League Park, Cleveland, Ohio
Image Source: Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Photo Subject: A crowd is forming outside Cleveland’s League Park grand stand and pavilion entrance. The date of the image is unknown, but it is most likely before 1910 because League Park was rebuilt then using steel and concrete.
Fun Fact: League Park was a venue at the corner of East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue that hosted sports events including baseball, football and boxing. The first ballpark at the site was built by Frank De Hass Robison, owner of the Cleveland Spiders on land served by his streetcar line. If you look and the lower right-hand corner of this image, you can see the streetcar rails.
A couple of historic moments for the early League Park were:
· Cy Young pitched the first game there on May 1, 1891 before 9,000 spectators.
· Addie Joss threw a perfect game there in 1908, and after his untimely death in 1911, League Park hosted a benefit game for his family, pitting the Indians against a team of American League all-stars, a forerunner to the All-Star Game we know today.
The park had wooden stands on one level and also served as a picnic ground for baseball fans who arrived early to watch batting practice. After the Spiders were contracted following the 1899 season, the ballpark became home to the new Indians of the American League.
Painting Detail: Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details, street pedestrians, were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgement: Encyclopedia of Cleveland History