August 8th, 1903, tragedy strikes when an overhanging gallery atop the left field bleachers at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl collapses at 5:40 p.m. during a doubleheader with Boston‚ killing 12 and injuring 282. The incident occurs red when fans rushed to the walkway to witness a street brawl. The second game between the Phillies and the…
1903 – On Opening Day, before 8,376 fans at Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, the Boston Americans defeat the Philadelphia Athletics in the morning game of a Patriots’ Day twin bill, 9 – 4. Connie Mack’s Athletics win the matinee match-up featuring two future Hall of Fame pitchers, 10 – 7, as 27,658 spectators enjoy watching starters Eddie Plank and Cy Young oppose one another.
The bleachers at League Park during a Cleveland Indians game, 1901. Photo by National Baseball Hall of Fame Library’s
The Brooklyn team is notified by a Brooklyn building inspector that the center field bleachers at Washington Park are unsafe. They are removed.
on May 28, 1900, An early morning fire at League Park destroyed the main grandtstand and part of the pavilion. Al that was left standing was a 50-foot section down the right field line. Groundskeeper Matty Schwab, who lived at the corner of Western Avenue and York Street, discovered the fire at 3:30 a.m., but…
On September 12, 1898, Several Reds players, including Harry Steinfeldt, Bill Dammann, Ted Breitenstein and Bob Wood, helped put out a fire at League Park in Cincinnati. The fire interrupted a morning workout. The players formed a bucket brigade to smother the flames, holding the damage to the stands to a minimum. An alert waiter…
1896 – A portion of the fence surrounding the Polo Grounds blows down in a fierce storm.
1895 – New York Giants owner Andrew Freedman institutes reserved grandstand seats to attract businessmen.
In the aftermath of a fierce fight between Baltimore’s John McGraw and Boston’s Tommy Tucker in the 3rd inning, a devastating fire starts in the RF stands at Boston’s South End Grounds. The fire destroys $70,000 worth of equipment as well as the park, the only truly double-decked grandstand Boston would ever have. The fire spreads to adjacent blocks and eventually destroys or severely damages 170 buildings. The team moves to the Congress Street ballpark for several months before returning to the rebuilt Walpole Street park.
Exposition Park, which opened last year as the home of the Pittsburgh Burghers of the short-lived Players’ League, hosts its first Pirates game, a National League contest that the Bucs lose to Chicago, 7-6. The ballpark located on the north side of the Allegheny River, across from Pittsburgh’s downtown area, will be the team’s home until they move to Forbes Field in 1909.
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