Recently I posted an article to this list on the subject of the first AL ballpark in Cleveland-League Park III.  After reviewing game accounts involving home runs for the 1908 season I arrived at a conclusion concerning the RF-CF configuration of the park in the 1908 season.

Here is the evidence:

(1)     From the Cleveland Plain Dealer June 5, 1908:  In the game account (G on prior day 6-4-1908), Inside-the-Park home run (IPHR) by Bill Hickman (an IPHR to CF) was described as the first home run by Cleveland on the enlarged grounds.

(2)     HR data for League Park showed over the five seasons (1903-07) nine IPHRs, of which three were to CF.  For the 1908 season there were nine IPHRs, of which six were to CF.

(3)     The cause of this marked increase in IPHRs was first believed to be due to the removal of the RF bleachers before the 1908 season.  Photographic evidence (photo in the Cleveland Leader) showed no RF bleachers in existence in the 1909 season.  However during the 1908 season there were six home runs hit into the RF bleaches.

(4)     Clearly, the RF bleachers were not removed before the 1908 season.  The answer to the increase in IPHRs-especially to CF- was due to the construction of new bleachers in left-center behind the LF-CF fence.  As these bleachers extended all the way to the CF corner, the view from them would have been largely blocked by the CF portion of the pre-existing RF bleachers.  The answer I concluded, was the CF portion of the RF bleachers were removed prior to the 1908 season-thus the reference (G of 6-4-1908) to as the first home run by Cleveland on the enlarged grounds, and six home runs into the RF bleachers still remaining.

(5)     Home data supplied by David Vincent from the SABR Home Run Log-additional research on all home runs at League Park in the Deadball era by the author.

The revised article on League Park III follows.  I hope the formatting of the tables comes out better in the List than my first attempt.

Ron Selter

Cleveland LEAGUE PARK (III) In The Deadball Era

(Revised 4-9-2006)

There were four ballpark in Cleveland called League Park.  The first (League Park I) was used by the NL Cleveland Spiders 1879-1884.  This park was located at Silby (later Carnegie) St, Kennard (later East 46th) St, and Cedar St.  The second park (League Park II) was used by the AA Cleveland Spiders 1887-1888 and the NL Cleveland Spiders 1889-1890.  This second park in Cleveland to be called League Park was at a different location (39th St, East 35th St, Euclid Ave, and Payne Ave).  League Park III was at a third location (located in downtown Cleveland at East 70th St, Linwood Ave, Dunham (later East 66th) St, and Lexington Ave Northeast)⁽¹⁾.  League Park III was used by the little-lamented NL Cleveland Spiders for the 1891-99 seasons, and was the first Cleveland ballpark used by the AL.  League Park IV was built of steel-and-concrete on the site of League Park III between the 1909 and 1910 seasons.  This park was later used by the AL Cleveland Indians until mid-season 1932, and again for most home games from 1934 to 1946.

At League Park III, home plate and the grandstand were located in the Northwest corner of the site.  Dimensional data for this ballpark in Green Cathedrals are limited to RF (290) and the height of the RF fence (20 ft).

The park, when it was first used by the AL in 1901, consisted of a covered wooden grandstand in several sections from well beyond 1B to well beyond 3B.  In addition, small bleachers were located far down the LF and RF foul lines.  In 1901-02 there were no seats in the fair portion of the outfield.  The seating capacity of the park in 1901 was about 9,000.  The ballpark’s dimensions were constrained by the inability of the club to purchase a saloon on Lexington Ave, in what would have been the RF corner.  Except for this aspect the park site was rectangular.  Because of the necessity to avoid the saloon property, the field was angled such that the RF foul line just missed the corner of the saloon property.  As a result, the RF line met the RF fence at more than 90 degrees, and the LF foul line therefore had to intersect the LF fence at less than 90 degrees.  The LF and RF fences meet in the CF corner (to the right of dead CF) at a right angle. 

The knowledge of the park’s configuration and dimensions was based on two principal sources: (1) an 1896 Sanborn fire insurance map, and (2) a 1909 panoramic photo of the park from the Cleveland Leader.  The known RF dimension (290) was used to position home plate (at an estimated 75 ft from the backstop) on the Sanborn map.  The resulting LF dimension was 353, and dead CF was 409.  The CF corner, at the junction of the LF and RF fences, was about halfway between dead CF and right-center, and was a substantial distance from home plate (445).

The first configuration change was before the 1903 season.  Capacity was increased with the building of bleachers in RF in front of the majority of the high RF fence.  These bleachers extended from center field to within about 50 ft of the RF foul line.  These RF bleachers, whose depth was estimated, reduced the straight-away RF distance from 323 to about 290.  The seating capacity of the park was again increased for the 1908 season by the construction of a second set of bleachers behind the left-center field portion of the LF fence.  These bleachers, as shown in the 1909 photo from the Cleveland Leader, extended from about left-center all the way to the CF corner.  At the same time the center field portion of the RF bleachers were removed-most likely to unblock the sight lines from the new bleachers.  The main portion of the RF bleachers remained in use for another season (1908) after which, they were removed. 

Unlike many Deadball Era ballparks, League Park III was not a park conducive to Inside-the-Park-Home Runs as shown by the home run data below.  The installation of the RF bleachers for the 1903 season led to a rough equality in the number of Over-The-Fence (OTF) home runs to LF and RF in the next six seasons.  OTF home runs to CF were both infrequent and notable.  One suspects the park’s original AL configuration was not designed to suit the home team’s sluggers, as Cleveland hit zero home runs in the 1901 season to the visitors 12.

Home Runs By Type

Seasons   Total   OTF    Bounce       IP

1901-02    32     22       0        10

1903-08    86     68       4        18    

1909       3       0       0        3

1901-09   121     90       4        31

_____________________

OTF: Over-The-Fence (Includes Bounce)

Bounce: Bounce Home Runs

IP: Inside-the-Park-Home Runs

OTF Home Run Distribution (Excluding Bounce)

Seasons     Total     LF   CF    RF   UNK

1901-02       22      12     1     1    8

1903-08       64      28     3     9    4  

1909           0       

Dimensions  (From 1896 Sanborn)

Seasons     LF   LC     CF    RC     RF

1901-02     353  362    409   390   290

1903-08     353  362    409   352   290

1909        353  362    409   390   290

Average Outfield Distances  

Seasons     LF   CF    RF

1901-02     351  402   328

1903-07     351  390   303

1908        351  397   303

1909        351  402   328

Fence Heights

Seasons     LF   CF       RF

1901-02     10   10-20     20

1903-07     10   10-20     6-20

1908        10   6-20     6-20

1909        10   6-20     20

1       Philip Lowry, Green Cathedrals, Revised Edition 1992

2       Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map, Cleveland 1896