Wolfson Park

Last updated
Wolfson Park
WolfsonPark1.PNG
Wolfson Park
Full nameSamuel W. Wolfson Baseball Park
Former namesNew Jacksonville Baseball Park (planning/construction)
Jacksonville Baseball Park (1955–1964)
Location1201 East Duval Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
Coordinates 30°19′33″N81°38′23″W / 30.325888°N 81.639844°W / 30.325888; -81.639844
OwnerCity of Jacksonville
Operator SMG
Capacity 8,200
Construction
OpenedMarch 16, 1955 (1955-03-16)
ClosedSeptember 3, 2002 (2002-09-03)
DemolishedSeptember 26, 2002 (2002-09-26)
Construction costUS$400,000
(US$4.51 million in 2022 dollars [1] )
Tenants
Jacksonville Braves (South Atlantic) (1955–60)
Jacksonville Jets (South Atlantic) (1961)
Jacksonville Suns (International) (1962–68), [2] (Southern) (1970–2002)
Jacksonville Cyclones (USL A-League) (1998–99)

Samuel W. Wolfson Baseball Park (originally Jacksonville Baseball Park) was a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It stood from 1954 until 2002, when it was demolished and replaced by the new Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. During that time it was home to all of Jacksonville's minor league baseball teams, including the Jacksonville Braves (1955–1960), the Jacksonville Jets (1961), and the Jacksonville Suns (1962–1968 and 1970–2002). It had a seating capacity of 8,200 and was named for local baseball owner Samuel W. Wolfson.

Contents

History

The facility, originally known as Jacksonville Baseball Park a , was built in 1954 at a cost of $400,000 to replace the aging Durkee Field. It was intended to be the new home stadium of Jacksonville's minor league team, the Jacksonville Braves of the South Atlantic League. One of the major proponents of the stadium was Braves owner Samuel W. Wolfson, a local businessman. Wolfson had purchased the struggling Jacksonville Tars franchise and reorganized them as the Braves prior to the 1953 season. [3]

The new park opened on March 16, 1955, with an exhibition game between the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) and the Cincinnati Redlegs. According to H. B. Richardson, Jacksonville Braves general manager at the time, "When the new park opened, it was the best park in the (Double-A) South Atlantic League and probably better than most (Triple-A) Southern League parks at the time. It was a showcase." [4] Phil Niekro stated, "When I played there, Wolfson Park was one of the finest in the country. It made me feel like I was already in the big leagues." [4] Although used primarily for baseball, the facility hosted other events until the Jacksonville Coliseum was built in 1961. A show in July 1955 featured a young Elvis Presley who hid out in a bathroom, then the ticket office, to avoid being mobbed by female fans. [4]

After selling the team to Bill Terry in 1958, Wolfson became president of the South Atlantic League for a year. In 1962, he was named president of the Jacksonville Suns, a new Triple-A franchise. Wolfson died of bone cancer in 1963 and the Jacksonville Baseball Park was renamed Wolfson Park after him. [3] [5] The park continued to serve as the Suns' home stadium for the next four decades. However, age took its toll, and in 2000 plans were drawn up to replace it. The last exhibition game played at Wolfson Park was in 1998, when the Florida Marlins played the Detroit Tigers. [4]

Features

The park had several features that were unusual among ballparks. [5]

Notable athletes

In late March 1955, 8,209 fans paid to watch the Milwaukee Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers play an exhibition game that included numerous individuals who were eventually elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Among them: Hank Aaron, Walter Alston, Roy Campanella, Tommy Lasorda, Eddie Mathews, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and Warren Spahn. [4]

Over the years, dozens of future stars played in the park before moving up to the majors. Those players include Tommie Aaron, Delino DeShields, Andrés Galarraga, Mark Gardner, Randy Johnson, Edgar Martínez, Tug McGraw, Phil Niekro, Dan Quisenberry, Alex Rodriguez, Nolan Ryan, Bret Saberhagen, Tom Seaver, Matt Stairs, Luis Tiant, Bob Uecker and Larry Walker. [4] Michael Jordan, the NBA All-star who left basketball to attempt a pro baseball career with the Birmingham Barons, played in a three-game series in 1994 at Wolfson Park which generated the sale of 30,000 tickets. Attendance in the third game was 12,390 fans, the most since 1962. [4]

Demolition

The facility was demolished in 2002 and replaced with new practice fields for the Jacksonville Jaguars and a parking lot for TIAA Bank Field. The Suns moved two blocks west to the new Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in 2003. [6]

Preceded by Jacksonville Baseball Park
Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park

1955–2002
Succeeded by

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kauffman Stadium</span> Baseball stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Kauffman Stadium, often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is the ballpark to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium is named for Ewing Kauffman, the founder and first owner of the Royals. It opened in 1973 as Royals Stadium and was named for Kauffman twenty years later on July 2, 1993. Since its last major renovation in 2009, the listed seating capacity is 37,903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turner Field</span> Former baseball stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

Turner Field was a baseball stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics, it was converted into a baseball stadium to serve as the new home of the team. The Braves moved less than one block from Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which served as their home field for 31 seasons from 1966 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great American Ball Park</span> Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio

Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It serves as the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field, the Reds' former ballpark from 1970 to 2002. Great American Insurance bought the naming rights to the new stadium at US$75 million for 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Excite Ballpark</span>

Excite Ballpark, previously known as San Jose Municipal Stadium or Muni Stadium, is a baseball park in San Jose, California. It is the home of the Minor League Baseball San Jose Giants, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The team plays in the North Division of the California League. The stadium is also home to the San Jose State University Spartans college baseball team. Local high school baseball divisions also use the ballpark as their championship field. The stadium also hosts concerts, weddings, car shows, and many other community events. It has been the home field for the San Jose Owls, San Jose Red Sox, San Jose Jo Sox, San Jose Pirates, San Jose Missions, San Jose Bees, and the San Jose Expos minor league teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadlock Field</span>

Hadlock Field is a minor league baseball stadium in Portland, Maine. It is primarily home to the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League but also the Portland High School Bulldogs and Deering High School Rams baseball teams. The stadium is named for Edson B. Hadlock Jr., a long-time Portland High School baseball coach and physics teacher and member of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durham Bulls Athletic Park</span> Baseball stadium in North Carolina, US

Durham Bulls Athletic Park is a 10,000-seat ballpark in Durham, North Carolina, that is home to the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. It is also home to the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Central Eagles college baseball teams. The $18.5-million park opened in 1995 as the successor to Durham Athletic Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Diamond (Richmond, Virginia)</span> Baseball stadium in Richmond, Virginia, United States

The Diamond is a baseball stadium located in Richmond, Virginia, USA, on Arthur Ashe Boulevard. It is the home of Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Eastern League and the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team. From 1985 to 2008, it was the home of the Richmond Braves, the Triple-A minor league baseball affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The Diamond seats 12,134 people for baseball; however, for Flying Squirrels games, advertising banners cover up the top rows of the upper deck, reducing seating capacity to 9,560.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clover Park (Florida)</span>

Clover Park is a baseball stadium located in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The stadium was built in time for the 1988 season and holds 7,160 people. It is the spring training home of the New York Mets, as well as the home to the St. Lucie Mets Single-A team and the Florida Complex League Mets Rookie League team. The stadium shares the same field dimensions of the now demolished Shea Stadium. It also sometimes hosts college games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LECOM Park</span> Baseball field in Bradenton, Florida

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trustmark Park</span> Baseball stadium

Trustmark Park has been the home of the Mississippi Braves, the Southern League Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves since 2005. It was announced on January 9, 2024, that the Mississippi Braves would be relocating to Columbus, Georgia, for the 2025 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">121 Financial Ballpark</span> Baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida

121 Financial Ballpark is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Minor League Baseball team, who play in the International League. The facility opened in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smokies Stadium</span>

Smokies Stadium is a baseball stadium located in Kodak, Tennessee, just north of Sevierville and east of Knoxville, adjacent to the tourist centers of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. The park, which opened in 2000, has a capacity of 6,412. It is the home of the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League. Smokies Park was constructed as a replacement facility for the since shuttered Bill Meyer Stadium in Knoxville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peoples Natural Gas Field</span> Baseball park in Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

Peoples Natural Gas Field is a 7,210-seat baseball-only stadium in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that opened in 1999. It is the home ballpark of the Eastern League's Altoona Curve Minor League Baseball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FNB Field</span> Baseball park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

FNB Field is a baseball park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on City Island in the Susquehanna River. It is the home field of the Harrisburg Senators, the Double-A Eastern League affiliate of the Washington Nationals, and was the home stadium of Penn FC of the USL. The original structure was built in 1987 and it was called Riverside Stadium until 2004. It has a capacity of 6,187. The ballpark received a $45 million renovation that began in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of the James Stadium</span>

Bank of the James Stadium, formerly Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium and originally named "City Stadium", is a ballpark located in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, and the current home of the minor league Lynchburg Hillcats team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grainger Stadium</span>

Grainger Stadium is a sports venue located in Kinston, North Carolina. It is the home ballpark for the Down East Wood Ducks, which joined the Carolina League starting in the 2017 season, and was placed in the Low-A East for only the 2021 season. Grainger was previously home to the Kinston Indians and all the professional Kinston baseball teams since 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Stadium</span> Former baseball park in Houston, Texas

Buffalo Stadium was a minor league stadium primarily used by the Houston Buffaloes from 1928 through 1961. It was the site of the first night game between two major league baseball clubs, which took place between the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants in 1931. The Buffaloes were a farm team of the Major League St. Louis Cardinals and provided many great ballplayers to the Cardinals' success in 1930s and 1940s. The arrival of the National League Houston Colt .45s in 1962 brought an end to minor league baseball in Houston. It also went by the names of Buff Stadium and later Busch Stadium. It was bounded by Leeland Street, St. Bernard Street, Coyle Street, and Milby Street in the East End. The railroad tracks leading to Union Station, site of the Houston Astros' current ballpark, ran behind the center field wall. Near the University of Houston, the stadium was also home to the Houston Cougars baseball team during the 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. P. Small Memorial Stadium</span> Baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida, US

J. P. Small Memorial Stadium is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located in the Durkeeville community in northwest Jacksonville. Constructed in 1912 and rebuilt in 1936, it was the city's first municipal recreation field, and served as its primary baseball park before the construction of Wolfson Park in 1954. Throughout the years the stadium has been known at various times as Barrs Field, Durkee Field, and the Myrtle Avenue Ball Park.

The Jacksonville Braves were a minor league baseball team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. The Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves Major League Baseball team, they played in the South Atlantic League from 1953 to 1961. They played their home games at Durkee Field and then Wolfson Park.

References

  1. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  2. "Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park". Digitalballparks.com. Digitalballparks.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 Foley, Bill (October 22, 1997). "Braves ousted again: It's the Jacksonville jinx". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Frenrette, Gene (August 25, 2002). "Wolfson Park nears its final innings". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  5. 1 2 Ballpark Reviews-Wolfson Park
  6. Moore, Scotty: "Wolfson Park-Jacksonville, FL"
  7. "Wolfson Park". Jax Events. Archived from the original on May 20, 2000. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  8. Max Marbut (December 3, 2013). "50 years ago this week". Jacksonville Daily Record . Retrieved December 3, 2013 via Google News Archive.