THE CLASSIC BALLPARKS OF
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
CROSLEY FIELD
ORIGINAL ADDRESS
Findlay St. and Western Avenue
Cincinnati, OH
BALLPARK FACTS
DATE OPENED: April 11, 1912
DATE of LAST GAME: June 24, 1970
DATE of DEMOLITION: April 19, 1972
SEATING CAPACITY: 30,322
BALLPARK NAME: From 1912 to 1933, the ballpark was called Redland Field. In 1934, it was renamed Crosley Field after the team was purchased by radio magnate Powel Crosley, Jr.
BALLPARK DIMENSIONS
Left Field: 339 ft.
Left Center: 380 ft.
Center Field: 393 ft.
Right Center: 383 ft.
Right Field: 366 ft.
BALLPARK QUIRKS
The Crosley Field outfield contained a number of weird-angled nooks and crannies that made outfield play somewhat treacherous.
Crosley Field's outfield wall partially consisted of an iconic 58-ft scoreboard in left center field that featured a large Longines clock at its top.
A building housing a large commercial laundry called the Superior Towel and Linen Service stood directly behind the left field wall. It was torn down in 1960. In an homage to this classic old ballpark feature. the San Diego Padres re-created this feature into their own new ballpark, Petco Park, by incorporating the warehouse building of a metal supply company called Western Metal Supply into its left field wall.
The most famous (or infamous) feature of Crosley Field was a four-foot incline in the outfield grass that started approximately 25 ft from the warning track and rising to the base of the outfield wall. This incline stretched from left field to left center field. Years later in an effort to incorporate unique features of old ballparks, the outfield incline was re-created by the Houston Astros in the center field area of their new ballpark, Minute Maid Park.
The neighborhood buildings and the land beyond the outfield walls of Crosley Field were cleared away in 1962 to make way for the construction of Interstate 75.
An aerial view of a jam-packed Crosley Field during Game 3 of the 1939 World Series.
A view of Redland Field during Game 1 of the infamous 1919 World Series. The Reds beat the Chicago White Sox 5 games to 3 in a series that was tainted by the "Black Sox Scandal," in which eight White Sox players were found guilty of fixing the Series under the influence of New York racketeer Arnold Rothstein.
It's Friday night, May 24, 1935, and Crosley Field is awash in lights for the first night game in Major League Baseball history. The Reds won the ballgame 2-1 over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Phillies outfielder Ethan Allen steps to the plate against the Reds in the first night game in Major League Baseball history. - Friday, May 24, 1935
An overhead view of damaged and waterlogged Crosley Field after the Ohio River Flood in January of 1937. The Ohio River flood wreaked havoc from Pennsylvania to Illinois, and killed more than 380 people.
Forced to leave the game he loved because of the ALS disease that would soon carry his name, the legendary Lou Gehrig (#4) leaves the field for the final time. The Yankees beat the Reds 7-4 at Crosley Field to complete a 4 games to 0 sweep.
Sunday, October 8, 1939
Reds fans gather outside Crosley Field before Game 1 of the 1940 World Series. The Reds won the series over the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3, erasing the memory of the previous year's World Series when they were swept by the New York Yankees. - Wednesday, October 2, 1940
A late 1930s view of one of the quirkier sections of the outfield wall at Crosley Field. Notice the ground rules written on the wall.
Crosley Field during the 1940 World Series between the Reds and the Detroit Tigers.
The iconic Crosley Field scoreboard which stood in left center field.
The Crosley Field scoreboard showing the details of a Reds slaughter of the Chicago Cubs, 23-4.
The Reds play an afternoon home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. At the plate for the Dodgers is Jackie Robinson. The Reds would lose to the powerhouse Dodgers 7-1.
The Reds line up for the National Anthem after pregame introductions on opening day of the 1956 season. The first players in line for the Reds are slugger Ted Kleszewski (18), and rookie right fielder Frank Robinson. Robinson was selected to the National League All-Star team, and would finish the year with a .290 average, 38 home runs, 83 RBIs, and the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Tuesday, April 17, 1956
Tempers flare between the Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates in an afternoon game in 1957.
From 1958 through 1966, Frank Robinson (#20) shared the Cincinnati Reds outfield with one of the most underrated and talented National League stars of the 1960s - center fielder Vada Pinson. A four-time All-Star and a 1961 National League Gold Glove winner, Pinson and Robinson formed one of the most potent 1-2 combinations in all of baseball. As great as Robinson and Pinson were, however, the Reds organization, through sheer racism, closed the door on fielding what should have been one of the greatest outfields in baseball history.
In December of 1957 with the inevitable ascension of Vada Pinson to the big leagues looming ahead for the 1958 season, the Reds chose to trade away a supremely skilled young prospect who should have been the third member of their outfield, a speedy, athletic defensive wizard named Curt Flood. As one of the most infamously racist cities on the National League circuit, Cincinatti was well known to be very unkind to black players throughout the league, including their own. Consequently, the Reds, as did a number of other teams during the 1950s, adhered to a strict "Black Quota" which limited teams from fielding no more than 3 or 4 black players on a roster at one time. The trade of Flood to the St. Louis Cardinals allowed the Reds to keep their Black quota comfortably low.
Curt Flood as a Cincinnati Reds
minor league prospect in 1956.
Unsurprisingly after the trade, Flood would quickly become one of the National League's brightest stars. At the end of his 15-year career, Flood had compiled a lifetime batting average of .293, three All-Star selections, and seven Gold Glove awards as one of the greatest defensive center fielders in baseball history. He would also be a key player in helping lead the Cardinals to three National League pennants and two world championships. Not only did the Reds trade of Flood rob fans of seeing baseball's first all-black outfield, but it also blocked an opportunity for three young men to play together who had more in common than most people knew.
Though they were all born in different areas of the deep south: Robinson in Beaumont, TX, Pinson in Memphis, TN, and Flood in Houston, TX, each of them wound up moving to the west coast as infants, and growing up within blocks of each other in the same west side neighborhood of Oakland, CA. Each young man started their baseball careers as teenagers playing American Legion baseball and later playing varsity baseball at Oakland's McClymonds High School under the tutelage of legendary Oakland high school coach George Powles.
Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson
Through organizational bigotry, the Cincinnati Reds may have robbed themselves of a chance to dominate the National League throughout much of the 1960s, and baseball fans everywhere a of chance to see true on-field excellence.
Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson greet members of their official fan club before a game at Crosley Field in 1959.
The great Frank Robinson eyes a pitch in a 1961 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodger catcher is John Roseboro. Robinson finished the year with a .323 average, 37 home runs, 124 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases while leading the Reds to the National League pennant, and winning the first of his two league MVP Awards.
Frank Robinson takes BP in the Crosley Field batting cage during the 1961 season.
Relief pitcher Luis Arroyo closes out the Reds in the 8th and 9th innings of Game 3 of the 1961 World Series at Crosley Field. The Yankees won the series 4 games to 1.
Saturday, October 7, 1961
The legendary Mickey Mantle takes a painful swing during Game 3 of the 1961 World Series. Mantle bowed out of the race in mid-September with 54 home runs due to a hip injury. Though badly injured, he returned to the Yankee lineup for Game 3.
Saturday, October 7, 1961
American League home run champ Roger Maris faces Reds starter Bob Purkey in Game 3 of the 1961 World Series. After breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record with 61 home runs, Maris won his second consecutive American League MVP Award in 1961.
Saturday, October 7, 1961
Cincinnati native Pete Rose runs onto the Crosley Field turf for the first time as a member of his hometown team. Next to him as he takes the field is his Reds mentor, Frank Robinson.
Reds slugger Wally Post is greeted by teammates at home plate after his 5th inning home run in Game 5 of the 1961 World Series. The Yankee catcher is American League All-Star Elston Howard, the first Black player to wear a New York Yankee uniform. Home runs by Post and Frank Robinson were not enough to overcome the vaunted Yankee attack, as they beat the Reds 13-5 to clinch yet another world championship for the Bronx Bombers.
Monday, October 9. 1961
The Reds battle the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1964 night game at Crosley Field. The first baseman for the Phillies is the great Dick Allen.
The Beatles take to the stage at Crosley Field for the Cincinnati leg of their final American tour.
Sunday, August 21, 1966
Paul McCartney and John Lennon perform on stage with The Beatles at Crosley Field.
Sunday, August 21, 1966
Pete Rose patrols left field during a 1967 game against the Chicago Cubs. The outfield incline of Crosley Field is clearly visible behind Rose.
Sunday , July 30, 1967
A young Pete Rose relaxes in the Reds dugout before a 1967 game at Crosley Field.
Young phenom catcher Johnny Bench signs autographs for fans before a 1968 game at Crosley Field. Bench played seventeen years in the Major Leagues, all with the Reds. A first ballot Hall of Famer, he is generally considered the greatest catcher in baseball history.
With this swing, Henry Aaron singled off Reds starter Wayne Simpson in the second game of a doubleheader at Crosley Field. The hit was the 3000th hit of his Hall of Fame career.
Sunday, May 17, 1970.
All-Star players from the Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates pose together for a picture before the start of the final Reds - Pirates game at Crosley Field. The Reds players are Alex Johnson, Pete Rose. Tony Perez, and Johhny Bench. The Pirates in the photograph are Manny Sanguillen, Willie Stargell, Matty Alou, and Roberto Clemente. Sunday, May 3, 1970.
In the rarest of occurrences, a pitch actually gets past Johnny Bench during the final game at Crosley Field between the Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. At the plate for the Cardinals is future Hall of Famer Lou Brock. - Tuesday, May 5, 1970.
Reds ace Jim Merritt warms up in the bullpen before a 1970 game with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Pete Rose is held on first base by Hall of Fame first baseman Ernie Banks as he watches the movements of pitcher Bill Hands during a game against the Chicago Cubs at Crosley Field. Sunday, June 15, 1969
The end of the line has arrived. After nearly 60 summers of baseball in Redland/Crosley Field, the Reds are playing their final game in storied Crosley Field. Their opponents for the grand finale are the San Francisco Giants. The starting pitcher for the Giants will be one of the greatest pitchers in Major League history, Hall of Famer Juan Marichal. He takes a break here during pregame warm-ups.
A Battle of Black Latin Hall of Famers. Tony Perez (Cuba) faces Juan Marichal (Dominican Republic) in the final game at Crosley Field.
Wednesday. June 24, 1970.
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The great Willie Mays faces Reds starting pitcher Jim McGlothlin in the top of the first inning in the final game at Crosley Field. He would single and drive in a run in three at-bats during the game.
The Reds leave the field for the final time at Crosley Field after beating the Giants 5-4. Six days later, they would begin play at their new ballpark, Riverfront Stadium. The Reds would finish the year in first place in the National League West, and would beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for the National League pennant. In its first year, Riverfront Stadium would host both the 1970 All-Star Game and the World Series, where the Reds would lose to their former star Frank Robinson and the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1.
Jimmy Wynn, "The Toy Cannon" hits the longest home run ever hit at Crosley Field on Saturday, June 10, 1967
(Watch where the ball lands!!!!)
