Now You Know Baseball. Doug Lennox
the city of Toronto began building the retractable SkyDome (now known as the Rogers Centre) for the Blue Jays, Montreal pushed to finally get their retractable roof in place before their Canadian rivals, and in 1988 Olympic Stadium became the first retractable-dome stadium in the majors; the SkyDome followed a year later.
The convertible era in Montreal was short-lived, however. The roof was difficult to operate, prone to ripping, and unsuited for use in high winds. After three seasons the roof was permanently affixed.
Players with More Than 3,000 Career Hits, and a Sub-.300 Batting Average
• Carl Yastrçemski
• Eddie Murray
• Cal Ripken
• Robin Yount
• Dave Winfield
• Craig Biggio
• Rickey Henderson
• Lou Brock
• Rafael Palmeiro
• Al Kaline
How high was Fenway Park’s left fi eld wall when originally constructed?
The Green Monster at Fenway stands at 37 feet, two inches, but it was not originally that high — nor was it green.
When Fenway first opened in 1912, its left field wall was a mere 25 feet high and was covered in advertisements. And while the high wall was a prominent feature of the park, it was not the quirkiest element. In front of the wall was a steep incline that rose 10 feet from its base in left field to its peak at the wall. The hill came to be known as Duffy’s Cliff, named for left fielder Duffy Lewis, who was a master at playing balls off the slope.
Duffy’s Cliff was flattened in 1934, and the wall ultimately reached its current height. But while it was a monster, it didn’t turn green until 1947.
What was the fi rst major league stadium to sell its naming rights to an outside corporation?
Traditionalists have been bemoaning the trend to sell naming rights to stadiums since the mid-1990s, though some would argue that the “trend” is actually quite old. Though Wrigley Field was named after a person rather than a brand of chewing gum, it’s hard not to connect the two, given that the stadium’s owner also owned the gum company.
Baseball was, nevertheless, opposed to corporate name-plugging for many years, and in 1953 rejected a proposal by Cardinals’ owner Anheuser-Busch to rename St. Louis’s Sportsman’s Park “Budweiser Stadium.” Eventually, they agreed to simply name the stadium (and its successors) Busch Stadium.
But by 1995, Major League Baseball had warmed up to the notion of corporate money, and put up no fight when the naming rights to the new home of the Colorado Rockies were sold to Coors Brewing Company, and Coors Field became the first big league stadium to officially sell naming rights.
How many stadiums have the New York Yankees called home?
Over the course of their history, the New York Yankees — under various monikers — have used six stadiums as their home ballpark.
The Yankees began life as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901. They played out of one of many stadiums in that city that went by the name “Oriole Park.” After two seasons, the team moved to New York and set up shop in the newly built Hilltop Park, which had a capacity of 16,000. The team was known as the Highlanders.
In 1911 the park played host to not only the Highlanders, but the New York Giants, who were left homeless after the latest incarnation of the Polo Grounds had burnt down. Two seasons later, a new Polo Grounds opened, and both teams moved to the new facility. At the same time, the Highlanders changed their name to the Yankees.
Then, in 1923, the massive Yankee Stadium opened and New York’s American League entry once again had a home park to themselves. The Yankees played there until 1973, and then made a temporary move to the Mets’ Shea Stadium while Yankee Stadium underwent a massive overhaul. The Yankees returned to their old park in 1976.
Finally, a new Yankee Stadium — a near-replica of the old park — opened in 2009.
Was polo ever actually played at the Polo Grounds?
One of the early great stadiums in baseball was the Polo Grounds, which was home to the New York Giants, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets.
The Polo Grounds that most fans are familiar with was actually the fourth stadium to bear that name. The original, built in 1876, was indeed used for polo, but became a full-time baseball stadium in 1880. That stadium was only in use until 1885. The name, however was retained, and used for three subsequent big-league stadiums.
And yet, after the original stadium, none of the subsequent Polo Grounds were ever used for polo.
What stadium did the Boston Red Sox play out of in the 1915 World Series?
Although Fenway Park had been open since 1912, the stadium could only hold about 27,000 fans. For key games such as World Series games, the Sox moved to the much larger Braves Field — home of the National League’s Boston Braves. And so, in the 1915 World Series, Fenway Park remained silent as Game 3 and Game 4 were played across town.
They Said It …
“The loss of the A’s is more than recompensed by the pleasure of getting rid of Mr. Finley.”
Missouri senator Stuart Symington on the move of the Kansas City Athletics — and owner Charles O.
Finley — to Oakland.
Who was the fi rst team to switch from natural grass to arti fi cial turf?
The Astrodome in Houston was a marvel at the time — the first indoor ballpark. It was considered state of the art. One of the novel features was the use of a special grass modified for indoor use. But even this special grass required sunlight, and so transparent glass panels were included in the ceiling design.
Unfortunately, the glare of sunlight through the panels blinded fielders trying to catch fly balls, and some of the panels needed to be painted over. The grass died. In the stadium’s first season, games were played on dead grass and dirt that had been painted green.
Faced with the likelihood of playing the 1966 season on a dirt field, the team looked for another solution. A company had just invented an artificial grass called ChemGrass. The Astros ordered the new turf for their second season in the Astrodome. At first, there was only enough of the plastic surface to cover the infield, but midway through the season outfield turf was installed.
To capitalize on the new venture, the makers of ChemGrass changed the name of their product to AstroTurf.
Which player demanded that the Detroit Tigers move the fences of their stadium in so that he could hit more home runs?
In 2000, two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez was traded to the Detroit Tigers, who were moving into the newly built Comerica Park. But as a home run hitter, Gonzalez found the new park to be a challenge — the outfield dimensions were massive. Left centre field was a whopping 395 feet from home plate.
Gonzalez struggled, hitting only 22 home runs that season, which was a huge drop considering that prior to joining the Tigers, the fewest number of home runs he’d hit was 39 home runs in each of his past