Terry Park Ballfield
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| (2003) | |
Terry Park Ballfield | |
Lee County Multiple Property Submission | |
| NRHP reference No. | 95000730 |
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The Terry Park Ballfield (also known as the Park T. Pigott Memorial Stadium) is a historic site in
are some of the notable players who have played at Terry Park Field.History
In 1921 the local Fort Myers Terry Family donated approximately 25 acres (100,000 m2) of cow pasture to
Pittsburgh Pirates era
The rebuilt Terry Park created an alliance between Fort Myers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. For years the Pirates wandered all over the country for a spring training location and were looking for a permanent spring training home. During a 12-year period the Pirates spent spring training in seven different locations:
Kansas City Royals era
In 1968 the
In
Fort Myers Royals
In 1978 the Kansas City Royals brought a minor league affiliate to Fort Myers, the team being called the Fort Myers Royals a Single A Florida State League franchise. The team played at Terry Field from 1978 until 1987. In 1985 the Royals won the Florida League Championship. Kevin Seitzer and Bret Saberhagen were members of the Fort Myers team and began their professional careers at Terry Park.
End of professional baseball
After the Royals left Fort Myers, a new spring training team was never fielded at the stadium. Two new stadiums were built in Fort Myers, Hammond Stadium was built for the Minnesota Twins and City of Palms Park was built for the Boston Red Sox. The last professional baseball team to call Terry Park home was the Fort Myers Sun Sox of the short lived Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989 and 1990. The league featured former MLB stars and was played during the winter months. The league folded in 1990. All SPBA playoff games were held at Terry Park, since the league's playoffs occurred during spring training.
National Register of Historic Places
The park pretty much still remained in its 1955 condition. On May 11, 1995 the ball field was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. The memorial stadium was dedicated to area resident, Park T. Pigott (1914–1972), in recognition of his lifetime of service, through sports, to the youth of this community. For the 2003 season Terry Park was used by the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast University while their new ballpark is being built at their Fort Myers campus.
Terry Park Hall of Famers
1925
- Al Simmons
- Lefty Grove
- Jimmie Foxx
- Mickey Cochrane
- Babe Ruth
- Frankie Frisch
- Hack Wilson
- Travis Jackson
- Freddie Lindstrom
1926
- George Kelly
1927
- Ty Cobb
- Eddie Collins
- Zach Wheat
- Rodgers Hornsby
- Jim Bottomley
- Dave Bancroft
1928
- Tris Speaker
- Edd Roush
- Rabbit Maranville
- Mel Ott.
1929
- Grover Cleveland Alexander
- Chuck Klein.
1930
- George Sisler
- Leo Dorocher
1931
- Ernie Lombardi
1932
- Dizzy Dean
- Joe Medwick
1934
- Hank Greenberg
- Charlie Gehringer
- Goose Goslin
- Chuck Hafey
Hurricane damage
In 2004, the stadium was heavily hit by Hurricane Charley with damage from the storm causing the grandstand to be labeled "unsafe". Later in the year, The Board of Lee County Commissioners approved a guaranteed maximum price of $701,697 for Compass Construction to tear down the old grandstand and build a new one. But instead of rebuilding the historic 5,000 seat grandstand, the city replaced it with a small 700 seat structure. This was despite the fact the park was given an official historic marker in 1995. Technically once a grandstand is demolished, the ballpark loses all of its historic significance, regardless of whether it is the same field. Only the old girders have been retained as the outline for a new grandstand which opened in 2005. Therefore, what stands at Terry Park now bears little resemblance to the original historical spring training location it once was. While the new grandstand is covered, it is much smaller and made of metal. Many residents felt it was most unfortunate the county decided not to try to save the classic grandstand. 2006 marked the centennial anniversary of Terry Park – at least the playing field portion of it. The new stadium currently seats about 900 people, as the additional bleachers down the foul lines have been removed. A spring training museum is also being considered for the park.[4]
Today
Today, over 160 college baseball teams from around the country use Terry Park in the month of March to begin their college season. The park is currently part of a multi-diamond facility serving various amateur levels of baseball. The facility sees year-round amateur baseball use. This property is part of the
In 2020, the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organisation in South Korea, managed by former Major Leaguer Matt Williams, held spring training at Terry Park, and the team stayed in Fort Myers extended by pandemic restrictions.[5]
References
- ^ Hernon, Jack. "Ward's Pinch Homer Wins for Pirates; Two Mates Aboard When Blow Struck; Ronnie Kline Gets Victory; Groat, Clemente Rap Three Hits". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 24, 1955. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
- ^ "Pirate Slugging Downs Mets, 7-5; Clemente, Mazeroski and Stargell Hit Home Runs". The New York Times. March 25, 1966. Retrieved March 11, 2019 via Proquest. "Clemente's drive off Darrell Sutherland cleared the center-field wall, about 30 feet high, 425 feet from home plate."
- ^ "Terry Park". 26 October 2009. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Merzbach, Brian. "Terry Park - Fort Myers, Florida". www.ballparkreviews.com.
- ^ Dorsey, David (14 February 2020). "Move over Red Sox, Twins, South Korea's Kia Tigers are also in town for spring training". News-Press. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
External links
