Crosley Field  Cincinnati, Ohio

 

Home of the Cincinnati Reds  1912-1970

The Cincinnati Reds have played at a total of seven ballparks since their professional debut in 1869. Known originally as the Red Stockings they built  League Park in 1884 on an old brick yard (originally named American Park until 1890). They stayed at this location for 86 years, until 1970, playing in the three parks erected on this site [League Park (1884-1901), Palace of the Fans (1902-1911), and Redland/Crosley Field (1912-1970)]. Finally, in mid-season 1970, the Reds moved to Riverfront Stadium. This marked the first time the Reds had ever played anywhere other than the West Side of Cincinnati. In 2003 the Reds moved next door to The Great American Ball Park.  

Crosley Field was home to the Cincinnati Reds Baseball Club for 58 years. In 1912 the Palace of the Fans was demolished and replaced with Redland Field which, in 1934, was renamed Crosley Field. Prior to The Palace there stood, at the same location, League Park. And so, the story of Findlay and Western begins... in 1884, when an old brick yard in Cincinnati's West End, was turned into a ballpark.

REDS AND CROSLEY FIELD MEMORABLE MOMENTS

1869 -The first all-professional baseball club in the world, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. They played just two blocks south of Crosley Field, at the Union Grounds (approximately where the fountain is in front of the Cincinnati Museum Center (Union Terminal).

1882 -The 1882 Cincinnati Red Stockings are currently playing two blocks north of the future Crosley Field site, at the Bank Street Grounds. The uniform jerseys the players are wearing are all of different colors and patterns. This was done to help the fans recognize the players, as at the time, numbers were not used on uniforms. Why? Because "only convicts wear numbers" was the current thinking of the day.

1889 -Crosley Field hosts its first "Ladies Night".

1894 - Matty Schwab joins his father's grounds crew at League Park. Matty would eventually become head superintendent of the park and not retire until 1963 at age 83!

1902 - "The Palace of the Fans" opens for business! It provided no locker rooms for the players, and there were no dugouts! The players sat on benches in front of "Rooters Row.”

1909 - "The Palace of the Fans" sees "Night Baseball". George Cahill talked Garry Herrmann, president of the Reds, into trying an experiment. Prior to the 1909 season he brought five light towers to the Palace and set up for an experimental night baseball game. June 17th was the scheduled date and two Elks teams from Cincinnati, Ohio and Newport, Kentucky were chosen to play. Rain forced postponement until June 18th, but on that date the game was sucessfully played. The game was a great success, but despite this success, it would be another 26 years before the major leagues would play under the lights. See  

1910 - Harry Hake begins designing Redland Field. It will be built at a cost of $225,000 at the intersection of Findlay Street and Western Avenue in Cincinnati's "West End".

1912 - Redland Field opens on April 11th. (Reds over Cubs 10-6). Just three weeks before the grand opening, the Millcreek floods much of the field, and Matty Schwab and his ground crew work frantically to get the field cleaned up and sodded for opening day. Although Crosley was later know as a home run friendly park, at this time the outfield dimensions were 360 down the lines and 420 to center. Seating capacity 20,000.

1913 - Redland Field is covered with water, but recovers, as the Ohio and its tributaries flood.

1919 - World Series with the Chicago White Sox (Black Sox scandal) - Reds win.     In order to increase seating capacity for the 1919 World Series, the Reds did something they had never done before, and never did again in all the years that followed at Crosley. They blocked off York Street behind the left field wall and built temporary bleachers there.

1921 - First home runs hit at Redland Field! The emense size of Redland, combined with the "dead ball era" prevented home runs prior to this. In 1921 a new, "livlier" ball was introduced. The first player to hit one out was John Beckwith of the Chicago Giants, a Negro League team. Eleven days later, Pat Duncan of the Reds, became the first Major Leaguer to accomplish this. Both homers were to left field. Later this year, Babe Ruth would power the first homers over center and also into the right field bleachers in an exhibition game at Redland.

1926 - A new rule (1926-1931) in major league baseball prompted the placing of two white poles, each 250 feet down the foul lines. The new rule made any fair ball which bounced into the stands beyond 250 feet, a home run. Short of the 250 foot markers was a double. The "bounced" home run into the pavillions was a rare occasion, but once it happened twice in the same inning of the same game.

1932 - "Peanut Jim" Shelton arrives in the "West End" and begins selling his roasted peanuts outside Redland Field. "Peanut Jim" was as much a part of Crosley as were the Reds themselves. Dressed in his stovepipe hat and tails he sold roasted peanuts from his pushcart well into his nineties, having moved to Riverfront Stadium in 1970, along with the Reds.

1934 - MacPhail convinces Powel Crosley, Jr. to purchase the controlling interest in the Reds and Redland Field. MacPhail's appeal was to Crosley's civic pride. Crosley did not want to see the city lose its team. He never anticipated making any money with the team; he only hoped to minimize his losses. Crosley purchases both for less than $500,000. MACPHAIL INSISTS THAT CROSLEY RENAME THE PARK AFTER HIMSELF, AND THE PARK BECAME CROSLEY FIELD.

1935 - Crosley Field hosted the first Major League night game on May 24th. Attendance 20,422. Reds over Phillies 2-1. No home run was hit during the first night game, so you ask, "When was the first night game home run hit?"   The answer, two months later, on July 10th, by Babe Herman, of the Reds.

1937 - The Great Flood - In January, 1937 the Ohio flooded to great proportions. The Millcreek, flooded and covered Crosley with water to the depth of 21 feet over home plate! So deep was the water that boats were able to row over the outfield fences.

1938 - Crosley Field hosts its first All-Star Game! July 6, 1938 sees Crosley host the sixth annual All-Star Game. The newly added press box is expanded to the ends of the upper decks to provide more room for the media. Here is Another View of expanded press box.

1939 - World Series with the New York Yankees. Reds lose.

1940 World Series with the Detroit Tigers. Reds win. This is the only World Series title the Reds clinched at home!

1944 - August 10th - CROSLEY FIELD - PITCHER THROWS 58 PITCHES IN NINE-INNING SHUTOUT; TEAMS COMPLETE NIGHT GAME IN 1 HOUR, 15 MINUTES - As far as baseball historians know, this is the fewest number of pitches ever thrown in a nine-inning game. Throughout the contest, Charles 'Red' Barrett of the Boston Braves didn’t fall behind in the count to a single batter, surrendered just two singles, and neither walked nor struck out anyone. Barrett induced 13 ground outs, five fly balls, three pop-ups in fair territory, four foul outs, and two line-drive outs. When the game was completed in only one hour and fifteen minutes, it also established the still-standing mark as the fastest night game in major league history.

1945 - Smallest crowd in Crosley history; 281 on September 13th.

1947 - Largest crowd in Crosley history; 36,691 on April 27th. Pay phones are removed from the park to cut down on betting. May 13th., brings Jackie Robinson to Crosley. This is the first time a black ballplayer played at Crosley as a major leaguer. On September 21st., the first Reds game is broadcast on television. The estimated home audience was 10,000 viewers.

1953 - Crosley Fields hosts its second All-Star Game. (The 20th All-Star Game)

1954 - Another record is set at Crosley when Ted Kluszewski hits 34 home runs there. This was the most home runs ever hit in one season by one man at one ballpark! Ted hit a total of 49 homers in 1954. Ted's 34 home runs in one park/one season held until 1998 when the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa eclipsed it at Wrigley Field. Big Klu electrified Crosley Field fans in the 50's as much as Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa have recently! In 1998 the Reds retired "Big Klu's" number 18.

1963 - Crosley Field sees the beginning of one of the greatest baseball careers in history. Pete Rose begins his long and fabulous career. In his rookie year he hits 170 hits in route to his all-time record, 4,256 hits. This photo was actually taken as Rose took his first step onto the playing field, on opening day, 1963. Hits: Zero...if you can imagine that!

1964 - The center field wall is raised 9.5 feet by the addition of plywood and old ping pong tables atop the original concrete wall. A line was painted at the old height of 13.5 feet and any ball hit above the line was a homer; anything below the line was still in play. Umpires would listen for the sound of the ball hitting wood to determine close calls. This rule was soon changed and everafter a ball had to clear the whole 23 foot fence to be a home run. Dick Sisler becomes the manager of the Reds.

1967 - On June 10th, Houston’s Jimmy Wynn hit what many consider the longest homer at Crosley ever, over the 58-foot scoreboard in left-center and onto I-75.

1970 - On May 17, 1970, Hank Aaron hits his 3,000th career hit, a single, in game two of a doubleheader against the Reds. Wayne Simpson was the pitcher who gave up Aaron's #3,000 in route to a career 3,771 hits. This was the only 3,000th hit seen by Crosley Field, but Pete Rose did record his 3,000th hit in Cincinnati, at Riverfront Stadium, on May 5, 1978, in route to his record 4,256 hits. Steve Rogers, of the Montreal Expos, coughed up #3,000 to Rose.

1970 - Last game is played at Crosley on June 24th. Homeplate is presented to Mayor Eugene Ruehlman and flown by helicopter to Riverfront Stadium. Lee May and Johnny Bench hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth to give the Reds a 5-4 win in the last game ever played at Crosley Field.


Reds fan, Frank O'Toole is the last fan to leave Crosley Field. After everyone else had left the park, Frank roamed the stands, collected dirt from the field in a cup, and scaled a pole to collect a sign. He even helped the clean up crew with a few of their tasks before finally leaving.

1972 - Crosley Field is demolished. Pete Rose, Jr., sitting on a wrecking crane operator's lap, is the first to strike a blow. The wrecking ball was painted like a big baseball, with Mr. Red's face on it, in tears.

 

For fifty-eight years Crosley Field stood proudly at the corner of Findlay Street and Western Avenue. Prior to its name change in 1934 it had been known an Redland Field. Prior to the building of Redland Field, the Palace of the Fans stood on this location (1902-1911). And Prior to that, League Park (1884-1901), [known as American Park (1884-1890)] stood in this same location. So, for 86 years baseball had been played at Findlay and Western. In fact, had Crosley remained at Findlay and Western until today, Findlay and Western would be the oldest home of professional baseball in the world.** As it is, the honor goes to Detroit. On April 28, 1896, baseball was first played on the site that now is Tiger Stadium (then Bennett Park), making "The Corner" (Michigan & Trumbull) the oldest current home to pro baseball in the world. This will come to an end on Opening Day, 2000 when the new Tiger Ballpark opens one mile away from old Tiger Stadium.

(**Labatt Memorial Park in London, Ontario, Canada is the oldest site currently in use for baseball of all kinds, (amateur, semipro, etc.) dating back to 1877. Labatt Memorial Park was built in 1877 as Tecumseh Park, and after the original grandstand was destroyed by flood in 1937, the Labatt family (of Labatt Beer fame and native Londoners) bought the park, built new grandstands, and donated it to the city. Currently it is home to the London Werewolves of the Frontier League and the London Majors of the Inter-County Amateur League.)

Historical Note

Crosley Field, in Cincinnati, opened on April 11, 1912 as Redland Field
Closed: 1970 * Demolished: 1972


Tiger Stadium, in Detroit, opened on April 20, 1912 as Navin Field
Final Game: 1999


Fenway Park, in Boston, opened on April 20, 1912 as Fenway Park
Still in Use


Wrigley Field, in Chicago, opened on April 23, 1914 as Weeghman Park
(First National League game: April 20, 1916)
Still in Use