Posts by Byron Bennett
Henley Field – A Walk Back In Time
Henley Field is located at 1125 North Florida Avenue in Lakeland Florida. In 1923, the ballpark was known as Adair Field, built on land purchased from Dr. Pike Adair by the City of Lakeland. At the urging of Clare Henley, President of the Lakeland Baseball Club, the Cleveland Indians began training at Adair Field in 1923. In…
Read MoreClearwater Athletic Field – The Phillies First Clearwater Home
Clearwater Athletic Field was located near the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Seminole Street in Clearwater, Florida. It hosted major league spring training for over 30 years, from 1923 to 1954. The Brooklyn Dodgers first occupied the ballpark from 1923 to 1932, having previously trained at J.P. Small Memorial Park in Jacksonville, Florida. The Dodgers departed Clearwater…
Read MoreJack Russell Stadium – The Phillies’ Second Clearwater Home
Jack Russell Stadium is located at 800 Phillies Drive in Clearwater, Florida. For almost 50 years it was the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Constructed in 1954, the ballpark opened in 1955 when the Phillies moved their spring training home two blocks west from Clearwater Athletic Field. The Phillies had held their spring training…
Read MoreFort Myer’s Terry Park – Over 100 Years of Baseball History
Terry Park is located at 3410 Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers, Florida. The ballpark hosted major league spring training for over 50 years, from the early 1920s to the late 1980s. The earliest professional baseball activity at the site was in 1914 when the American Association Louisville Colonels held spring training on the grounds of the…
Read MoreTinker Field – 100 Years of Baseball in Orlando, Florida
Tinker Field is located at 1610 West Church Street in Orlando, Florida. The actual playing field dates back to 1914, when it was constructed by the City of Orlando. The original grandstand was constructed in 1923. The stadium is named in honor of Hall of Famer Joe Tinker, the former Chicago Cubs shortstop made famous in…
Read MorePlant Field and the Roots of Spring Training in Tampa, Florida
Plant Field was located near the northeast intersection of North Boulevard and West North B Street in Tampa, Florida. Constructed in the 1890s, the athletic facility was on the grounds of the Tampa Bay Hotel and included a variety of athletic fields, including horse racing, for guests of the hotel. Plant Field was named after…
Read MoreFt. Lauderdale Stadium – The Ghost of Spring Trainings Past
Fort Lauderdale Stadium is located at 1401 NW 55th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, just east of the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and north of Lockhart Stadium. Although the City of Fort Lauderdale operates the ballpark, the land it is on is part of the 64 acres that make up the airport. For almost 50 seasons,…
Read MoreSarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium Redux
Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida, is not a lost ballpark. However, the stadium as it existed in when it first opened in 1989 is long gone, replaced with a strikingly different ballpark that calls out for a deadballbaseball then and now comparison. Ed Smith Stadium as it exists today is modern, yet seemingly from…
Read MoreA Drive Around Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium
In February 2001, the City of Baltimore began demolition of Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. A fight over what to do with the 10 story memorial wall dedicated to the memory of those “who so valiantly fought and served in the World Wars” delayed completion of the task until the Spring of 2002. In January 2000, a year…
Read MoreThe Rockpile – Buffalo’s War Memorial Stadium
War Memorial Stadium was a multi-use sports facility located at 285 Dodge Street in Buffalo, New York. The name of the venue changed over time, from Roesch Memorial Stadium (named after former Buffalo Mayor Charles Roesch) in 1937, to Grover Cleveland Stadium (in honor of the former President, Chief Justice, and Buffalo Mayor) from 1937-38, to…
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