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Oldest Ballparks
Oldest Ballparks
This is something I posted on the Home Page of a league I'm in, thought it might be of interest.
Saw the reference to Nickerson Field by Erfurman and did a little research. The oldest Park in America is Rickwood Field in Alabama, which was the home of a couple of Negro League teams, is now more of a museum, and opened in 1910. The oldest MLB stadium is Fenway Park in Boston which opened in 1912. The oldest parks still in use professionally (besides Fenway) are Wrigley Field in Chicago, Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach and Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana all of which opened in 1914. As a side note, I played High School games in Bosse Field as the RF for the Mt. Vernon Wildcats (1967-69). The 3rd oldest park in the MLB is Dodger Stadium (1962), the 4th is Anaheim Stadium (1966). The oldest park in Japan in Koshien Stadium, built in 1924 and still used by the Hanshin Tigers of the NPB. Nickerson Field was built in 1928 on the site of the old Braves Field and is still in use by Boston College. Besides actually playing at Bosse Field, I attended many Minor League games there in the 60's when Evansville was the AA White Sox affiliate and the Twins AAA team (the Triplets). I've been to many, many games at Dodger Stadium from the late 60's to present, and quite a few at Anaheim Stadium, including the 1966 MLB All-Star Game. I grew up in Indiana, but we had family in SoCal and vacationed there in the summer. I moved to SoCal permanently in 1974 and have lived up in the Desert since 1995. I may post something about ballparks of the Class A California League in the future.
Saw the reference to Nickerson Field by Erfurman and did a little research. The oldest Park in America is Rickwood Field in Alabama, which was the home of a couple of Negro League teams, is now more of a museum, and opened in 1910. The oldest MLB stadium is Fenway Park in Boston which opened in 1912. The oldest parks still in use professionally (besides Fenway) are Wrigley Field in Chicago, Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach and Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana all of which opened in 1914. As a side note, I played High School games in Bosse Field as the RF for the Mt. Vernon Wildcats (1967-69). The 3rd oldest park in the MLB is Dodger Stadium (1962), the 4th is Anaheim Stadium (1966). The oldest park in Japan in Koshien Stadium, built in 1924 and still used by the Hanshin Tigers of the NPB. Nickerson Field was built in 1928 on the site of the old Braves Field and is still in use by Boston College. Besides actually playing at Bosse Field, I attended many Minor League games there in the 60's when Evansville was the AA White Sox affiliate and the Twins AAA team (the Triplets). I've been to many, many games at Dodger Stadium from the late 60's to present, and quite a few at Anaheim Stadium, including the 1966 MLB All-Star Game. I grew up in Indiana, but we had family in SoCal and vacationed there in the summer. I moved to SoCal permanently in 1974 and have lived up in the Desert since 1995. I may post something about ballparks of the Class A California League in the future.
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Good info Shiek. I dont know how to feel about the loss of so many of the stadiums i visited when i was younger. Being someone who grew up in the 70s a lot of those stadiums were inferior to the modern ones.
I have lots of good memories of going to Shea but Citi Field is a much nicer stadium. I also went to Veterens, Three Rivers and Fulton County stadiums which were similarly uninspired. The new parks in all those cities are superior. The Astrodome and Olympic Stadium had a uniqueness to them but were otherwise nothing special.
I've been to Fenway a few times and find it a mixed bag. Obviously there's the great history but on the downside there are lots of obstructed seats and it smells like a toilet. I went to the 2nd incarnation of Yankee Stadium which I thought was pretty cool. I've never been to Wrigley or out to the west coast parks.
I have lots of good memories of going to Shea but Citi Field is a much nicer stadium. I also went to Veterens, Three Rivers and Fulton County stadiums which were similarly uninspired. The new parks in all those cities are superior. The Astrodome and Olympic Stadium had a uniqueness to them but were otherwise nothing special.
I've been to Fenway a few times and find it a mixed bag. Obviously there's the great history but on the downside there are lots of obstructed seats and it smells like a toilet. I went to the 2nd incarnation of Yankee Stadium which I thought was pretty cool. I've never been to Wrigley or out to the west coast parks.
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When I was real young in the early 60's I went to Busch 1 a few times. The Cardinals were the "local" team I guess for Southern Indiana where I grew up. Never went to Wrigley when I lived in the mid west. I've been to Petco in SD several times and it's a great place to see a game. I also saw games at the old Jack Murphy Stadium in SD along with a Rolling Stones concert there - horrible parking on the same level as Dodger Stadium. Saw a game at Fulton Co. Stadium when my grandparents lived in Atlanta - I was pretty young and don't remember anything special about it.
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I'm a member of a cool Facebook page called Ballpark Chasers that is all about trying to visit all of the ballparks. They also post helpful tips on where to sit, eat, etc when you visit different ballparks.
I'm by no means close to them all but I've been to quite a few. Some of the more memorable older stadiums were the Old Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Wrigley, Old Tigers Stadium where we sat in RF and helped bounce the upper deck, Old Busch Stadium which was more of just a cookie cutter but I got Lou Brock's autograph so it sticks out.
I'm by no means close to them all but I've been to quite a few. Some of the more memorable older stadiums were the Old Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Wrigley, Old Tigers Stadium where we sat in RF and helped bounce the upper deck, Old Busch Stadium which was more of just a cookie cutter but I got Lou Brock's autograph so it sticks out.
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It's possible that some of the early ballparks that the Sheik had visited have since been washed away by the flood.
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I know I am old, lol. My first 3 games were at Shea. Citi field to see the Royals in 2016. Then old Yankee Stadium. I saw Mickey Mantle Homer during an old timers game there. Then the 1977 renovated stadium.
Fenway I've been to at least a half dozen times over a 46 year span. Sat on Green Monster about 8 years ago.
Dodger stadium and Anaheim bunch of times in mid 80's.
Now it's Tropicana, (going in June to see Royals. 3rd row behind dugout $50 each) and a couple in Miami.
Yale Field in New Haven Ct is historic as well. I saw Ron Darling throw 11 innings of no hit ball only to lose to Frank Viola 1-0 and St.Johns during NCAA regionals my senior year in HS.
That field also showcased an appearance by the Babe shortly before he died. And George Bush played for Yale and faced Vin Scully when he played for Fordham. I wasn't around for that game but Sheik may have been.
I was a Chaplain for the last 2 seasons for the New Haven County Cutters there. They were an independent team from the CanAm league. Lots of good baseball memories.
Fenway I've been to at least a half dozen times over a 46 year span. Sat on Green Monster about 8 years ago.
Dodger stadium and Anaheim bunch of times in mid 80's.
Now it's Tropicana, (going in June to see Royals. 3rd row behind dugout $50 each) and a couple in Miami.
Yale Field in New Haven Ct is historic as well. I saw Ron Darling throw 11 innings of no hit ball only to lose to Frank Viola 1-0 and St.Johns during NCAA regionals my senior year in HS.
That field also showcased an appearance by the Babe shortly before he died. And George Bush played for Yale and faced Vin Scully when he played for Fordham. I wasn't around for that game but Sheik may have been.
I was a Chaplain for the last 2 seasons for the New Haven County Cutters there. They were an independent team from the CanAm league. Lots of good baseball memories.
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I saw the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium in 1973. Then quite a few at the Metrodome and two at Target Field. I’ve also seen them in Fort Myers for Spring Training. I’ve also been to games in Anaheim (saw Carew, Reggie, Fred Lynn, etc play for the Angels), Oakland (Rickey), and Seattle. Winnipeg has a nice park for the Goldeyes where I now watch 3 or 4 games a year but I’d like to get back to a major league game sometime soon.
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We live near Bradenton and used to work Pirates games until a couple years ago. Been to a few Marauders games there. A ball here in the Florida league w/ Ft Meyers. Ft Meyers is about 1 3/4 hrs south of us. In two weeks we are going to Clearwater to take in a Thrashers vs Flying Tigers game just for haha's. Spend the afternoon at Clearwater beach then see a ball game.
End of July we will be in Hartford Ct at the Dunk to see my nephew play. he is on the Party Animals team. Got to see him play last year against the Bananas in a sold out Raymond James Stadium.
End of July we will be in Hartford Ct at the Dunk to see my nephew play. he is on the Party Animals team. Got to see him play last year against the Bananas in a sold out Raymond James Stadium.
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grew up in maine so got to go to fenway numerous times but only once since monster seats were added, went to the old tiger stadium when my mom lived in michigan for a bit. now live in fort myers so i have been to both tropicana field and marlins park. i have been to city of palms, jetblue, hammond stadium and ed smith stadium for spring training. went to hadlock field for a portland seadogs game and years ago went to the maine guides in old orchard beach. i believe it was called the ballpark. saw cory snyder in AAA i thought he was going to be a hall of famer!!
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Loving this thread. I was born in rural Oklahoma, so growing up it was just Oklahoma State games, watching Pete Incaviglia and Robin Ventura. Then we moved to north Texas and it was 3 iterations of fairly generic stadiums as the Rangers continued to bilk money from the city of Arlington. But in my experience (3 Rangers' stadiums, a college field, and a Round Rock Express game) the best experience was Enron/Minute Maid. It's such a tiny stadium, there's just not a bad seat in the house. And in college, we used to buy the cheapest tickets, and there was this walkway in left field just toward centerfield of the Crawford boxes, and if you could stand for 9 innings, those were front row tickets. Made friends with Shinjo from there when the Mets were in town, and he tossed us a couple of balls when he'd make the 3rd out in an inning.
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Gus - you must have gone to Anaheim around the same time I was going to a lot of games there (had a girlfriend who was an Angels fan) because those were the 80's guys - Carew, Lynn, Reggie Jackson etc. When I went back and checked, the All Star game I saw in Anaheim was 1967. There was no seating for fans in the OF at time and they had to bring in temporary wooden bleachers for the game. My brother and I sat out there for the 15 inning game (at the time a record) that ended up 2-1 (all HR's). Our Uncle dropped us off for the game and came back during the 9th inning to pick us up and spent 6 innings in the parking lot waiting for the game to end. I was 16 at the time.
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I live in New England so have been to Fenway many times. Before my final year of college me and a friend did a summer tour to hit as many stadiums as we could. We started with Yankee Stadium and Shea, then hit Three Rivers, Old Comiskey and Wrigley, Milwaukee County Stadium, and Old Tiger Stadium. We had previously been to Riverfront to see the Reds/Pirates NLCS. Missed the Cleveland Stadium. Do not recall if it was on purpose but I think they were on the road during our trip. We also went to Memorial Field in Baltimore but not on this trip.
Comiskey was interesting. We had seats right on the field and I recall there was a big crown in the field surface. We were on the third base side and you could not see the feet of the first baseman.
Comiskey was interesting. We had seats right on the field and I recall there was a big crown in the field surface. We were on the third base side and you could not see the feet of the first baseman.
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Maybe we sat beside each other, Sheik! Lol - I remember the Angels announcers at the time making a pretty big deal out of the fact that they had an all-All-Star lineup, with all nine hitters having been all stars at least once. It was Carew, Lynn, Reggie, Don Baylor, Doug DeCinces, Bobby Grich, Rick Burleson, Bob Boone, and Brian Downing. Plus Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana. Pretty star studded lineup but they never won a WS. Too old, probably.
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I was at Anaheim in 83-85. Saw Royals and a few Yankee games. Was it Knot's Berry Farm or Disney across the street.
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Google says Disneyland was 3 miles away from Anaheim Stadium. Knott’s Berry Farm was further away I think.
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