Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park (originally Jacksonville Baseball Park) was a stadium in Jacksonville, Florida with a seating capacity of 8,200. Although used primarily for baseball, the facility hosted other events until the Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum was built in 1961. The park had several interesting features which were unusual among ballparks.[1]
- The infield and base paths were grass (except for pitchers mound and sliding boxes around the bases), rather than the typical dirt.
- The outfield wall is 25 feet high, all the way around.
- The first three rows of seats are in front of the dugouts, permitting fans to look directly into them.
- The scoreboard isn't inside the stadium--it's across the street.
- The entire grandstand, including the lower boxes, was covered by a roof.
It was the home of the Jacksonville Suns from 1955 until the facility was demolished in 2002 and replaced with Jaguar practice fields and a parking lot for Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The Suns moved to the new Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in 2003.
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[edit] Origins
Samuel Wolfson was a local civic leader and businessman who purchased the Double-A Jacksonville Tars prior to the 1953 season and renamed the team the Braves. It is not clear whether Wolfson or the city funded construction of the $400,000 park in 1954, but it opened on March 16, 1955 as Jacksonville Baseball Park, replacing Durkee field. The park was considered one of the best Double A ballparks in the South Atlantic League. Many major league teams played exhibition games on their way home after spring training in Florida.[2]
In 1958, Wolfson sold the Jacksonville Braves to Bill Terry, an automobile dealer and former National League batting champion. Wolfson served as president of the South Atlantic League for one year, and was president of the Jacksonville Braves in 1962, the first year the team was known as the Suns and joined the Triple-A International League. The ballpark was renamed Samuel W. Wolfson Baseball Park shortly after his death in 1963.
[edit] Stars
Soon after the stadium opened in 1955, an exhibition between the Milwaukee Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers featured nine future Hall-of-Famers. Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and Pee Wee Reese played while two pitchers, Warren Spahn from the Braves and Tommy Lasorda from the Dodgers, sat on the bench. Walter Alston was the Dodger's manager.
Over the years, quite a few future stars played in the park before moving up to the majors. Those players include Andres Galarraga, Randy Johnson, Edgar MartÃnez, Alex Rodriguez, Bret Saberhagen, Larry Walker, Tommie Aaron, Luis Tiant, Tug McGraw, Dan Quisenberry, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver and announcer Bob Uecker, to name a few. Michael Jordan, the NBA All-star who left the Chicago Bulls to pursue a brief pro baseball career with the Birmingham Barons, played in three games against the Suns in Wolfson Park.[3]
| Preceded by Durkee Field |
Jacksonville Baseball Park Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park 1955-2002 |
Succeeded by Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville 2003 |
