March 26, 2010 [LINK / comment]

(Milwaukee) County Stadium update

I have made several significant revisions to the diagrams of Comiskey ParkMilwaukee County Stadium, former home of the Braves as well as the Brewers -- and home away from home of the White Sox, briefly. The bleachers are about eight feet deeper than previously estimated, and the profile is rendered with greater detail than before. Plus, there are a number of other minor corrections.

One thing I learned from Baseball Fever is that the expansion of the stadium took place over the course of three years. I had previously inferred from the seating capacity figures given in Philip Lowry's Green Cathedrals that the expansion was done all at once, in 1973. Not so! In 1974, the upper deck was extended to the right field corner, in 1975 the lower deck was extended to the left field corner, and in 1976 the upper deck was extended to the left field corner. Thus, the capacity could not have reached the final level of 53,192 until 1976.

TRIVIA QUESTION: What unique historical characteristic does Milwaukee County Stadium have in common with Fenway Park, Braves Field, Shibe Park, the Polo Grounds, and Sportsman's Park? (Hint: October.) Be specific! The first person to correctly answer by using the comment feature gets his (or her) name displayed on that page as a sponsor for the next year. But first you have to register.

Yankee Stadium: doomed

As expected, the final section of the upper deck of Old Yankee Stadium came crashing down yesterday, at 3:24 P.M. according to someone at Baseball Fever. See demolitionofyankeestadium.com; hat tip to Mike Zurawski. Evidently, Gate Two is slated for destruction as well, despite the earnest protests of Yankee fans and historical preservationists. The New York City Parks and Recreation Department must be run by a bunch of idiots. It is a dark moment in sports history. frown

COMMENT by: Mark London, of Ingleside, IL on Mar 26, 2010 20:57 PM
The common characteristic among the mentioned parks is they hosted World Series games for two separate teams. Shibe Park hosted the A's WS games of '09,'10,'11,'13,'14,'29,'30, and '31 and the Phillies in '50. Fenway Park hosted the Braves in '14 and the Red Sox in '12,'18,'46,'67,'75,'86,'04, and '07. The Boston Braves rented Fenway briefly after abandoning South End Grounds in mid season 1914 while awaiting the completion of Braves Field the following summer. The Red Sox played WS home games in '15 and '16 due to a larger seating capacity at Braves Field. The Braves played their only home WS games in '48. The Polo Grounds hosted New York Giant WS home games in '05,'11,'12,'13,'17,'21-'24,'33,'36,'37,'51, and '54. Yankee WS home games in '21 and '22 ironically were against the landlord Giants. Sportsman's Park hosted Cardinal WS games in '26,'28,'30,'31,'34,'42,'44,'46, and '64 while the landlord Browns only WS appearance wasagainst the tenant Cards in '44. County Stadium hosted Braves WS games in '57 and '58 and Brewer WS games in '82.

COMMENT by: Andrew Clem, of Staunton, VA on Mar 26, 2010 22:19 PM
DING-DING-DING! Right you are, sir, and I couldn't have expressed it better myself. Er -- well, actually you got two of the years wrong, I'm afraid, but after my repeated hockey arena gaffes last year, who am I to be a fact checker? :-) Anyway, the A's did not make the WS in 1909, and the Cardinals also played in the 1943 WS. County Stadium is therefore YOURS, for this year!

BTW, it stands out from all the others in that it was not being shared or leased by a another team residing in the same city at the same time.