Crosley Field: A chapter in our history

This is part of a series about the final days of Crosley Field and the way it lives on in bits and pieces strewn throughout Greater Cincinnati. Miss something? Check out all of our Crosley Field stories here.

Baseball had been played at the corner of Findlay Street and Western Avenue since 1884. By mid-April 1972, Riverfront Stadium entered its second full season as the Reds' home. With its fate sealed years before, Crosley Field would shatter to pieces that spring. The complete obliteration of Crosley Field is a difficult reality to grasp today. So complete was its annihilation that, in the aftermath of its demolition, very few reminders of the ballpark were left. All that was left was history.

Cincinnati had hosted the first professional baseball team in 1869 and three ballfields were used until the Cincinnati Base Ball Club announced plans to build a new park in the winter of 1883, according to Reds historians Greg Rhodes and John Erardi.

The Cincinnati Base Ball Club Park opened in 1884 and was later named American Park and then League Park. Palace of the Fans opened in 1902 and was torn down in 1911.

Redland Field opened in 1912 and was renamed Crosley Field in 1934.

Preserving Crosley Field wasn't at the forefront in the 1970s.

Instead, Crosley Field hosted an impound lot – complete with cars, weeds and oil stains – during its last months before demolition.

Think about that for a moment.

At 1200 Findlay St. in the West End, there were countless memories:

• Four games, including Game 1, of the 1919 World Series were there.

• The first Major League Baseball night game ever occurred 80 years ago there this May 24.

• The Reds won the deciding game of the World Series against the Tigers 75 years ago this October.

• It was the site of the first of Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters on June 11, 1938.

• It hosted the 1938 and 1953 Major League Baseball All-Star Games.

• Joe Nuxhall made his debut as a 15-year-old on June 10, 1944 there, to become the youngest player in modern Major League Baseball history.

• The 1961 "Ragamuffin Reds" that faced the Yankees of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the World Series.

• Pete Rose happily emerged from the Crosley Field dugout in front of a hometown crowd, just a few hours removed from signing his contract on Opening Day 1963.

• The Beatles concert on Aug. 21, 1966.

• It was the site of Hank Aaron's 3,000th hit on May 17, 1970.

Though an entirely different era for memorabilia, a few souvenir collectors in the 1970s recognized the importance of the ballpark even before the wrecking ball hit the right-field wall.

Now, of course, we all do.

Nearly 45 years after the Reds last played at Crosley Field, a memorial site will rise this summer.

Reds fans say the time is long overdue. Johnny Bench and Pete Rose have fond memories of Crosley Field.

"The history was just terrific," Bench said. "I thought it was just such a great ballpark."

As a youngster, Rose met Jackie Robinson and other Brooklyn Dodgers while watching family friend Don Zimmer play at the ballpark.

Rose's favorite player in the 1950s was Reds first baseman Ted Kluszewski.

"The one night Kluszewski hit a home run to straightaway center field and it went into a train car coming by and ended up in Louisville. That was the longest home run ever hit in baseball," Rose said with a smile.

"A hundred-mile home run."

Rose started at second base during his debut at the ballpark on April 8, 1963. It was a field he enjoyed and really understood like few others.

"It was a great atmosphere," Rose said. "The terrace out there (in the outfield). ... What you do is you play on the bottom of the terrace. Too many guys played where they took three or four steps and hit the terrace and fall down. You played right on the bottom of the terrace where your first step is on the hill and you won't fall down."

As the city prepares to host Major League Baseball's All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park on July 14, there is a renewed interest in Crosley Field.

City Gospel Mission and the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum have partnered on a project that will feature several additions to the site that once occupied the ballpark.

The memorial site is scheduled to have a self-guided tour in time for the All-Star Game.

The site of second base is marked inside the City Gospel Mission dining area. The site of first base is in the hallway. The tour will mark all the significant areas of interest.

Officials are working on plans for: Replica left-field and right-field foul poles, a light standard replicating the original lights used at Crosley, base markers and photos provided by the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.

This Enquirer special section won't attempt to provide the complete history of Crosley Field. There are plenty of worthy sources out there that do that. Start with Greg Rhodes and John Erardi's book, "Crosley Field: The Illustrated History of a Classic Ballpark," available at the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.

All that thorough information and, still, we wanted to know about something few have explored: Crosley Field's final days. We sought to learn about the remnants that have been discovered – or disappeared – and how the ballpark shaped lives.

Crosley Field/Redland Field didn't just host 4,557 Major League games, according to Major League Baseball, it was a memorable ballpark woven into the lives of countless Reds fans.

The sights and sounds of that ballpark are forever with them. The memories never strike out.

Enjoy.