Posts by Byron Bennett
Buffalo Base Ball Park and Offermann Stadium
Professional baseball was played at the corner of East Ferry and Michigan Avenue in Buffalo, New York, for 72 years beginning in 1889, through the end of the 1960 season. Originally known as new Olympic Park (old Olympic Park housed Buffalo baseball teams from 1884 to 1888 at the intersection of Richmond Avenue and Summer Street),…
Read MoreBaseballs and Superbowls – Tampa’s Al Lopez Field
Al Lopez Field was located at the intersection of North Himes Avenue and West Woodlawn Avenue in Tampa, Florida. From 1955 to 1959 it was the Spring Training home of the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox relocated to Payne Park in Sarasota, Florida, in 1960. From 1960 until 1987 Al Lopez Field was the Spring Training…
Read MoreA Tiger Stadium Drive Around
Five years ago the last vestiges of Tiger Stadium met the wrecking ball. The decade-long march toward that moment, beginning with the final game on September 27, 1999, culminated with the demolition and removal of the last standing section of the stadium on September 21, 2009. The following video was taken in December 2002, over three years…
Read MoreA Pre-Renovation Wrigley Field Walk Around
Knowing that the Chicago Cubs are embarking on a $575 million renovation of historic Wrigley Field, I visited the ballpark on September 19, 2014, for a day game against the Dodgers. My purpose was to photograph and video Wrigley Field as it exists prior to its renovation. Although perhaps not quite as drastic as the Yankees…
Read MoreThere Once Was A Ballpark – Rochester’s Silver Stadium/Red Wing Stadium
Silver Stadium was located at 500 Norton Street in Rochester, New York. The ballpark opened in 1929 as Red Wing Stadium, and was home to the International League Rochester Red Wings. The Red Wings were then an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, who also constructed and owned the ballpark. The ballpark is notable also as…
Read MoreHartford’s Bulkeley Stadium – Now A Nursing Home With A Home Plate
Morgan M. Bulkeley Stadium was located on the southeast corner of Hanmer Street and George Street in Hartford, Connecticut. The ballpark originated in 1921 as Clarkin Field, named in honor of its builder, Jim Clarkin, the owner of the Eastern League Hartford Senators. After a fire in 1927, the ballpark was rebuilt. Clarkin sold the team…
Read MorePaterson New Jersey’s Hinchliffe Stadium – A Diamond In The Rough
Hinchliffe Stadium is located at the intersection of Liberty Street and Maple Street in Paterson, New Jersey. The ballpark is set directly behind Paterson Public School No. 5, located at 430 Totowa Avenue, just three blocks northeast of the entrance on Maple Street to Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park. Hinchliffe Stadium is named after…
Read MoreThe Stars No Longer Shine At Huntsville’s Joe W. Davis Stadium
Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium is located at 3125 Leeman Ferry Road in Huntsville, Alabama. The ballpark is named after a former Mayor of Huntsville who spearheaded the effort to bring professional baseball to Huntsville. Constructed in 1985, it has been the home of the Southern League Huntsville Stars for the team’s entire existence. The team’s…
Read MoreCleveland’s League Park Reborn – If You Renovate It They Will Come
There is good news in Cleveland. The former site of League Park – once home to the National League Cleveland Spiders, the American League Indians, the National Football League Cleveland Rams, and the Negro American League Cleveland Buckeyes – has been preserved and the historical portions of the ballpark that remain have been restored or renovated. League…
Read MoreThe Nashville Sounds of Silence At Greer Stadium
Hershel Greer Stadium, home of the Nashville Sounds, currently is located at 534 Chestnut Street, in Nashville, Tennessee, just two miles south of downtown Nashville. Greer Stadium was constructed by the City of Nashville in 1978 on land that was once part of Fort Negley, a Civil War fortification once occupied by Union Troops. Fort…
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