Sports Journey - League Park & The Baseball Heritage Museum
- Paul Baker
- 16 hours ago
- 4 min read
Baseball Heritage Museum and League Park Entrance in 2025. Photo by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey.
Major League Baseball teams in Cleveland have had many names over the years (Lakeshores, Bluebirds, Broncos, Naps, Indians and now, Guardians), but they have had only three home fields. The team has played at Jacobs/Progressive Field downtown since 1994. From 1932 – 1994 the team played on the shores of Lake Erie at Cleveland Stadium, also known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium over the years. Cleveland Stadium was torn down to build Huntington Bank Stadium on the same site. But for many years before that, professional baseball in the city was played in the residential Hough neighborhood, roughly three miles west of where Progressive Field now stands.
League Park was built in 1891 as a wood structure and rebuilt in 1910 using concrete and steel. In addition to serving as home to the Indians, League Park was home to the Spiders of the National League and American Association, the Lakeshores of the Western League and the Buckeyes of the Negro American League. It was also home to several football teams, including the Cleveland Rams of the National Football League. The Cleveland Browns used the field as their practice facility.
The location of League Park, at the corner of Lexington Avenue and Dunham Street (later renamed East 66th Street) was chosen because team owner Frank Robison owned the streetcar line that ran along the road. Fitting the ballpark into the city block required irregular field dimensions typical of ballparks of the day. Left field was 385 feet away, center field 460 feet, with right field just 290 feet away. To make up for the short porch in right field, there was a 40-foot tall fence there.
The ballpark opened on May 1, 1891 with 9,000 wooden seats as the Spiders hosted the Cincinnati Reds. Cy Young threw the first pitch. When the ballpark was rebuilt in 1910, capacity was increased to 21,414. The left field fence was moved in 10 feet and the center field fence 40 feet.
Some of League Park’s highlights:
· Addie Joss threw a perfect game against the Chicago White Sox on October 2, 1908.
· In the first inning of Game 5 of the World Series on October 10, 1920, Elmer Smith of the Indians hit the first World Series grand slam.
· Jim Bagby of the Indians hit the first home run by a pitcher in World Series history in the fourth inning of the same game.
· In the fifth inning of that same Game 5, Bill Wambsganss executed the only unassisted triple play in World Series history.
· On October 12, 1920, the Cleveland Indians won their first World Series.
· On August 11, 1929, Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 500 home runs.
· July 16, 1941 saw the final game of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. The streak was broken the following night at Cleveland Stadium.
· In 1945 the Cleveland Buckeyes won the Negro League World Series.
In 2011 the Cleveland City Council approved a plan to complete renovations to the facility. Preserved and restored were a piece of the ballpark façade along the first base side of the stadium, as well as the ticket office building. A new ball field was to be built at the site of the old one. Renovations were completed on August 23, 2014 and the field was dedicated as Fannie Lewis Community Park at League Park. Fannie Lewis was a City Councilwoman who was instrumental in encouraging the renovations to the ballpark.
League Park in 1905, 1910 and 2021. Photos courtesy of Wikipedia.
When League Park was renovated in 2014, the Baseball Heritage Museum was moved to the park's ticket office building. Founded in 1997 by Robert Zimmer to coincide with the Major League Baseball All-Star game being held at Jacobs Field, the museum first consisted of the Zimmer family’s collection of baseball artifacts, which were displayed at their jewelry store. The museum grew to include artifacts from not only the Major Leagues, but the Negro Leagues, Caribbean Leagues, women’s baseball leagues, local industrial and barnstorming leagues, all with Cleveland ties. The museum moved to the Euclid Arcade in 2006 before arriving at League Park.
2,000 patrons were in attendance for the grand opening. Today the museum sponsors the Baseball Heritage Museum Buckeyes Travel Baseball Team Program as well as youth clinics and events at League Park.
Baseball Heritage Museum Artifacts and Exhibits. Photos by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey.
While you’re unlikely to encounter a crowd of that size during your visit to the Hough neighborhood in Cleveland, that’s probably for the best, as it will give you more time to peruse the unique exhibits, artifacts and grounds of League Park and the Baseball Heritage Museum in Cleveland, an excellent side quest to your next Stadium Journey through Ohio.
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