be wearing the special Parley jerseys today. Here’s more on that (from Minnesota United FC).
Grab Bag: I don’t watch wrestling, so (apologies) I don’t know who Shane Helms is, but he was sporting the awesome “Caucasians” shirt which pokes fun at the Cleveland Indians Chief Wahoo logo, so I have to say I like him (from Zane Tuck).
It’s a shame the Cubs didn’t go to the six-pointed Chicago stars on their flag.
Phillies cream set is a weekend day game alternate, not just Sunday. Used to be all non-opening day day games meant cream with blue hats. Then a red alternate debuted for weekday day games. 4:05 start time dictated the use off the off-whites.
Nice catch on the Cesar helmet mismatch, though. The first year of the cream alternates, the team did not have helmets in blue, so all batters appeared red-helmeted that year.
Goodon the Phils to base their choice on day and time and not the starting pitchet’s whim.
Exactly, I knew I’d been to Saturday afternoon games in Philly where the cream alts were worn. I do prefer when teams have a set schedule for wearing alts; much better than the randomness some teams exhibit.
In baseball ticker, Jose Bautista’s nickname is Joey Bats. Does not go by Jose Bats.
Shit. Yes. Fixed
Shit. Yes. Fixed
That bike Jose is riding in the Ticker is a penny-farthing. That design was more of an 1870s deal than early 20th century.
But speaking of turn of the century, that first Weeghman photo is incredible! The horse-drawn construction vehicles are something else. One of them appears to be a side-tilting dump truck.
Re: hockey players wearing hats on the ice. Had seen photos of Hockey Hall of Famer and former Montreal Canadiens captain Newsy Lalonde in a hat. Here he is sporting the hat on ice at the end of his career. making his final NHL playing appearance as a New York American:
link
Newsy was a two-sport star. He was also star field lacrosse player during a time when the outdoor game was a prominent sport in Canada. It is reported during the 1910s, Newsy made more money playing lacrosse than he did playing for the Montreal Canadiens.
Appears Newsy also wore a hat on the lacrosse field, as seen here while playing for the Vancouver Lacrosse Club:
link
Though in those days it was more common to see player in hats during a field lacrosse game:
link
I’m confused, in the description, Ronnie says that Yankee Stadium was built with its back to the Polo Grounds, but then shows a picture where you can see the Polo Grounds beyond the outfield wall of Yankee Stadium. That would be considered facing it in my book.
He may have meant the Polo Grounds with Yankee Stadium in the background.
In the picture, I recognize where the clubhouses were located in straightaway center field (where Mays made “The Catch”).
Yeah — that’s on me. I got the caption backwards. It’s the Polo Grounds with YS in the background. Now fixed.
Love the pictures of stadiums under construction.
The first game I ever attended at the Astrodome was in June of 1972. There were still remnants of Colt Stadium in a corner of the parking lot.
No mention was made of the folks who were forced out of the neighborhood on top of which Dodger Stadium sits. It takes a lot of the luster off.
Aside from the many, many articles, books, and documentaries about the community and its destruction to make way for the stadium, there’s the Ry Cooder record “Chavez Ravine” that’s sort of a song-cycle concept album about it. One of the great modern records – well worth a listen.
Yes, that was the first thing I thought of, too. A Latino community was forced out, first because the city wanted to build a new housing project, then because the city sold the land for Dodger Stadium. link
During their spring game yesterday, Notre Dame was back to their “classic” helmets (from Bryan)
It was part of spring practice, so they wore the same helmets they normally wear during practice. Notre Dame will break out their game helmets, the Vicis models with the gold finish, once the season starts.
Nunez doesn’t have two accent marks. He has an accent over the u, and tilde over the n. And its not out of hand if that’s how his name is actually spelled.
Renato Núñez doesn’t have two accent marks. There is one accent mark over the u, which indicates that stress is placed on the first syllable. The second mark is a tilde, and the ñ is a completely different letter in Spanish than n. It is pronounced differently, as can be heard in the pronunciations of Núñez and Nunes (as in Devin Nunes, the congressman from CA).
It could be argued that the accent mark over the u is redundant, as the stress is typically placed on the first syllable of two-syllable words in Spanish anyway. However, there are multiple spellings for this last name (Núñez, Nuñez, Nunez, Nunes) and this is the one that Renato’s family uses. Kudos to the Rangers for respecting that and not Anglicizing his name. Hard for me to understand how writing someone’s name correctly could ever be considered “getting out of hand.”
Agreed
Glad to know others were put off by that comment as well. Very weird thing to say.
Sorry if my comment offended anyone. From what I read here, a tilde is an accent mark, as is the first accent.
link
If both are necessary to pronounce the name correctly, and the player wants them, I’m all for it.
You’re right that there is some confusion regarding the terminology used for these marks. In Spanish, tilde can actually refer to both of these marks, as well as other diacritical marks added to letters, such as the tail on ç. When discussing linguistics in English, tilde typically refers to the mark in ñ. It depends on context which terminology is used, and as that blog post shows us, while discussing Spanish in English, it does make sense to refer to the acute accent marks as tildes.
I still call it Cubs Park.
thanks ronnie! great insight on those ballparks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Mantle as a leadoff hitter…..perhaps an exhibition game experiment??
I love Dodger Stadium, but a discussion of its construction history should include the displacement of families and businesses in Chavez Revine. It was the subject of an excellent article in the Times or WSJ within the last few years.
Just to add some clarity, with Federal funding support,the “urban renewal” of Chavez Ravine was initiated years before the Dodgers planned relocation to the West Coast.
Had the Dodgers remained in Brooklyn, Chavez Ravine still would have experienced change resulting from the local politicians actions. Conflicting Dodger Stadium construction with the cause of events of Chavez ravine seems ill-judged.
The Rockies’ reliever who wears 0 is Adam Ottavino, continuing the sporadic tradition of guys using that initial as a number. He’s done so for a few years now.
Holy crap, the most amazing thing in the “Building Baseball’s Cathedrals” is that Weeghman Park/Wrigley Field was built in only 7 weeks! It just took my bathroom remodel 8 weeks.
““Renato Nunez has two accent marks on his NOB,” says Steve Dodell, who asks, “Is this a first? Is this getting out of hand?””
Yes, how dare Latino players want their names done correctly on their uniforms.
I’ve seen American players in countries that don’t use the Latin alphabet like Greece, Russia and Israel have their names transliterated. I don’t see decoration of names with appropriate accents any differently from that.
The Phillies cream alternate unifomrs are not just for Sunday. They are day time alternates. So any game not played at 7pm they wear the cream. The last few years weekday day games they wore the red jersey however this year if the 1pm game is on a Thursday they will be wearing the 80s baby blue throwbacks. I believe they retired the red jersey for this season
Dear Phil and Ron,
Thank you so much for the story and pictures featuring the construction of “Baseball’s Cathedrals”. As a structural engineer, I can truly appreciate what these feats of engineering were, especially during the times in history in which they were built.
If you come across similar information on other sports stadiums and arenas (not just baseball), it would be greatly appreciated!
Keep up the great work!
Thanks Dave and will do! Maybe we can do a Part II down the line. there are still many ballparks I could cover such as Fenway, Shibe, Ebbets, Candlestick….etc
Looking at the photo of newly-opened Yankee Stadium and the warning track that resembles a running track. Can you be sure the stadium wasn’t built with a New York City Olympic bid in mind? I can imagine track and field events being held at the stadium; for all we know, maybe they were, but documentation has been lost over time.
Ron,
Loved the photos of ballparks in midst of construction. Hope to see more!
I looked for photo credits and couldn’t find any. What or who were your sources?
Hi Jerry and thanks! I’m going with a hunch you were particularly looking for Dodger Stadium ;)
I got two of them from LA Public Library:
link
Here is most of the collection on the stadium, will also DM you on Twitter with the link.
-Ronnie
Looking at the Pittsburgh Pirates hockey photo, I can’t help but think, despite the benefits of increased professionalism in sports, of just how much charm has been lost. Could you imagine an organised NHL team photo these days with an uneven back row like that, let alone a player in a jersey lacking every bit of striping?!
Graig,
Great work on the Hubbell painting!
Yes, fantastic job! You can just feel the intensity of the sunlight.
ok, those ULM uniforms are hideous, you here Paul all the time complaining about Nike, but Adidas is just as guilty, if not more. The adidas logo on the color is obnoxious. Adidas has long had a habit for destroying uniforms with that stupid logo, which is big, chunky and unnecessary. Adidas destroys any uniform with that logo, which either should be smaller, or get rid of the word-mark, like the world doesn’t know that is Adidas? Adidas has ruined soccer jerseys and when they had the NBA contract with the stupid 3 stripes everywhere. Logos with the company names are unnecessary, that includes Under Armour. Ok, I’m done.
Now if we can get them to go back to Northeast Louisiana.
Notre Dame’s pants have always been weird to me the last couple years. It seems the switch the new gold helmets has made it more difficult to find a pants color that matches it. If you look at the early 90s Irish, the pants and helmets match pretty nicely. Florida State seems to do much better at matching helmet and pants. I don’t get why ND can’t seem to well.