“Play Ball!”

Those two words have been a part of Rochester’s history for generations. The city has been the continuous home of a minor league baseball team longer than any other city in America, having established its first team in 1877.

In the early years, the team played at various sites around town. An early site for the games was the ball field on University Avenue at Culver Road. The games then moved over to the Bay Street field.

Baseball captivated America in the 1920s and Rochester was part of that love affair. A move for a permanent home for the team began in early 1928. In January of that year, team owners John Hicks and William Gilbert, pushed for a new stadium in Rochester. Many other minor league teams were having new venues built at the time, and Rochester needed to keep pace with their colleagues in the International League.

The financial arrangements were still very uncertain, and nothing was near finalized when an announcement was made on January 17, 1928 that the St. Louis Cardinals would buy the Rochester team from Hicks and Gilbert (for $120,000) and operate the team as their farm club. As a farm club to the Cardinals, the team adopted new colors—red and white—and a new name—the Red Wings.

However, the Cardinals stated that the present playing facilities were not acceptable, so a new stadium was on the horizon. A quick short list of new locations was proposed, and Norton Street was not even among the top choices.

Edgerton Park was first on the list. The location had been a focal point of activities and events in Rochester for years. It was not only well known and close to downtown, but it was also easily accessible by car and public transportation.

However, because it was already the venue of choice for many events, future scheduling conflicts presented a potential issue.

A site on University Avenue owned by the University of Rochester was considered. Again, the location provided easy access and public transportation availability. However, construction would have to wait until the University completed their move to their new Riverside campus.

Then a site on Norton Street was suggested. It was agreed between the St. Louis Cardinals, the Red Wings, and City officials that the Cardinals would foot the bill for construction if the stadium was built at the Norton Street site. The location was a mostly vacant property where the Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus erected their tents during their annual stop in Rochester.

In August 1928, George W. Thompson was selected as engineer for the project and construction contracts were awarded. The stadium would be a steel and concrete structure with a seating capacity of 15,000 with an additional 2,000 seats in the bleachers. The stadium required 604 tons of steel supplied by the Genesee Bridge Company.

All the footings for the steel columns were poured by the first week in October. 50 to 60 men were working long hours at the site every day, but soon the newspapers were running help wanted ads for more laborers in order to complete as much as possible before the winter weather arrived. While the construction of the grandstands went on, the primary landscaping of the actual ball field progressed as well.

January 1929 saw the stadium taking shape. Most of the grandstand was erected and already roofed over with the press box high on the roof. The eight rows of box seats and the 32 rows of grandstand seats were in place. The outfield was contained by a wooden fence which included the scoreboard. Entrance to the stadium would be through a stand-alone Red Wing office building out in front of the ballpark on Norton Street.

The new stadium was designed to be cutting edge in appearance. Most stadiums of the time were shaped with sharp corners, but the Rochester sporting venue used curved lines as much as possible, giving the structure a horseshoe shape. The total cost was $400,000.

On February 17, 1929, it was announced that the home opener would take place on May 2. The countdown for a new era in Rochester baseball began.

The spring of 1929 saw much activity at Norton Street. The outfield grass was sown. The players’ dressing rooms, located under the grandstands, were almost complete. Painters coated the stadium steelwork with a cream color and maroon trimming, while the outfield fence was painted green.

In April, the Red Wings’ management moved into their new stadium offices. The infield and outfield landscaping were completed and monitored closely to make sure everything would be just right for the opener.

The final paint touch-ups made the new stadium an imposing sight. By the last week in April, everything was finished and ready. The new “baseball plant” as sports writers liked to call it, was the envy of the International League and rivaled some Major League ballparks.

On April 17th, tickets went on sale. Sales were brisk. Opening day at a brand-new stadium was quite a draw. By April 30th, the game was sold out!

Opening Day at the new stadium was Thursday May 2, 1929. The Wings played the Reading Keys in front of 14, 885 fans. The Red Wings lost, but 500 Norton had arrived as a destination to be enjoyed by Rochesterians for generations.

-Daniel Cody