Top 10 Historical Ballparks pt. 2 (5-1)

5. South End Grounds

The first home of the Boston Braves (aka Red Stocking or Beaneaters) was a castlesque stadium built in 1817. Over it’s 97 years of baseball it was torn (or burn) down twice and rebuilt. The most magnificent incarnation of the field was South End Ground II which was nicknamed the Grand Pavillian. In a pre-Fenway Boston, South End Grounds was the Mecca for Boston baseball. The Braves abandoned the South end Grounds at the end of the 1914 regular season because their fans could no longer fit in the one time palace of the National league. The teamed played their home games at Fenway Park until Braves Field opened on August 18th 1915.


4. Forbes Field

The year before Comiskey Park opened 450 miles east Barney Dreyfuss had his concrete and steel ballpark built (the third baseball stadium to be constructed as such). Following the four month construction of Forbes Field, from March to June of 1909, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed residence replacing their previous home, the wood constructed Exposition Park. The stadium helped set the tone for construction of future stadiums with the inclusion a three tier grandstand. In 1958 the stadium was sold to The University of Pittsburgh for $2M. The University leased the Stadium to the Pirates for the remainder of their time there. In total the team played at the stadium for 60 years before moving to the Three Rivers Stadium in 1970. After its closure the abandoned stadium was damaged by 2 fires before it was demolished in 1971. While most of the original site has been built over by the University portions of the brick outfield wall still remain. For the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC Park, the current home of the Pirates, the Forbes Field wall was restored and a new entrance to emulate the former ticket box and players entrance was built close to it.


3. Shibe Park

In the early 1900’s any professional ballparks that were built of the popular concrete and steel can thank Shibe Park. Philadelphia Athletics owner Benjamin Shibe had the park built in 1909 to contain larger crowds than the A’s former home Columbia Park. The most visually stunning part of the stadium was the Beux Arts coupla/tower and French renaissance façade at the main entrance of the grand stand. Nearby residence that lived close to the right filed fence of the park installed wooden bleachers on their roofs and watched the games free of charge. This infuriated partial owner Connie Mack and after loosing his lawsuit against the home owners he erected a higher right field fence to block the view. In midseason 1938 the Phillies left their previous stadium, the Baker bowl, and moved into Shibe Park to share the upkeep and benefits with the A’s. The A’s played at the Shibe until their move to Kansas City in 1954. The Phillies continued to play their home games on the field until their move to Veteran Stadium in 1971. During the final game fans began dismantling parts of Shibe to take home with them, but it was a fire in 1971 that damaged the stadium to the point of demolition which was completed in '76.

2. Ebbets Field

In 1908 Charlie Ebbets, owner of the Brooklyn Dodger began purchasing lots of land in the block of Bedford Avenue, Sullivan Place, McKeever Place, and Montgomery Street and in 1912 construction began on Ebbets Field. Ebbets field celebrated is grand opening on April 9th 1913 between the Dodgers and Phillies; however an exhibition game played between the Dodgers and Yankees was played three days before. The ballpark was historic on multiple levels but most notably it is where Jackie Robinson made his major league debut breaking the color barrier in professional sports. Though the Dodgers saw great success in the stadium it was in a deteriorating neighborhood and after Walter O’Malley acquired the team in 1950 he soon began planning for another ballpark (at one point he planned to build the first domed baseball stadium.) The City Building Commissioner Robert Moses fought O’Malley over the location of the stadium. In retort O’Malley threatened to move the Dodgers to the west coast and take the Giants with them. In 1957 When Moses wouldn’t budge O’Malley and the Dodgers move to LA and the Giants to San Francisco. Ebbets was demolished in 1960 but it park left a profound mark on the game. The cornerstone of the stadium resides in Cooperstown. When the Mets built Citi Field they used Ebetts as inspiration for the grandstand entrance.


1. Yankee StadiumIn 1913 the New York Yankees moved into Polo Grounds, sharing the stadium with the Giants. After acquiring Babe Ruth in 1920 the Yankees began drawing larger crowds than the Giants and even though the Giants won the '21 World Series, franchise owner Charles Stoneham told the Yanks they needed to find another place to play. Yankees owners Tillinghast Huston and Jacob Ruppert decided to built their own stadium, and with Ruth as the main attraction Yankee Stadium was designed twice as large as most ballparks of the era seating 58,000. Yankee Stadium was the first ballpark to actually poses the title stadium. It was also the first to have three tier seating. Constructed out of steel and concert the stadium was finished in 284 days. A 15' copper frieze (though it is more commonly referee to as the facade) was built around the top of the third deck and eventually painted white. Even though Stoneham was hoping to that the Yankees would move further away (to Queens) the land purchase for the stadium was less than a mile away from Polo Grounds. The Yankees opened the stadium on April 18, 1923 to a reported crowd of 73,000 breaking the record for the largest cows to attend a game. With the renovations made to the stadium in 28 and 37 the capacity grew to 80,000. The stadium was home to some of the greatest players to take the field with names like Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, and Mantle. After years of baseball the deteriorating stadium was sold to the city and the Yankees moved out of the stadium following the 1973 season. For two seasons the Yankees took up residence in Shea Stadium while their home park was renovated. They reopened the Stadium on April 15, 1976 with more modern amenities such as plastic seats, elevators, escalators, and remodeled restrooms. The Yankees remained at the stadium through the 2008 season before moving across the street to New Yankee Stadium. Over it's 85 years Yankee Stadium housed 26 Championship teams. The demolition of Yankee stadium was completed in 2010. The land is now being converted into Heritage Park, a public park that will contain baseball and softball fields. The original shape of the stadium will be outlined by 12,000 trees.

Top 10 Historical Ballparks pt. 1 (10-6)

This started off as a simple blog post but it has taken me almost a month to write it and in the process I have become enamored with baseball history. I hope you enjoy my post(s):

I love baseball. I have always loved baseball. There is something about the crack of a bat, the smell of hot dogs, and the roar of the crowd that still leaves me mesmerized. One of the reasons I will always love baseball is that it embraces its rich history. It is my love of baseball and my love of history that lead me to recently spend hours reading and learning about old baseball stadiums. So I have decided to compile a list of the Top 10 historical stadiums I wish I could have gone to. Since Fenway and Wrigley are still in use they are not included on the list, mainly because I do intend to visit them.

10. Wrigley Field

William K. Wrigley Jr., owner of the Chicago Cubs acquired a second team in 1921, the Los Angeles Angels. Not to be confused with the American League Angels of today the team acquired by Wrigley played in the Pacific Coast League. While the PCL is now a Triple-A league at it’s inception it was just as much a competitive league with top talent as the National or American Leagues. To house his new team Wrigley had a stadium built in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles inception of Wrigley was designed similar to its Chicago predecessor but sported red roofs and a white façade to match surrounding California/Spanish architecture. The Stadium was actually the first “Wrigley” field since the Chicago stadium did not change its name to Wrigley Field until the year after the LA stadium opened. The stadium also had an office/bell tower extending skyward to the right of the grandstand entrance. When the Dodgers and Giants moved to the west coast following the 1957 season hopes were high that Wrigley would house a major league team but the ballpark had no takers. The Angels were pushed out by the new pro ball clubs in the are and the stadium was vacated. During that time Wrigley served as a set location in multiple TV shows and movies, including The Pride of the Yankees. While the PCL Angels were the longest tenants in the stadium the American League Los Angeles Angels (Now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) played their inaugural season in the stadium. In the mid 60’s the neighborhood and stadium were decaying and the decision was made to demolish it.


9. Tiger Stadium (Navin Field/Briggs Stadium)

Navin field opened April 20, 1912, the same opening day as Fenway Park in Boston. Named after team owner, Frank Navin, the ballpark, made of concrete and steel, replaced the wooden Bennett Field previously located on the same site. The home of the Detroit Tigers originally held 23,000 but saw extensive renovations (and name changes) from 1912 until the Tigers last game, played on September 17, 1999. The stadium hosted just about every great American League player of the previous century. It is regarded by some as the greatest stadium the game has ever seen and is most assuredly on of the most popularnplaying fields of the past century. The stadium sat empty for eight years and even though historical or preservation groups tried to save a portion of the stadium demolition began in 2007. While the structure was demolished the field itself still stands and is kept up by volunteers who loved their stadium.


8. League Park

League Park was first built in 1891 and housed three different teams from three different leagues during its time. The National League Cleveland Spiders played in the park until their termination in 1899. The following year the American League Cleveland Indians took up residence on the field playing there until 1946 when they moved permanently to Municipal Stadium (Lakefront Stadium), which was dubbed “The Mistake by the Lake,” (Municipal Stadium was built to attract the 1932 Olympics but the event had already been awarded to Los Angeles by the time Cleveland broke ground.) The Third team to play at League Park were the Cleveland Buckeyes, a team in the Negro American League. The Buckeyes shared the field with the Indians beginning in 1943 and played there until 1949 when they moved to Louisville Kentucky. League Field was demolished in 1951 with the exception of the ticket box office and brick facade along the first base line which have been preserved. The League Park Society is currently raising funds for the renovation/rebuilding of the historic facility.

7. Polo Grounds (II & III)New York was once (and some argue still is) the throne room of baseball. Hosting a staggering fourteen different professional teams over the past 140 years the city that never sleeps never stops playing baseball either. Polo Grounds was originally a polo field but became best known as the home of the New York Giants. The original grounds were demolished in 1889 after the city decided to redirect a street through the middle of the field. The new Polo Grounds (II) opened on July 8th of the same year at a new location, a hollow that sat in the shadow of Coogan's Bluff at the cross streets of 155th St and Eighth Ave. In 1890 Brotherhood Park opened right next to Polo Grounds, and was home to the other New York Giants a team in the newly founded Players League. It was said that fans in the upper decks of both stadiums could watch each other’s games. After one season the Player’s League disband and the original Giants moved the Brotherhood Park renaming it…Polo Grounds III. In 1957 the Giants moved to San Francisco abandoning the Grounds which were demolished in 1964. The only remaining remnant of the ballpark is a stairway that bears the name of former owner John T. Brush.

6. Old Comiskey Park

Five years before construction began on Wrigley Field Charles Comiskey purchase land in Chicago that had previously been the city dump. On July 1st 1910 the White Sox played their first game at the location in the newly constructed White Sox Stadium. The stadium was only the fourth professional ball park built of concrete steel and for a brief amount of time it was known as “The Baseball Palace of the World.” In 1913 it was renamed after the team’s owner. Over the years the park was a pioneer in stadium innovation installing one of the first electric scoreboards and the very first exploding scoreboard that featured the famous pinwheels that lit up when a Sox player would hit a homerun. Comiskey was also home to the famous 1919 team and Black Sox Scandal that left eight men banned from baseball including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. The Sox played at Comiskey for eighty years. When the team moved to the New Comiskey Park (now U.S. Cellular Field) in 1990 Comiskey was the oldest stadium in the league.

The New House

I have become a moving connoisseur. As of today I have moved 19 times. If you do the math it will equal out to packing and lifting and carrying my things once every 1.3 years. When Ashley and I found out that she was pregnant one of the first decisions we made was that we would need to move. Not that Hardin-Simmons married student housing isn’t nice, right down the street from crack dens, bullet hole filled apartments, and a halfway house, but we just felt it was time to explore our options.

After quite a bit of searching we found a house that is close to both of our jobs and not too far from Hardin Simmons. The video below offers a short tour of the house, how it is and explains some of the intended repairs.



Before Spring Break I wanted to have the house painted so that while I was on a mission trip to New Orleans Ashley and her parents could begin moving some of our things in. After what turned out to be a disastrous pink first coat, due to mistaken color, I was left needing to finish painting Wednesday night before the carpets were cleaned on Thursday. By finish painting I mean I had to paint two coats on everything in the house (with the exception of the Jack’s room and the kitchen) before sunrise. I taped, dropped, and painted until 4:00 am when I finally finished, sleep deprived and a little high from paint fumes. The house still has quite a way to go but as Ashley begin nesting and our family grows we will do so in a new home.

The Bad News First

Sunday February 20th was an odd day. I am not one who puts much stock in yin yang philosophy, but if there was ever a time that God used opposite situations to sustain me it was that day. After traveling back from a fun weekend celebrating Cohen’s 1st birthday I went over to Geoffrey’s house. We spent an hour or so watching basketball and decided to tap into our inner athletes and drive to HSU for some campus golf. While driving to campus Geoffrey took a phone call from his father…

The Bad News First

Not many people can say that they know all of the names of the people in their senior class, but I can because I graduated with just 40 other people. While I haven’t kept up with my classmates as well as I should have, through social media I am able to find most of them if I so desire.

One of the young men from the class of 2004 was Keith Hayes. I first met Keith in the 7th grade. We were a part of the same small group that included three others: David Huss, Nick Comey, and Paul Sagovia. The fluidity of our class in High School caused some to come while others left, but David, Keith, and I remained. With the addition of several others, we graduated close friends. In college I lost touch with Keith except the occasional Facebook message until 2010 when I found out Keith had been diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Geoffrey – “Hey Pop!...What!...Keith Hayes!?...When?...”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. Shocked and speechless we decided to not play campus golf. I don’t know how to express what I was feeling: sad, nostalgic, lonely,…scared. Keith was 25, married to his high school sweetheart, smart, talented, and full of potential. As Geoffrey and I sat on my front porch looking at old yearbooks mourning the loss of our friend my phone rang.

The Good News Second

When Ashley and I first found out we were having a baby everyone we told would in return ask the same question, “Do you know what it is yet?” March 7th was circled on our calendar as "the day we find out." While I counted down the days, Ashley made lists of favorite beddings, colors, and outfits separated into two columns: boys and girls. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t hope for a boy. Not that I don’t want daughters, but being the only remaining Wood able to have children there has produced a bit of pressure to produce a male heir.

Me – (Audible Depression) “Hey Babe…My friend Keith died today…Yeah I’m okay. I don’t think it has sunk in yet…Yes I would like to hear some good news…What? We can find out the sex of the baby tonight!?...Yes I want to!”

There are a few perks when your wife works at the ER. One of which is that she has an “in” with the night Sono Tech. At 1:00 am, when her shifted ended, I drove to the ER and we watched with excitement as we found out we will be having a son, Jackson “Jack” Andrew Wood. I don’t know how to express how I felt: ecstatic, relieved, proud,…scared. I celebrated with my wife and we made ridiculously late phone calls to our family at 2:00 in the morning. But through the celebration Keith was still on my mind.

Most people aren’t faced with the worst and best news in the same day. I felt like I was on a teeter-totter of emotion, bouncing between tears of pain and tears of joy. While right now February 20th seems like a significant crossroad, life continues.

David drove into Abilene late Wednesday night and the two of us went to Keith’s celebration service on the 24th. We reconnected with old friends, told stories, and remembered our Keith. Ashley and I have begun buy more blue babyphernalia, and are getting use to calling our baby Jack. While I do not wish to accompany all of life’s celebrations with tragedies I do find some comfort in the symmetry that presented me joy in a time of pain.

Three Years

Written 3/11/2011:



I cannot express to you the feelings I had when I saw my bride begin to walk down the aisle. Her hair was beautiful, her dress gorgeous, and her eyes a piercing blue that (and have continued to) memorized me. Standing next to her, with my hands shaking I made one of the most important commitments of my life, second only to my commitment to Christ:

I Joel, take you, Ashley, to be my wife and my friend, my partner and my lover, for as long as we both shall live. I promise to love you with an undivided heart, to forgive you when I am hurt, to be faithful to you and to believe in us regardless of the circumstances. And as for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord.

Since I first spoke those words to my wife three years ago life has happened; some good, some bad but every moment just as real as the one before. We have lived in three different houses, and are getting ready to move into our fourth. Two cities, one that has been home and another that has felt far from it. We have laughed and we have cried. We have celebrated new life, and mourned great losses. And while I would like to write all of the sagely advice I have obtained in my first three years of marriage, I can easily sum it all up in one sentence:

“I’m sorry Babe; you are right.”

As we begin year four Ashley is twenty-one weeks pregnant with our son, Jackson “Jack” Andrew Wood. We are preparing for parenthood and anxiously anticipating the growth of our family. Jack will bring challenges to our marriage that I cannot even begin to understand yet. But I welcome the challenges because there is no one else I would rather face them with than Ashley, my bride, my wife, my best friend, and my partner.

It has been three years since I last sat in this building on a warm March day but I am still every bit in love my bride today as I was then.


Ashley,

I love you with all my heart, and I believe in us regardless the circumstances.

--Joel

I Love Being an Uncle

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. While I have had much to write about I have had little time to put my thoughts down. While I am going to attempt to catch up, life moves at a high speed pace and I can’t make any promises.

Ashley and I arrived in Lubbock on Friday evening; I had Uncle duties to take care of. I think that the best part about having siblings when you are an adult is when they have children. I love being and Uncle. My niece and nephew(s) (Shepherd is not quite born yet but by the time I post this it is a good possibility that he will be) are great practice for when I become a parent (July 21st ish). And I get to be fun Uncle Joel who gives cookies before bedtime and is always fun to be around. The reason for our trip was Cohen’s birthday, his first birthday.

Cohen is my sister Cassie’s son. On Saturday (Feb 18th) several friends and family members gathered for the party. Cohen is the happiest one year old I have ever seen. His smile and laugh are intoxicating and with a green balloon tied around his back belt loop he walked and crawled around his party amongst a sea of family and friends. My sister made an incredible train birthday cake, which Cohen smeared all over his and his Grammy’s face.

It was a week of firsts for Cohen. He celebrated his first birthday and he also got his first haircut. I decided to celebrate the occasion by making two different videos of Cohen’s birthday week. During his haircut he sat in his Papa’s lap. I videoed the even on my iPhone, which just so happen shoots HD video. Double the speed of the event and put a little music to it and here is the result:

I also decided to make a video out of the many pictures that were taken of Cohen throughout the week. After his party and fun afternoon photo shoot (where this time Papa was behind the camera), I compiled Cohen’s birthday week in 150 seconds:


Today while I have been at work I have been recieving a stream of text messages from my mother, my brother-in-law, and even my sisiter...who is in labor. Sheperd Andrew Wiley will soon be born, and while I do not know alot about babies (yet...I do have one on the way so I am learning) I am certain of one thing...Sheperd will have an Uncle who loves being an Uncle.

UPDATED 3-10-11

Shepherd was born 3:50pm on March 9th. He is 7.9 lbs. He and Carrie are both doing great!