Red Smith on Bobby
Thomson’s 1951 pennant-winning
home run.
What kind of ivy is used at Wrigley Field?
Built in 1914, Wrigley Field originally had an uncovered brick wall in the outfield that was a danger to outfielders. In 1937, Bill Veeck planted ivy plants along the wall. The ivy has grown thick over the years, and often balls get stuck in the foliage, but the frustration an outfielder might face in searching for a lost ball is a small price to pay for the safety that is provided.
The ivy of choice is Boston ivy, which is capable of surviving the harsh Chicago winters.
What was the fi rst baseball stadium built of concrete and steel?
Concrete and steel stadiums are the norm in professional baseball, and have been for generations, but there was a time in the early years of the major leagues when all stadiums were constructed of wood. This began to change in 1909 when Shibe Park opened in Philadelphia.
Shibe Park was built for the Philadelphia Athletics at a cost of $457,167.71, and originally seated 20,000 fans. In 1925, an upper deck and outfield seats were added to bring capacity to 33,000.
The Athletics eventually moved to Kansas City and later Oakland, but Shibe Park continued to be used by the National League’s Philadelphia Phillies until 1970. It was demolished in 1976.
Why did the Boston Red Sox rearrange the order of the plaques for retired numbers on their out fi eld wall in the 1990s?
Currently there are eight retired numbers on the wall at Fenway Park, but for many years, the numbers of Ted Williams (9), Joe Cronin (4), Bobby Doerr (1), and Carl Yastrzemski (8) were the only numbers on display, and they were arranged in that order.
In the 1980s, media began fabricating the “Curse of the Bambino.” The supposed “curse” was a hex Babe Ruth placed on the team after being sold to the Yankees. Ruth never actually placed any curse on the team, but it made for a nice story. In 1989, a new piece was added to the myth when Yastrzemski’s number was retired. Someone observed that the order of the numbers, if seen as a date, would be 9–4–18 — September 4, 1918. That date was the night before the 1918 World Series — the last that the Red Sox had won. As much of a stretch as it was, this was useful information to curse theorists.
In the 1990s, the numbers were arranged in order — 1, 4, 8, 9 — in an effort to break the curse. The rewards were not immediate, but curse believers will tell you that if the numbers had not been re-ordered, the Red Sox would not have won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
What happened to the lights that were supposed to be installed in Wrigley Field in 1941?
Wrigley Field was long known as the last hold out against night baseball, playing 5,687 consecutive day games before lights were finally installed and night games played in 1988.
But the holdout was almost a brief one. In 1941, lights were delivered to Wrigley Field for the purpose of lighting the stadium for night games for the 1942 season. But the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, a patriotic William Wrigley donated the lights to a shipyard to aid in the war effort.
As time went on, day games became a nearly unbreakable tradition. But by the late 1980s, the lack of lights became an issue, to the point that Major League Baseball was threatening to force the Cubs to play postseason games at Busch Stadium in St. Louis — an unthinkable penalty for Cards-hating Cubs fans. So, on August 8, the Cubs started their first night game at Wrigley.
The baseball gods must have been reluctant to part with tradition; the game was called due to rain after three innings, and the official night game at Wrigley wasn’t played until the following evening.
What is the only monument in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park that is not dedicated to a speci fi c person?
One of the most famous features of the old and new Yankee Stadiums is Monument Park. Once located on the playing field before being moved behind the outfield wall in the 1970s, the section of the park honours former Yankee greats with plaques and monuments.
But one plaque is not dedicated to an individual — it is dedicated to a group of people. On September 11, 2002, one year after the attacks on the World Trade Center, a plaque was placed in the back right corner of Monument Park in honour of the victims and rescue workers of 9/11.
What was the “Black Monster”?
For two years, in 2001 and 2002, part of the outfield at Cincinnati’s Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) was demolished to make room for The Great American Ballpark, which was being built immediately next to Cinergy. But despite the partial demolition, Cinergy Field was still used for Reds games.
The removal of outfield seats created a less than ideal backdrop for hitters, so a 40-foot black wall was erected in center field. The wall was in play, and for two seasons the wall, known as the Black Monster, was the highest outfield wall in the Majors.
The Reds moved to their new stadium and Cinergy was completely levelled.
What stadium has a section called the “Uecker seats”?
Bob Uecker was a mediocre ballplayer (his lifetime batting average was an even .200), but he became known as “Mr. Baseball” after his playing career thanks to his antics as a broadcaster, actor, and pitchman.
Uecker appeared in a series of beer commercials for Miller Lite. In one of the most memorable, Uecker is attending a baseball game when an usher tells him he’s in the wrong seat. Uecker follows the usher, saying “I must be in the front row!” He’s then escorted to upper deck seats behind a post.
Thereafter, fans and media began referring to seats far from the action, or with obstructed views, as “Uecker seats.” It was Milwaukee’s Miller Park that officially gave the name to a section of the stands. Seats in that section are blocked by the pivot for the stadium roof. On the bright side, the tickets only cost one dollar.
What is the highest out fi eld wall in professional baseball?
While Fenway’s Green Monster is without doubt the most famous outfield wall in the sport, it’s not the highest. That honour goes to the Arch Nemesis, the left field wall at Sovereign Bank Stadium in York, Pennsylvania. The park is the home of the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
Sovereign Bank Stadium opened its doors for the 2007 stadium, with the Arch Nemesis measuring 37 feet, eight inches — a mere six inches higher than the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
When was the fi rst World Series played entirely on arti fi cial turf?
The World Series had been played on AstroTurf twice before — in 1975 and 1976 — but only one team (the Cincinnati Reds
