Wolfson Park
) (1998–99) |
Samuel W. Wolfson Baseball Park (originally Jacksonville Baseball Park) was a
History
The facility, originally known as Jacksonville Baseball Park
The new park opened on March 16, 1955, with an exhibition game between the
After selling the team to
Features
The park had several features that were unusual among ballparks.[5]
- The infield and base paths outside of the mound, around home plate, and sliding pits around each base were grass, a configuration more commonly associated with artificial turf fields.
- The outfield wall was 25 feet high, all the way around. There were no seats in the outfield.
- The first three rows of seats were in front of the dugouts, permitting fans to look directly into them.
- The digital scoreboard from 1980 that replaced the original sun shaped scoreboard in center left field was not located inside the stadium—it was across a street from the outfield wall.
- The entire grandstand, including the lower boxes, was covered by a roof.
Notable athletes
In late March 1955, 8,209 fans paid to watch the
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
Notes
- ^a Local newspaper, The Florida Times-Union[4] shows the original name as "Municipal Stadium", while former operator SMG notates "Municipal Ballpark".[7] However, it appears the name "Jacksonville Baseball Park" was more commonly used in the media from 1954 to 1960.[8]
References
- ^ 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 February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park". Digitalballparks.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ a b Foley, Bill (October 22, 1997). "Braves ousted again: It's the Jacksonville jinx". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Frenrette, Gene (August 25, 2002). "Wolfson Park nears its final innings". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ a b Ballpark Reviews-Wolfson Park
- ^ Moore, Scotty: "Wolfson Park-Jacksonville, FL"
- ^ "Wolfson Park". Jax Events. Archived from the original on May 20, 2000. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
- ^ Max Marbut (December 3, 2013). "50 years ago this week". Jacksonville Daily Record. Retrieved December 3, 2013 – via Google News Archive.