With the nation on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, many fans are turning to MLB® The Show™ 20 to satisfy their baseball craving. Like the previous installments in the series, the most recent version of The Show™ gives users the option to play in historic ballparks from generations past.
These parks may no longer be in existence, but employing them as a backdrop in The Show™ transports the gamer to bygone eras of baseball bliss. These parks not only possessed quirky features and alluring architecture; they also had eventful histories worth exploring.
Researching the six classic ballparks featured in MLB® The Show™ 20 has given me profound insight into early 20th-century baseball and how the game has evolved in the ensuing decades.
In order to share that knowledge, I have provided the historical background and descriptions of each those parks: the Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Sportsman’s Park, Crosley Field, Forbes Field, and Griffith Stadium.
MLB Teams that Played at Griffith Stadium
- Washington Senators (1911-1960)
- Washington Senators (II) (1961)
History of Griffith Stadium
When the wooden stands of D.C.’s Boundary Field were destroyed by a fire in March of 1911, Spring Training had already begun and Opening Day was less than a month away. The Washington Senators, who called Boundary Field home, immediately began construction of a replacement park.
Despite the quick turnaround, the park’s stands were stable enough to host a crowd by the start of the 1911 season. On Opening Day, the new structure welcomed 16,000 fans as well as President William Howard Taft. As described by the Washington Evening Star, “Like Aladdin’s palace, the structure rose as if by magic.”
Distinguishing Features
The park was known as a pitcher’s haven for most of its existence because its layout was not conducive to hitting home runs. Center field was 421 feet away from home plate, and there was a 30-foot high fence that extended from the right-field foul pole to center field. Only two players, Mickey Mantle and Negro League slugger Josh Gibson, are recorded as having cleared the left field bleachers, with Mantle’s 565-foot blast off Chuck Stobbs leading to the popularization of the term “tape measure home run.”
As Senators owner and ballpark namesake Clark Griffith once joked, “Josh Gibson hit more home runs into our left-field seats than the entire American League put together.”
When it comes to quirks, Griffith Stadium had just one truly idiosyncratic component: the center-field wall jutted into the field of play because the Senators had to build around five houses and a large tree that stood just beyond the wall.
Naturally, Griffith Stadium was also the only park to have a luxury box designed solely for use by the President of the United States; every president from William Howard Taft to John F. Kennedy threw a ceremonial first pitch at the stadium.
Negro Leagues Connection
In addition to serving as the home of the Senators, Griffith Stadium was also the home park for several Negro League teams.
Most notably, the Homestead Grays won seven of their ten Negro National League championships in the years they split their home games between Forbes Field and Griffith Stadium. When the Grays played at the stadium, stars like Josh Gibson, James “Cool Papa” Bell, and Walter “Buck” Leonard graced its diamond.
Want to learn more about other classic ballparks in The Show? Click these links below to explore!!
