Baseball
In 1906, Muncie fielded its first professional baseball team, the Muncie Fruit Jars, who played in the Interstate Association. The team played again in 1908 season in the Ohio–Indiana League which folded that season, on June 8, with the team in last place. Over the next two decades, McCulloch Park was home to several local semi-pro clubs. In 1931 a permanent wooden grandstand was built by the city. During the 1930s, several major league teams visited the ballpark. On one notable occasion, the St. Louis Browns lost a game to one of Muncie's local teams.
In 1943, the Pittsburgh Pirates traveled to Muncie for the club's spring training session. During this time, the United States was fighting in World War II. The Pirates' selection of Muncie was part of an effort by Major League Baseball to reduce team travel expenses, due to the lower revenues brought about by the war. The 1943 Pirates were managed Frank Frisch and Honus Wagner, both men were Hall of Famers. Their presence helped the team establish a fanbase in Muncie. During the Pirates' stay, other major league teams traveled to McCulloch Park to play them. Rudy York, of the Detroit Tigers, is credited for hitting the longest home run out of the Park.
Once the war ended, the Pirates ended their spring training relationship with Muncie. However, the Cincinnati Reds established a minor league affiliate in the city, called the Muncie Reds. The Reds played at McCulloch Park from 1947 to 1950. Future Cincinnati Reds standouts, Joe Nuxhall and Wally Post, played for Muncie in 1947 and they were among six Muncie Reds players who would later play in the majors.
The Reds disbanded in 1950 and the field was once again used only by amateur and semi-pro clubs.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Association in 1881 under the name Pittsburgh Alleghenys, the club joined the National League in 1887 and was a member of the National League East from 1969 through 1993. The Pirates have won five World Series championships, nine National League pennants, nine National League East division titles and made three appearances in the Wild Card Game.
Riverside Park, located in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, was originally built in 1914 to serve as a spring training park for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1914 to 1917. Sometimes referred to as Tradewater Park, it is the only known baseball park in Kentucky to have hosted a major league team since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899. While the original stadium was destroyed in a flood in the 1930s, it was later rebuilt in 1999. Like the original stadium, the rebuilt park is reconstructed out of wood. It is the only ballpark of its kind in Western Kentucky.
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States.
William Boyd McKechnie was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman during the dead-ball era. McKechnie was the first manager to win World Series titles with two teams, and remains one of only two managers to win pennants with three teams, also capturing the National League title in 1928 with the St. Louis Cardinals. His 1,892 career victories ranked fourth in major league history when he ended his managing career in 1946, and trailed only John McGraw's NL total of 2,669 in league history. He was nicknamed "Deacon" because he sang in his church choir and generally lived a quiet life.
Rickwood Field, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is the oldest professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team-owner Rick Woodward and has served as the home park for the Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro leagues. Though the Barons moved their home games to the Hoover Met in the suburbs, and most recently to Regions Field in Birmingham, Rickwood Field has been preserved and is undergoing gradual restoration as a "working museum" where baseball's history can be experienced. The Barons also play one regular season game a year at Rickwood Field. Rickwood Field is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
LECOM Park is a baseball field located in Bradenton, Florida. It is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and is named after a 15-year naming rights deal was signed with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which has its main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania, and also a campus in Bradenton. It was formerly known as McKechnie Field, named for Bradenton resident and Baseball Hall of Fame great Bill McKechnie, who led the Pirates in 1925 and the Cincinnati Reds in 1940 to World Series titles. He was also a coach with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.
Recreation Park was a sporting grounds and stadium that stood from 1865 to 1905 in Allegheny City,Pennsylvania, which was annexed in 1907 and became the North Side region of Pittsburgh. The park was bounded by Allegheny Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Grant Avenue, and Boquet Street.
Al López Field was a spring training and Minor League baseball ballpark in West Tampa, Tampa, Florida, United States. It was named for Al López, the first Tampa native to play Major League Baseball (MLB), manage an MLB team, and be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Al López Field was built in 1954 and hosted its first spring training in 1955, when the Chicago White Sox moved their training site to Tampa from California. Al López became the White Sox's manager in 1957, and for the next three springs, he was the home manager in a ballpark named after himself. The Cincinnati Reds replaced the White Sox as Al López Field's primary tenant in 1960 and would return every spring for almost 30 years. The Tampa Tarpons, the Reds' Class-A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League, played at the ballpark every summer from 1961–1987, and many members of the Reds' Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s played there early in their professional baseball careers.
Leonard Preston Gilmore [Meow] was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who appeared in one game for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1944 season. Listed at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), 175 lb (79 kg), Gilmore batted and threw right-handed.
The Terry Park Ballfield is a historic site in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The park is named after the family who donated the land in the 1920s. For years the stadium hosted Major League Baseball spring training, as well as a dozen years of Florida State League baseball. The stadium hosted the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Kansas City Royals spring training through the years. Terry Park was also home to some early minor league baseball, most notably the Fort Myers Palms and Fort Myers Royals, both belonging to the Florida State League. Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente, Jimmy Foxx, Bob Feller, Tris Speaker, and George Brett are some of the notable players who have played at Terry Park Field.
Robert Nutting is an American businessman and sports team owner. Since 2007, He has been the principal owner and chairman of the board of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. His other business activities include serving as president & CEO of Ogden Newspapers Inc. He is also the former Chairman of Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Hidden Valley Resort, and Laurel Mountain Ski Area, which he sold to Vail Resorts in December 2021 in a $118 million deal.
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives established players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warm climates of Arizona and Florida to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play.
Plant Field was the first major athletic venue in Tampa, Florida. It was built in 1899 by Henry B. Plant on the grounds of his Tampa Bay Hotel to host various events and activities for guests, and it consisted of a large field ringed by an oval race track flanked by a large covered grandstand on the western straightaway with portable seating used to accommodate a wide variety of uses. Over the ensuing decades, Plant Field drew Tampa residents and visitors to see horse racing, car racing, baseball games, entertainers, and politicians. The stadium also hosted the first professional football and first spring training games in Tampa and was the long-time home of the Florida State Fair.
Richards Park is a baseball field located in Waxahachie, TX, currently serving as the primary home of the Waxahachie High School baseball team. It opened before 1914, has been renovated many times since, and was home to three Major League teams for Spring Training in the early 20th century. It was originally named Jungle Park, and was renamed in 1946 for former MLB player and manager Paul Richards. The capacity is approximately 1,500 spectators.
The Muncie Reds were an Ohio State League (1947) and Ohio–Indiana League (1948–1950) baseball team based in Muncie, Indiana, USA. They were affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds and played at McCulloch Park.
Ban Johnson Park was a baseball stadium located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was also known as Whittington Park and McKee Park. The ballpark was located within today's Whittington Park Historic District and directly across from the still active Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo.
Fogel Field was a baseball park located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, utilized for spring training games and baseball camps between 1912 and 1952. The site was also known as Fordyce Field and Holder Field. Fogel Field was built in 1912 as a spring training site for Major League Baseball teams. The field was named for Horace Fogel, President of the Philadelphia Phillies. Fogel Field hosted the Phillies (1912) and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Kansas City Monarchs (1928), Homestead Grays (1930–1931) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–1935) of Negro league baseball also used Fogel Field as their spring training site.
The Muncie Fruit Jars were a professional minor league baseball team based in Muncie, Indiana. The club was first formed in 1906 as a team in the class-C Interstate Association. The Fruit Jars' name was inspired by Muncie's local economy, which was the home of Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, famous for producing glass canning jars.
The 2017 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's 136th season overall, 131st season as a member of the National League, and the 17th season at PNC Park. They failed to improve on their record from the previous season and finished fourth in the NL Central. The Pirates failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Grant Field was a baseball stadium located in Dunedin, Florida. It was the longtime home of Dunedin amateur baseball and the first spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, as well as home to the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Class A Florida State League. It was closed in 1989 and replaced with TD Ballpark built on the same site.
United States