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Heritage Sports Stuff 2, 7 Dawson Crescent, Aurora, ON (2026)

Heritage Sports Stuff is an online store where people can purchase 8" x 24" ready-to-hang plaqued posters that celebrate the evolution of NFL, MLB and NHL team uniforms. We have plaqued posters for all 32 NFL teams, all 30 MLB teams and 23 NHL teams.

06/10/2022

Today we're looking at the home ballparks of the Tampa Bay Rays, and it's a short list because the Rays have had just one home ballpark since joining MLB in 1998.
1. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg 1998 - Present

The team itself has had two names:
1. Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1998-2007
2. Tampa Bay Rays 2008-Present

The Tampa - St. Petersburg area has been home to MLB spring training since the 1910’s, but it took another 80+ years before Tampa St. Pete got their own MLB franchise. At first glance it would seem a natural location for a major league team, but for decades there were two seemingly insurmountable hurdles to getting a franchise - the summer heat and the relatively small population base.

April, May and September in central Florida is bearable, but June - August in the blazing sun and heavy humidity doesn’t lend itself to playing and watching baseball, so it wasn’t until indoor ballparks were a reality (the Houston Astrodome led the way in 1965) that Tampa could seriously begin to entertain being home to an MLB team. The second hurdle was the population base, and between 1970 and 1980 the population of the twin cities area grew 46% from 1.1 million to 1.6 million, at which point it was generally accepted that the area might be able to support a major league baseball team (see the chart below for the population growth of the Tampa St. Pete area).

At various times in the 1970’s and 1980’s, a number of MLB teams considered relocating to Tampa St. Pete including The Oakland A's, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, and Seattle Mariners, but in each case the team stayed put, generally with the promise of a new stadium.

Civic leaders in Tampa St. Pete made the decision that they were never going to get an MLB team if they didn’t have an indoor place to play, so St. Petersburg stepped up and in 1985 made the decision to build the Florida Suncoast Dome (known as Tropicana Field since late 1996). Contrary to way it happens with most expansion teams in North American pro sports, the Dome was opened in 1990 but there was still no MLB team in sight. In many cases involving MLB expansion teams or relocations, the team starts in a smaller existing facility while a new, larger facility is then built. But St. Pete followed the Field Of Dreams advice - build it and they will come.

When MLB announced plans in 1991 to add two expansion teams for the 1993 season, it was widely assumed that one would be in Tampa St. Pete. The league thought otherwise and instead awarded franchises to Denver (Colorado Rockies) and Miami (Florida Marlins). Then in 1992 Tampa-based investor Vince Naimoli negotiated a deal to buy the San Francisco Giants and move them to St. Petersburg. He even had a press conference announcing that the Giants were moving, but MLB owners unexpectedly voted to block the deal. Naimoli sued major league baseball for interference, and in part to settle the suit, in March 1995 MLB awarded Naimoli’s ownership group a new expansion franchise (along with the Arizona Diamondbacks) that would begin play in 1998.

So it was some 13+ years after the Florida Suncoast Dome was first approved, and 8+ years since it opened, that fans finally saw the Tampa Bay Devil Rays play their first home game.

And here we are almost 25 years later, and the Rays still call that same ballpark home. It's the only domed stadium in MLB that does not have a retractable roof. And I don’t like speaking ill of people, places or things, but it wasn't a great ballpark when it opened and it isn't a good ballpark now. Yes it lets fans escape the wicked central Florida summer heat of June - August, but it’s not a great fan experience and consequently baseball fans have stayed away from Tropicana in droves. Other than their first season, after which the novelty quickly wore off, the Rays have consistently been among the lowest attended teams in all of MLB, breaking the 1.6 million annual attendance barrier (20,000 fans per game) only three times since the 1998 opening season.

So powers that be, it’s time for a new ballpark. Pitter patter. Build it and they will stay.

If you'd like to buy a copy of this aerial view of Tropicana Field that you could frame or mount yourself, contact me by email/cell/text. And if you don't already own a ready-to-hang 8"x24" plaqued poster that shows the evolution of the Rays uniform from 1998 to the present, consider buying one at www.HeritageSportsStuff.com - they cost around $US35 and $10 shipping. These plaqued posters make a great gift for the huge Tampa Bay Rays fan in your life.

Many thanks for being a fan and for sharing this posting with anyone you think might be interested. We are in the midst of showing home ballparks for most of the MLB current franchises, then we're going to showcase NFL home stadiums followed by NHL home arenas. So tag along for the next six months or so - we have a lot of content to share.

Thank you
Scott

06/07/2022

Onto the Cardinals - America's (baseball) team.

The Cardinals have had three names since joining the National League in 1892:
St. Louis Browns (1892–1898)
St. Louis Perfectos (1899)
St. Louis Cardinals (1900–present)

The Cardinals franchise has had five home stadiums since joining the National League in 1892:
1. Sportsman's Park aka Athletic Park, St. Louis 1892
2. Vandeventer Avenue Ballpark 1893 / New Sportsman's Park (1893-1899) / League Park (1899-1911) / Robison Field (1912-1917) / Cardinal Field (1917-1920), St. Louis 1893 - 1920
3. Sportsman's Park 1920-1952 / Busch Stadium (I) (1953-1966), St. Louis 1920 - 1966
4. Busch Stadium (II), St. Louis 1966 - 2005
5. Busch Stadium (III), St. Louis 2006 - Present
Note: With respect to ballpark #2 - New Sportsman's Park 1893-1920, there was a fire on April 16, 1898 and over the 1898-1889 off season the permanent stands of the ballpark had to be rebuilt. For this reason some people have called the pre-fire and post-fire venues two separate ballparks, but I call it the same ballpark because the same field and bleachers remained.

I've got three little snippets about the Cardinals...

1. "New" Sportsman's Park was outlived by Old Sportsman's Park by 40+ years.

You might well ask, how could this be?

The short story is it seems that for some 80+ years St. Louis was in love with the name Sportsman's Park and used the name as often as they could, resulting in a whole lot of confusion. Read on and see if you can follow - hold on to something solid!

The longer story is that in 1882, German born American entrepreneur Chris von der Ahe bought the St. Louis Brown Stockings team and joined the American Association. He also shortened the team name to the St. Louis Browns. After a fairly successful and profitable ten years, the Browns joined the National League for the 1892 season after the American Association folded. And in 1893 von der Ahe moved his team to a new, larger, ballpark, which he surrounded with an amusement park, complete with beer garden, a horse track in the outfield, a "shoot-the-shoots" water flume ride, and an artificial lake (used for ice skating in winter). The National League, which prohibited gambling on its grounds, disapproved of the race track, and so did von der Ahe's players - for different reasons. The press called the facility "Coney Island West".

The new ballpark was known as New Sportsman's Park (aka Union Park) from its opening in 1893 to 1899. It was named New Sportsman's Park to differentiate it from old Sportsman's Park at 2911 North Grand Boulevard, home to various ballparks since 1867. Known initially as Grand Avenue Ball Grounds, it began to be called Sportsman's Park in 1876. From 1893 to 1901 it was also known as Athletic Park although most fans still called it Sportsman's Park. In 1902 a new park was built on the grounds - can you guess what it was named? This 1902 facility - of course known as Sportsman's Park - was largely rebuilt in 1909 and would be used as home to a major league ball club (either the St. Louis Browns of the American League or the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, or both) until 1966. In 1953 Sportsman's Park was re-named Busch Stadium, but fans still called it Sportsman's Park.

But if you still following along, New Sportsman's Park, opened in 1893, lasted until about 1920, when the St. Louis Cardinals moved back to - you guessed it - Sportsman's Park at 2911 North Grand Blvd. And the club stayed there until 1966. And that's how old Sportsman's Park outlived New Sportsman's Park by 40+ years. Clear as mud.

2. The Cardinals were the first major league team to be owned, and operated, by a woman.
I don't have the space here to properly tell the story, but if you would like to read about Helene Hathaway Robison Britton, reported to be the first female owner of a major league baseball team, this fantastic SABR article tells a great story of how Ms. Britton owned the St. Louis Cardinals from 1911 to 1917 and faced a lot of prejudice and abuse along the way. She was really ahead of her time and it's a great story.
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/helene-britton/

3. And finally, Which came first - the bird or the color? The Color.

The St. Louis Cardinals name comes from the color red, not from the bird - the bird came from the color, not the other way around. In 1899 the Robison brothers, Frank deHass Robison (father of the above mentioned Helene Hathaway Robison Britton) and M. Stanley Robison, bought the St. Louis Browns and shortly thereafter changed the team's accent color from drab brown to bright "cardinal" red. While the team changed their name from Browns to Perfectos in 1899, in 1900 they changed the name to Cardinals and it has stayed the same ever since. So the team is named for the color, not the bird.

If you'd like to buy a set of these seven aerial views of the five Cardinals home ballparks that you could frame or mount yourself, contact me by email/cell/text. And if you don't already own a ready-to-hang 8"x24" plaqued poster that shows the evolution of the Cardinals uniform from the early years to the present, consider buying one at www.HeritageSportsStuff.com - they cost around $US35 and $10 shipping. These plaqued posters make a great gift for the huge St. Louis Cardinals fan in your life.

Many thanks for being a fan and for sharing this posting with anyone you think might be interested. We are in the midst of showing home ballparks for most of the MLB current franchises, then we're going to showcase NFL home stadiums followed by NHL home arenas. So tag along for the next six months or so - we have a lot of content to share.

Thank you
Scott

06/04/2022

On to Seattle and the Mariners. They always say if someone visits Seattle, there’s a 50/50 chance they may never come home. A great city and a great lifestyle - what’s a little rain among friends?

Seattle joined MLB in 1977 at the same time as the Toronto Blue Jays, and for the 45+ years since, the Mariners have had one name and just two home ballparks - a model of consistency. And that’s a testament to the ownership and the fans, because a few short years earlier, in 1969, the Seattle Pilots joined MLB and they had a hugely brief single season stay before hightailing it for Milwaukee (see the Milwaukee Brewers story in this series for more info). So MLB fans had reason to be skeptical that Seattle 2.0 would be much different than the first time around.

The Mariners have only had two home ballparks as seen in the aerial view images below:
1. King County Stadium aka The Kingdome, Seattle 1976 - 1998
2. T-Mobile Park (2019-Present) / Safeco Field (1999-2018), Seattle 1999 - Present

Most fans know that the current ballpark has had two names - from 1999 to 2018 it was known as Safeco Field (named after the Safeco Insurance company), and from 2019 to the present it’s been known a T-Mobile Park (named after the telecommunications company). But what do you know about the naming rights fees paid by those companies and how it compares to other North American pro sports ballparks, stadiums and arenas?

Before you read the next few paragraphs, let’s do a three-question rapid fire quiz:
1. How much do you think T-Mobile pays per year for the naming rights? Slight clue - how many millions per year?
2. How do you think the T-Mobile-Mariners deal compares to the highest MLB naming rights deal - in other words, what’s the #1 amount per year that an MLB team receives for their stadium naming rights? How many millions per year?
3. And finally - across the NFL + MLB + NBA + NHL - what’s the highest amount per year paid to name a stadium/ballpark/arena - how many millions per year?

So if you’re playing at home, you should have three numbers written down and you haven’t yet looked below to see the answers.

And the answer is:

1. In 1999 Safeco signed a 20 year naming rights agreement - $36 million for 20 years, or $1.8 million per year. And the T-Mobile deal ups the ante to $87.5 million for 25 years, or $3.5 million per year. So the answer is $3.5 million.

2. As best I can determine, the gold standard in MLB - where just 20 of the 30 ballparks have naming rights deals - is the New York Mets - Citibank deal that sees Citibank pay the Mets $20 million per year for Citifield. So the answer, at least for the moment, is $20 million per year. It would seem the average naming rights deal for the 20 MLB teams with deals is around $5 million per year, so T-Mobile has themselves a bit of a bargain at $3.5 million per.

3. And when it comes to the “richest” deal in North American sports, it seems to be a bit of a tie between Toronto’s Scotiabank Place (home to the NBA Raptors and NHL Maple Leafs) and the newly named Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles (home to the NBA’s LA Lakers and LA Clippers as well as the NHL’s LA Kings). The amount? Beginning in 2018, Scotiabank pays $40 million Canadian dollars per year (roughly $32 million US$) for a 20 year total of $800 million while Crypto.com has signed up for $700 million for 20 years, or $35 million per year. (Wanna bet that Crypto.com doesn’t make it past the 5 year mark?)

Bonus note: How does the Mariner’s T-Mobile deal compare to the Seahawk’s CenturyLink deal? CenturyLink pays $4.5 million per year.

If you'd like to buy a set of these two aerial views of the Mariners home ballparks that you could frame or mount yourself, contact me by email/cell/text. And if you don't already own a ready-to-hang 8"x24" plaqued poster that shows the evolution of the Seattle Mariners uniform from 1977 to the present, consider buying one at www.HeritageSportsStuff.com - they cost around $US35 and $10 shipping. These plaqued posters make a great gift for the huge Seattle Mariners fan in your life.

Many thanks for being a fan and for sharing this posting with anyone you think might be interested. We are in the midst of showing home ballparks for most of the MLB current franchises, then we're going to showcase NFL home stadiums followed by NHL home arenas. So tag along for the next six months or so - we have a lot of content to share.

Thank you
Scott

05/30/2022

Here we go with the Giants - the San Francisco Giants.

Let's look at the home ballparks of the San Francisco Giants - and there have been quite a few since the Giants (then known as the New York Gothams) joined the National League in 1883 almost 140 years ago.

The franchise has had three names in their almost 140 year history:
New York Gothams 1883-1884
New York Giants 1885 - 1957
San Francisco Giants 1958 - Present

The New York / San Francisco Giants franchise has basically had six home ballparks as shown below:
1. Polo Grounds, New York 1883 - 1888
2. Polo Grounds ll, New York 1889 - 1890
3. Polo Grounds lll and IV (aka Brush Stadium), New York 1891 - 1957
4. Seals Stadium, San Francisco 1958 - 1959
5. Candlestick Park 3Com Park, San Francisco 1960 - 1999
6. Oracle Park / Pac Bell Park / AT+T Park, San Francisco 2000 - Present

But let's be sticklers for a minute and say that in truth, the Giants franchise has had 9 home ballparks as shown below, and some people would say 10 depending on whether they feel Polo Grounds III and Polo Grounds IV were the same ballpark or not:
1. Polo Grounds, New York 1883 - 1888
2. Oakland Park, Jersey City, NJ April 1889 (2 games)
3. St. George Grounds, Staten Island NY April - June 1889 (23 games)
4. Polo Grounds ll, New York July 8, 1889 - 1890
5. Polo Grounds lll, New York 1891 - April 1911 and Polo Grounds IV (aka Brush Stadium) June 1911 - 1957
6. Hilltop Park, New York April 1911 - June 1911
7. Seals Stadium, San Francisco 1958 - 1959
8. Candlestick Park / 3Com Park, San Francisco 1960 - 1999
9. Pac Bell Park (2000-2003) / SBC Park (2004-2005) / AT&T Park (2006-2018) / Oracle Park (2019-Present), San Francisco 2000 - Present

We are working on aerial views of Oakland Park in Jersey City, NJ and the St. George Grounds, Staten Island - these will be added before the end of 2022.

I'd like to tell the story of "The Polo Grounds". The whole "Polo Grounds I / II / III / IV" gets confusing, so let's try to clarify.

Polo Grounds I was located in Harlem at 110th Street and 5th Avenue - across from the Northeast corner of Central Park. It was built in 1876 and demolished in 1889 and among other activities, was home to Polo games and baseball games. The New York Giants (known as the New York Gothams in 1883 and 1884) played at this ballpark from 1883 to 1888. But just prior to the start of the 1889 season, the city of New York was extending their grid of streets into uptown Manhattan, and Polo Grounds I ceased to exist.

The Giants were forced to scramble and opened the 1889 season at Oakland Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, playing their first two games there (April 24 & 25, 1889). On April 29 they moved to the St. George Grounds in Staten Island. After playing 23 home games at the St. George Grounds between April 29 and June 14, the Giants went on the road. Upon their return on July 8 they had relocated again, to a "New Polo Grounds" site within Manhattan at the far terminus of the then Ninth Avenue Elevated at 155th Street and 8th Avenue (now Frederick Douglass Boulevard). Newspaper accounts indicate that the seats from the original Polo Grounds (Polo Grounds I) were moved to the new Polo Grounds stands (Polo Grounds II).

Polo Grounds II was a somewhat hastily built ballpark that was used by the New York Giants beginning in July in 1889 and all of the 1890 season. The structure surrounding home plate was demolished in 1911, although the playing field remained in use for another 20 years until it was paved over for a parking lot in the 1930's. Beginning in 1891, this ballpark became known as Manhattan Field, but it was originally known as Polo Grounds II.

Two Polo Grounds down, two to go.

Polo Grounds III was built in 1889 and early 1890 immediately north of Polo Grounds II. Polo Grounds III underwent a major renovation due to a fire in 1911 and the renovated stadium is referred to as Polo Grounds IV, but because it was the same field and some of the same structures as Polo Grounds III, I classify Polo Grounds III and Polo Grounds IV as the same ballpark.

It's Polo Grounds III / Polo Grounds IV that is the most famous of all the "Polo Grounds". Polo Grounds III was opened in April 1890 and was originally known as Brotherhood Park - it was not originally known as the Polo Grounds because the Polo Grounds name really belonged to the ballpark immediately south (Polo Grounds II). But the New York Giants played the 1890 season at Polo Grounds II, not Polo Grounds III, even though Polo Grounds III was in use in the 1890 baseball season. In 1891 the Giants took their stadium's name with them once again, turning Brotherhood Park into the new-new Polo Grounds, aka Polo Grounds III.

On April 14, 1911 there was a major fire at Polo Grounds III and the fire destroyed the major wooden structure surrounding home plate. The fire did not destroy some of the outfield seats nor the outfield clubhouse. While a new concrete and steel structure was being built, the Giants moved to nearby Hilltop Park in New York, home of the New York Yankees. The newly rebuilt Polo Grounds, now referred to as Polo Grounds IV, opened June 28, 1911 - basically 10 weeks after the fire.

Note 1: When the Polo Grounds (IV) reopened in late June 1911, the ballpark was officially renamed "Brush Stadium" in honour of New York Giants team owner John T. Brush who was the majority owner of the team from 1902 until his death just after the 1912 season ended. The name never really caught on and by 1919 it was back to being called simply "The Polo Grounds", aka Polo Grounds IV.

Note 2: The entire time the New York Giants played at Polo Grounds II / III / IV (from 1889 to 1957), the land under the ballparks - known as Coogan's Hollow - was owned by Jame J. Coogan or his estate - never by the city or the team. And in the end, the Coogan estate was able to sell the land. Now that's smart business.

Note 3: Polo Grounds II / III / IV played host to a lot of different sporting events, but never a polo game.

The Polo Grounds had a somewhat sad final decade - on August 19, 1957, the New York Giants officially announced they were moving to San Francisco for the 1958 season. The stadium then sat mostly empty for three years (fall 1957 to fall 1960) when the NFL's brand new New York Titans (now New York Jets) franchise played at The Polo Grounds. The Jets were joined in 1962 by MLB's new New York Mets. Both the Mets and Jets left the Polo grounds after their 1963 seasons and moved to brand new Shea Stadium. The Polo Grounds demolition began in April 1964 and took several months. The site is now home to the Polo Grounds Towers, a public housing project opened in 1968, and managed by the New York City Housing Authority.

If the Polo Grounds appeals to you, check out this great video tribute first aired in March 1964:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp0RqfbhNwI

If you'd like to buy a set of these ten aerial views of the Giants home ballparks that you could frame or mount yourself, contact me by email/cell/text (images of Oakland Park in Jersey City, NJ and the St. George Cricket Grounds, Staten Island will be added before the end of 2022 to bring the set to 12 images). And if you don't already own a ready-to-hang 8"x24" plaqued poster that shows the evolution of the San Francisco Giants uniform from the early years in New York to the present, consider buying one at www.HeritageSportsStuff.com - they cost around $US35 and $10 shipping. These plaqued posters make a great gift for the huge San Francisco Giants fan in your life.

Many thanks for being a fan and for sharing this posting with anyone you think might be interested. We are in the midst of showing home ballparks for most of the MLB current franchises, then we're going to showcase NFL home stadiums followed by NHL home arenas. So tag along for the next six months or so - we have a lot of content to share.

Thank you
Scott

05/27/2022

Hello San Diego!

The Padres joined MLB in 1969 along with three other teams - the single largest expansion of teams in MLB history since the National League and American League merged in 1903 to form MLB. The four 1969 expansion teams were:
1. San Diego Padres
2. Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals)
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers)

The San Diego Padres have had just two home ballparks in their 50+ year history:
1. San Diego Stadium (1967-1981) / Jack Murphy Stadium (1981 - 1997) / Qualcomm Stadium (1997 - 2017), San Diego 1969 - 2003
2. Petco Park, San Diego 2004 - Present

Petco Park is a wonderful ballpark that eschews symmetry - and it works beautifully. If you are ever tasked with designing a ballpark or football stadium or hockey arena (and who isn't), my advice is to start with as little symmetry as you can and build from there.

Petco Park was planned to be opened for the start of the 2002 MLB season, but was delayed a full two seasons because of a four storey building built in 1909 known as the Western Metal Supply Co. building. Even though the building was abandoned and a bit of a derelict, it was also designated by the City of San Diego as a historic landmark and thus could not be demolished. And the problem was it was smack dab in the middle of the Padre's proposed new ballpark.

In trying to figure out how to overcome this dilemma, a brilliant compromise was reached - the new ballpark would be built, literally, around the Western Metal Supply Co. building. It is a wonderful example of what is known in architectural circles as "adaptive reuse".

Starting with the corner of the brick building as the left field foul pole, Petco Park was then designed around the Western Metal Supply Co. building. The corner of the building is decorated with a yellow stripe marking it as the left field foul pole.

According to the ballpark architect, Joe Spear, “That is how we sighted the ballpark. We built from the corner of that building. We worked backwards. The tip of home plate created that ‘X’ dimension, and the field and grandstand went around that.” The layout changed the orientation of the 42,000-seat park, with the batter now facing due north instead of northeast, as is common in almost all other MLB ballparks.

The Western Metal Supply Co. building was also largely renovated and re-purposed and now plays home to the Padres Team Store, private suites, The Loft restaurants & bar and rooftop seating. Please check out the photo below to see "adaptive reuse" at its best.

It brings to mind the terrific job the Orioles did in the early 1990's with Camden Yards and how they incorporated the almost 100 year old B&O Warehouse - quite possibly the longest brick building on the US East Coast - into the design of Camden Yards.

If you'd like to buy a set of these three aerial views of the Padres two home ballparks that you could frame or mount yourself, contact me by email/cell/text. And if you don't already own a ready-to-hang 8"x24" plaqued poster that shows the evolution of the wildly colorful uniform from the early years to the present, consider buying one at www.HeritageSportsStuff.com - they cost around $US35 and $10 shipping. These plaqued posters make a great gift for the huge San Diego Padres fan in your life.

Many thanks for being a fan and for sharing this posting with anyone you think might be interested. We are in the midst of showing home ballparks for most of the MLB current franchises, then we're going to showcase NFL home stadiums followed by NHL home arenas. So tag along for the next six months or so - we have a lot of content to share.

Thank you
Scott

05/25/2022

Bring on the Pirates!

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had five home ballparks in their history:
1. Recreation Park, Allegheny City PA (now Pittsburgh) 1887 - 1890
2. Exposition Park, Allegheny City PA (now Pittsburgh) 1891 - 1909
3. Forbes Field, Pittsburgh 1909 - 1970
4. Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh 1971 - 2000
5. PNC Park, Pittsburgh 2001 - Present

Forbes Field was a beloved ballpark - beautiful and intimate at the same time - and PNC Park is one of MLB's best ballparks, also beloved by fans. And then there was Three Rivers Stadium - yikes! Three Rivers was large, concrete, impersonal and the opposite of intimate.

But I'd love to focus a bit on Forbes Field. Check out the wonderful looking Forbes Field with its irregular shape and nooks and crannies. Oh to have a time machine and go back to the first three or four decades of Forbes Field.

The Pirates were owned by Barney Dreyfuss from 1900 to his death in 1932. In 1903 Dreyfuss bought land about a 10 minute trolley ride from downtown as the site for a new home ballpark for the Pirates, a location far from the flood lands of Exposition Park. After several years of panning, it was decided that the new ballpark was to be a three-tiered stadium built from steel and concrete to increase longevity and was the first of its kind in the nation. Work on the land began on January 1, 1909 but ground was not officially broken until March 1. Remarkably, the stadium was built in just 122 days and play began June 30, 1909 - less than four months after ground was broken. Hard to believe that such a palace could be built in four months, yet you hear of these amazing feats of building spectacular buildings in very short periods of time in the 1900's to the 1930's. Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto also comes to mind - it as built in 5 1/2 months.

Forbes Field featured a scoreboard that was operated by hand, which was conventional for the time, but it also featured multiple innovations such as ramps and elevators to assist fan movement throughout the park, a dedicated room for the umpires, and a visiting team clubhouse similar to the Pirates own clubhouse. The facade of the stadium featured "buff-colored terra cotta" spelling out "PAC" for the Pittsburgh Athletic Company. The light green steelwork contrasted with the red slate of the roof. Some people urged Dreyfuss to name the stadium after himself but Dreyfuss insisted on Forbes Field because it was located on Forbes Avenue and because Forbes Avenue was named after General John Forbes who captured Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) from the French in 1758 and rebuilt a new "Fort Pitt" at the site. In 1935, after Dreyfuss' death, there was a renewed push to rename the stadium "Dreyfuss Field". His widow, Florence, resisted. It speaks volumes about their humility that the ballpark was always known as Forbes Field.

And for true Pirates fans out there, a quick trivia question:
Think about retired Pirates numbers - can you name at least three retired Pirates numbers and who the number is associated with?
Answer below...

If you'd like to buy a set of these five aerial views of the Pirates home ballparks that you could frame or mount yourself, contact me by email/cell/text. And if you don't already own a ready-to-hang 8"x24" plaqued poster that shows the evolution of the Pirates uniform from the early years to the present, consider buying one at www.HeritageSportsStuff.com - they cost around $US35 and $10 shipping. These plaqued posters make a great gift for the huge Pittsburgh Pirates fan in your life.

Many thanks for being a fan and for sharing this posting with anyone you think might be interested. We are in the midst of showing home ballparks for most of the MLB current franchises, then we're going to showcase NFL home stadiums followed by NHL home arenas. So tag along for the next six months or so - we have a lot of content to share. Including all time beauties like Forbes Field.

Thank you
Scott

PS The answer to the trivia question - the Pirates have retired 9 numbers (10 if you add Jackie Robinson's #42 which has been retired by all MLB teams):
1 Billy Meyer 1954
4 Ralph Kiner September 19, 1987
8 Willie Stargell September 6, 1982
9 Bill Mazeroski August 7, 1987
11 Paul Waner July 21, 2007
20 Pie Traynor April 18, 1972
21 Roberto Clemente April 6, 1973
33 Honus Wagner February 16, 1952
40 Danny Murtaugh April 7, 1977
42 Jackie Robinson April 15, 1997

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