palace of the fans [Archive]

Brian McKenna

09-18-2006, 07:31 PM

Palace of the Fans

Cincinnati, Ohio
Tenant: Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Opened: April 17, 1902 (previous parks on this site date back to 1884).
First night game: Never
Last Reds game: October 6, 1911 (Crosley Field erected on this site in 1912).
Surface: Grass
Capacity: n/a

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Location: Left field (N), York Street; third base (W), McLean Avenue; first base (S), Findlay Street; right field (E) and center field (NE), Western Avenue.

Dimensions: Right field: 450 feet.

Fences: n/a

The Reds had played on this site since 1884 in what was called League Park. The field originally faced northwest. In 1894, the field was repositioned to face northeast and a new grandstand was built. The old grandstand was left intact and wrapped around the right field corner of the field. When League Park burned in 1900, the field was repositioned to make use of the old grandstand which had survived the fire. In 1902, when the new Palace of the Fans grandstand was completed, the field was repositioned yet again to face the northeast.

from ballparks.com

Palace of the Fans
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Palace of the Fans
League Park

Facility statistics
Location Findlay St. & McLean Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio
Global Coordinates 39°07′00.94″N, 84°32′12.02″W
Broke ground 1901
Opened April 17, 1902
Closed October 6, 1911
Demolished 1911
Owner
Surface Grass
Former names
League Park (1884-1901)
Tenants
Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Seating capacity
6,000
Dimensions
Right Field - 450 ft (137.2 m)
Palace of the Fans was a baseball stadium that formerly stood in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home of the Cincinnati Reds from 1902 to 1911. Located at McLean Avenue and Findlay Avenue, previous baseball fields had stood on the site since 1884, and Crosley Field was built on the site at the beginning of the 1912 season. The grandstand actually sat atop carriage stalls so that the wealthy could simply drive directly to the game, an early precursor of luxury suites.

[edit]
History
Stadiums housing various Cincinnati teams stood at this location from 1884 on through to Crosley Field. The first park (called League Park) was hastily built in time for the American Association's 1884 season. Palace of the Fans came to be, literally out of the ashes of League Park. After the fire at League Park in 1901, a new stadium was built. This park, Palace of the Fans, was named such because it looked like a palace with its 22 hand carved Corinthian columns with elaborate detail at the top. Baseball historians consider 1902 the beginnings of a new ballpark and consider the changes of the grounds the birth of the Palace of the Fans. But Cincinnatians in 1902 (and beyond) never called the park by that name. They continued to refer to the park as League Park. So unofficially, the Cincinnati Reds opened up their "new" ballpark on April 17th 1902 in a game versus the Chicago Cubs. The Reds lost that game by a score of 6-1. The last game played at the Palace of the Fans was on October 12th 1911 versus the Chicago Cubs. The same team they played when the park was opened.‎

Early 19th century postcard of a game at Palace of the FansThe grandstand was unique; a blend of Roman and Greek styling that had never been used before in a grandstand, and has never been seen since. The 3,000-seat grandstand featured 19 "fashion boxes" along the front railing that could hold 15 or more well to do fans. Beneath the grandstand, at field level, was standing room for 640 more spectators in a rowdy section known as "Rooter's Row." However, the designers of the park forgot to include dugouts or clubhouses for the players.[1] On Opening Day, some 10,000 spectators crowded into the park and watched the Reds lose to the Chicago Cubs, 6-1. With the new stadium the Reds would go on to finish the 1902 season at .500 with a 70-70 record.

If you were a die hard fan, you sat in Rooters Row. This section was so close to the players, the fans could take part in on field conversations. The only thing separating the fans and players was plywood and chicken wire. To make things more interesting, Rooters Row was strategically placed by the bar. As time passed, the stadium went into a state of disrepair. The Cincinnati building inspector started to complain because of cracked girders, decayed supports and unsafe floors. In 1911, George Herrmann and others, took over the Reds and sunk some money into their park. The result would be yet another ballpark constructed on this site, and would be known as Redland Field. That stadium would be the new home of the Cincinnati Reds in 1912.