DUNN FIELD (1891-1946) *********************** Also Known as: League Park (1891-1915) Dunn Field (1916-1927) League Park (1928-1946) Demolished in 1951 ********************** HOME OF THE: CLEVELAND INDIANS This home-made ball park has been created for use with Diamond Mind Baseball v8. The dimensions and image are to depict the stadium as it looked in 1924. LFL L LFG C RFG R RFL *** *** *** *** *** *** *** DISTANCE: 375 385 395 420 368 335 290 HEIGHT: 5 5 5 5 40 40 40 1924 PARK FACTORS ***************** LEFT HANDED BATTERS RIGHT HANDED BATTERS ******************* ******************** S D T HR S D T HR *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 100 98 100 60 100 100 108 60 SURFACE: Natural Grass FOUL TERRITORY: Small The ballpark was originally christened League Park, and it kept that name up until the 1916 season. In 1916, the name of the park was changed to Dunn Field in honor of Sunny Jim Dunn, a rail-road contractor who bought the Indians that year for $500,000. However, the name promptly reverted back to League Park when the Dunn family sold the club (for $1 million) in 1927. It was the immortal Cy Young who inaugurated League Park on May 1st, 1891, by beating the visiting Cincinnati Reds, 12-3, in front of a crowd of 9,000. Without question, the most celebrated single play in the history of the ballpark was the unassisted triple play executed by Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss in the fifth game of the 1920 World Series, the only World Series ever played at this park. One of the greatest of all center fielders used to grace this ballpark, Tris Speaker, affectionately known as the "Grey Eagle." Speaker revolutionized center field play, taking advantage of the dead ball to play behind second base almost as a fifth infielder. He made unassisted double plays on short flies (the only player to do it in a World Series), was the pivot man on 4-8-3 plays, and even took pickoff throws from the pitcher. Yet he could still go back to get fly balls over his head. Some Memorable moments at this park, ... October 2nd, 1908: In a crucial game for the American League pennant, Chicago's Ed Walsh pitches a four-hitter against the Cleveland Indians and strikes out 15 - but loses, 1-0 to Addie Joss, who pitches a perfect game. October 10th, 1920: In the first inning of the 5th game of the World Series, Cleveland outfielder Elmer Smith hits the first ever World Series grand-slam home run. October 10th, 1920: In the fifth inning of the same game, Cleveland second basemen Bill Wambsganss executes the only unassisted triple play in World Series history. July 10th, 1932: The Philadelphia Athletics defeat Cleveland, 18-17, in a wild 18-inning game in which Cleveland's John Burnett gets a record 9 hits, including 2 doubles, while Philadelphia's Jimmie Foxx connects for 2 singles, a double and 3 home runs. July 16th, 1941: New York Yankee, Joe DiMaggio gets 3 hits - a double and 2 singles - to stretch his consecutive-game hitting streak to 56 games (where it will end). The above comments are from the book: "Lost Ballparks - A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields," by Lawrence S. Ritter. *********************************** DUNN FIELD IS FROM THE CREATORS OF: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Baseball's Analytical Search Engine +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tdmilne Ron Gudykunst - ronlg@aol.com Tom Milne - tdmilne@compuserve.com