--Sal Bando, when asked if it was difficult leaving the Oakland A's
Stadiums
Sportsman's Park
By Wikipedia
Sportsman's Park was the name of three former Major League
Baseball parks in St. Louis, Missouri. For 33 years, 1920-1953, it was the
home field of both the St. Louis Browns of the American League and the St.
Louis Cardinals of the National League, after which the Browns departed to
become the modern-day Baltimore Orioles.
1909:
Left Field - 368 ft
Left-Center - 379 ft
Center Field - 430 ft
Right-Center - 354 ft
Right Field - 335 ft
Backstop - 75 ft (1942)
The park was originally named the Grand Avenue Ball Grounds and
was built in 1871 by August Solari, and in its early years, in 1876 it was
re-named, Sportsman's Park. (Some early references to this park
refer to it as Sportmen's Park.) The park was owned by the then-major
American Association entry, the St. Louis "Brown Stockings", or
"Browns."
Fly
to the site of Sportsman's Park
If you have Google
Earth installed, click here
to be "flown" to the site of Sportsman's Park. Of course
the stadium is no longer there, but you can see the old
neighborhood. (If you do not have it installed, get
it from Google. It allows you to view virtually anywhere on
Earth in 3D using satellite imagery.)
The Browns were a very strong team in the mid-1880s, but their success
waned over time. When the National League absorbed the strongest of the
old Association teams in 1892, the Browns were brought along. Soon they
went looking for a new ballpark, finding a site just a few blocks
northwest of the old one, and calling it New Sportsman's Park.
Somewhere between the Gay 90s and the Ragtime Era, the team changed
owners, and "New Sportsman's Park" was renamed Robison
Field. They also changed team colors from Brown to Cardinal Red, thus
acquiring a new nickname (thanks to sportswriter Willie McHale), and
leaving their previous team color available. The so-called "New"
Sportsman's Park (Robison Field) was abandoned by the Cardinals after 1920
whereas the old Sportsman's Park was renovated and was used until
1966.
Baseball historians refer to the grounds at this location as
Sportsman's Park I - III. The first one was used by the American
Association Browns from 1882-1892. The second was used by the American
League Browns from 1902-1908. The third was the one used by both the
Browns (from 1909-1953) and Cardinals (1920-1966). Some also list a
Sportsman's Park IV. Those that do consider Robison Field, which as
mentioned earlier went by the name of "Sportsman's Park" for a
time, as the second Sportsman's Park.
In the modern era, Sportsman's Park was initially owned by the
newly-formed Browns of the American League, who began play in St. Louis in
1902 after moving from Milwaukee. Within the decade they had rebuilt the
old facility in steel and concrete. The Cardinals came on board as tenant
in mid-1920 after abandoning the outdated, mostly-wooden Robison Field.
Although the Browns had been the stronger team in the city for the
first quarter of the century, they had never been quite good enough to win
a pennant. After the previously weak Cardinals moved in, the two teams'
situations started to reverse, both on and off the field. Eventually, so
did the ownership of the ballpark. The 1944 World Series between the
Cardinals and the Browns, won by the Cardinals 4 games to 2, was perhaps a
good metaphor for the two clubs' respective situations.
Sportsman's Park!
Sportsman's Park
from the air.
Photo
courtesy of LCPC
FIRSTS
at SPORTSMAN'S PARK
Game
04/14/1909
Naps (Indians) 4, Browns 2
Umpires
Bull Perrine, Jack Sheridan
Managers
Jimmy McAleer, Browns
Nap Lajoie, Naps
Starting Pitchers
Jack Powell, Browns
Addie Joss, Naps
Ceremonial Pitch
St. Louis Mayor Kreismann
Attendance
21,357
Batting
Batter
Josh Clarke (pop out)
Hit
Tom Jones (double)
Run
Bill Bradley
RBI
Bill Hinchman
Single
George Stone
Double
Tom Jones
Triple
Bill Bradley (04/16/1909)
Home Run
Danny Hoffman (04/15/1909)
Grand Slam
Joe Jackson (05/07/1911)
IPHR
Danny Hoffman (04/15/1909)
Stolen Base
Freddy Parent (04/17/1909)
Sacrifice Hit
Terry Turner
Sacrifice Fly
Hobe Ferris (05/16/1909)
Cycle
Tris Speaker (06/09/1912)
Pitching
Win
Addie Joss
Loss
Jack Powell
Shutout
Addie Joss (05/02/1909)
Save
N/A
Hit by Pitch
Heinie Berger hit Jim
Stephens (04/16/1909)
Wild Pitch
Jack Powell (04/18/1909)
Balk
Jimmy Dygert (07/17/1909)
No-Hitter
Eddie Cicotte (04/14/1917)
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
The Busch family of brewery fame bought the Cardinals in the early
1950s, and soon acquired the venerable park from the cash strapped Browns'
owner Bill Veeck, renaming it Busch Stadium starting in 1953. The
next year, the Browns were in Baltimore as the Orioles.
Augie Busch, Jr., president of the company that is responsible for more
drunks than anyone in history and the owner of the Cardinals, wanted to
rename the ballpark Budweiser Stadium. Ford Frick, the Commissioner
of Baseball, vetoed the name because of public relations concerns over
naming a ballpark after an alcoholic beverage - an arguably hypocritical
attitude, given all baseball clubs' not insignificant revenues from beer
sales. However, the Commissioner could not stop August Busch from renaming
it after himself, and so he did.
This ballpark (by then known as Busch Stadium) was also the home of the
St. Louis Football Cardinals of the National Football League for a few
years after transferring from Chicago and before Busch
Memorial Stadium opened its doors.
Sportsman's Park / Busch Stadium was the site of a number of World
Series contests, first way back in the mid-1880s, and then in the modern
era. The 1964 Series was particularly memorable, and was also the park's
last Series. The Series featured brother against brother, Ken Boyer of the
Cardinals versus Clete Boyer of the Yankees. The Cardinals' triumph in
seven games led to Yankees management replacing Yogi Berra with the
Cardinals' ex-manager Johnny Keane (he had resigned after winning the
Series), an arrangement which lasted only to early 1966.
Sportsman's Park / Busch Stadium was replaced early in the 1966 season
by Busch Memorial Stadium, which itself was demolished in 2005. The
Sportsman's Park site was remade into the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls
Club, with the stands removed and the diamond still intact at that time.
The field is now being used for other sports.
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Stadiums
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