Crosley Field
Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) and third American Football League (1940–41). It was not the original home of the current NFL franchise of the same name: the home of those Bengals in 1968 and 1969 was nearby Nippert Stadium, located on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Crosley Field was on an asymmetrical block bounded by Findlay Street (south), Western Avenue (northeast, angling), Dalton Avenue (east), York Street (north) and McLean Avenue (west) in the Queensgate section of the city. Crosley has the distinction of being the first major-league park with lights for playing night games.
Former names
Redland Field (1912–1933)
Findlay Street and Dalton Avenue, Cincinnati
20,696 (1912–1926)
26,060 (1927–1937)
29,401 (1938–1946)
30,101 (1947–1950)
29,980 (1951–1952)
29,439 (1953–1955)
29,584 (1956–1958)
30,322 (1959–1963)
29,603 (1964–1969)
29,488 (1970)[2]
1912
Left Field — 360 feet (110 m)
Left-Center — 380 feet (116 m)
Center Field — 420 feet (128 m)
Right-Center — 383 feet (117 m)
Right Field — 360 feet (110 m)
Backstop — 38 feet (12 m)
1958
Left Field — 328 feet (100 m)
Left-Center — 380 feet (116 m)
Center Field — 387 feet (118 m)
Right-Center — 383 feet (117 m)
Right Field — 366 feet (112 m)
Backstop — 78 feet (24 m)
Grass
1911
April 11, 1912
June 24, 1970
April 19, 1972
US$225,000
($7.1 million in 2023 dollars[1])
The "Findlay and Western" intersection was the home field of the Reds from 1884 until mid-season 1970, when the team moved to Riverfront Stadium. The location of the diamond and consequently the main grandstand seating area was shifted several times during the 86+1⁄2 seasons that the Reds played at the site. Three different parks stood there:
Other uses[edit]
Through much of its history, Crosley Field was used for other events besides Cincinnati Reds baseball games. During World War I, the city's police force staged a review at Redland Field on October 17, 1917. The Negro leagues' Cincinnati Tigers in 1936 and 1937 called Crosley home. The original 1937 Cincinnati Bengals football team played home games there.
On August 21, 1966, Crosley Field hosted The Beatles on their final tour. The concert had been scheduled for the previous day, but was rained out. On June 13, 1970, Crosley Field hosted The Cincinnati Pop Festival. The band lineup included: The Stooges, Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, Alice Cooper, Traffic, Mighty Quick, Bob Seger, Mott The Hoople, Ten Years After, Bloodrock, Savage Grace, Brownsville Station, Zephyr, Damnation Of Adam Blessing, and John Drakes Shakedown.
Other events held there included a Roy Rogers rodeo, a political rally for Wendell Willkie, and an Ice Capades show.
Memorial
Memorial
Historical images
Second base
First base
Home plate
Mural
Stadium light post
Road sign
Replica field[edit]
In 1974, Larry Luebbers of Union, Kentucky, built a replica of the Crosley Field playing field on his farm. To that, he added memorabilia that he had harvested during Crosley's demolition, such as seats, signage, and the old Crosley ticket booth; painted advertising on the fences; and opened it for the Cincinnati Suds professional softball team, which he also owned. However, by 1984, it was gone, too. Luebbers was forced to sell his farm to pay off his creditors. Luebbers' son, Larry Luebbers, played for the Reds and several other clubs in the 1990s.[15]
At about the time Larry Luebbers' Crosley re-creation failed, Marvin Thompson, then city manager Cincinnati suburb Blue Ash, came up with the idea to make one of the ballfields of a planned community sports complex a re-creation of Crosley Field. Administrative aide Mark Rohr was put in charge. He tracked down memorabilia for the park; what he couldn't find was often donated by fans. Items such as usher's uniforms, signage, rooftop pennants, and a field microphone were given to the new project, which opened in 1988 with an Old Timer's game (which has been discontinued). A replica scoreboard carries information from the final game at the old park. The field also has a white wall with "CROSLEY FIELD" in red letters in the appropriate font. This re-creation was met with positive reviews from fans old enough to remember the real park, as well as retired Reds players such as Pete Rose, Joe Nuxhall, and Jim O'Toole. A wall features a number of plaques commemorating Crosley-era Reds greats. Additionally, 400 seats from the original field were installed at the Blue Ash replica.
Rohr, who wasn't a baseball fan when the project began, stated: "Sometimes I have a hard time understanding the people who come and stare at this place with tears in their eyes; a woman actually hugged the ticket booth and kissed it". The field is used regularly by teams in various levels of play. Moeller High School's Varsity Baseball team plays its home games at Crosley.
Crosley Field was known as a hitter-friendly park, though it was less so in its early days when the diamond was farther from the fences.
Flood[edit]
In 1937, the Mill Creek flooded, submerging the field under 20 feet (6.1 m) of water.[16] As a lark, Reds pitcher Lee Grissom and the team's traveling secretary, John McDonald, got into a rowboat and entered Crosley Field over the left field fence and rowed to the area of the pitcher's mound. There was a photographer present, of course, and the picture has been well-circulated since then. For example, it can be seen on p. 40–41 of Lost Ballparks, by Lawrence Ritter.
Neighbors[edit]
Across the left field wall on York Street, a sign on the Superior Towel and Linen Service plant advertised a downtown clothier, Seibler Suits, which rewarded any player hitting the sign with a suit. Wally Post, who won 11, led the Reds in this unofficial statistical category; Willie Mays led all visitors with seven. Its demolition in the early-1960s netted 38 parking spaces.