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Forbes Field

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Tenants: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL 1909-70); Pittsburgh Pirates/Steelers (NFL 1933-63); University of Pittsburgh (football 1909-24); Homestead Grays (Negro National League 1939-48); also Duquesne, Carnegie Tech and Pitt freshman football.
Groundbreaking: March 1, 1909
First National League game: June 30, 1909 (Cubs 3, Pirates 2)
First NFL game: September 20, 1933 (NY Giants 23, Pirates 2)
Last NFL game: December 1, 1963 (Eagles 20, Steelers 20)
Last National League game: June 28, 1970 (Pirates 4, Cubs 1)
Demolished: July 28, 1971
Baseball capacity: 25,000 (1909); 41,000 (1925); 33,537 (1939); 34,249 (1953); 35,000 (1960)
Surface: Natural grass

Architect: Osborn Engineering
Builder: Nicole Construction Company
Owners: Pittsburgh Pirates (1909-57); University of Pittsburgh (1958-71)
Cost: $2 million (1909)

Dimensions:
LF foul line: 360 ft (1909), 365 ft (1930), 335 ft (1947 Greenberg Garden/Kiner's Korner), 365 ft (1954)
LF alley: 406 ft (1926)
Deep left-centerfield corner: 462 ft (1909), 457 ft (1930)
Center field: 442 ft (1926), 435 ft (1930); 436 ft (1946)
Right-center at corner: 408 ft (1926)
Short right-center: 375 ft (1925)
RF foul line: 376 ft (1909), 300 ft (1925)

Home plate to backstop: 110 ft (1909), 84 ft (1938), 75 ft (1959)

Height of Fences:
Left and center field: 12 ft
LF scoreboard: 27 ft
Right-center field: 9.5 ft
RF screen at 375 ft Marker to pole: 24 ft to 28 ft (Screen above 9.5 ft concrete)

Hosted All-Star Game: 1944, 1959
Hosted World Series: 1909, 1925, 1927, 1960

Little did General John Forbes realize, when he bivouacked his Revolutionary War forces in what was to become the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, that he was giving his name to an athletic arena of the 20th century.

It remained for Barney Dreyfuss, who fled Germany at age 17 to escape compulsory military training, to honor the old general in 1909 when he christened his steel-and-concrete ballpark Forbes Field. This playing field, which was home to the Pirates for 62 years, was the third enclosed park of the city's professional clubs.

The first Pittsburgh team, known as the Alleghenies, was a member of the International Association and played its games at Union Park in 1876. The league expired at an early date and in 1888, the Alleghenies tried again in the International League. The team succumbed on June 8, winner of only three of 26 games, the majority of which were played on the road. Four years later, in 1892, the Alleghenies felt sufficiently bold for a third try and joined the American Association, a major league rival of the National League.

To mark their entry into the majors, the Alleghenies built Exposition Park, much larger than 2,500-seat Union Park, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and in the same general area as Three Rivers Stadium. Old Expo, as the park came to be known, was bordered on one side by the Allegheny River and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks, and on the other sides by thoroughfares with current names of Galveston, Shore and Scotland streets. The park got its name from the Exposition Grounds, a popular site for circuses and other tent shows of the 19th century.

Dimensions of Exposition Park are fogged in history, but it is generally agreed they were excessive. No drive, it is said, ever cleared the left or center-field fences, and only 11 sailed off the premises in right-field. After playing in Exposition Park for two years, the Alleghenies moved to Recreation Park, a latter-day name for the refurbished Union Park. Recreation Park was located on the North Side of the city and was bound by the Fort Wayne Railroad tracks, Allegheny, Pennsylvania and Grant avenues, and North Avenue West. It was here that the club played its first National League game on April 30, 1887, beating Chicago, 6-2.

In 1890, the Pittsburgh club of the Players League renovated Old Expo, enlarging its capacity in the process. When the P.L. folded after one season, the Alleghenies returned to their old playground and remained there for nearly 20 years. In the meantime, Recreation Park, which had served as a football field for the University of Pittsburgh, was converted into a wooden saucer for motor-paced bicycle riding and was rechristened The Colosseum.

In the winter of 1899-1900, the National League voted to reduce its membership from 12 to eight clubs. One of the disenfranchised cities was Louisville, where Barney Dreyfuss owned the baseball club. Eager to continue in the game, Barney acquired financial backers and, accompanied by two of his star players, shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder Fred Clarke, he moved on to Pittsburgh, where he bought a half interest in the Alleghenies, who were now known as the Pirates, and took over as club president.

With Wagner and Clarke, the Pirates became perenial contenders, finishing second in 1900, then winning three consecutive N.L. pennants - finishing the '02 season with a 27 1/2 game lead, and competing in the first World Series in 1903, losing the best-of-nine series, 5-3, to Boston.

LEFT -- A postcard from the early 20th century highlights the ornate exterior of Forbes Field - one of the most recognizable of the classic-era ballparks. RIGHT -- An aerial photo from the 1910s shows, among other things, the original pre-1925 dimensions, including the long RF foul line and huge distance from home plate to the backstop.

In the winter of 1908-09, Barney decided that the club deserved a more handsome ballpark, similar to the steel-and-concrete structure that Ben Shibe and Connie Mack were building in Philadelphia. His search for a suitable location ended in the Oakland-Schenly Park section of Pittsburgh. With his friend, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, helping to negotiate the deal, Barney bought acreage from Schenley Farms.

The choice of a site away from the city's business district subjected Dreyfuss to gentle chiding from friends and fans alike. In later years he recalled:
"There was nothing there but a livery stable and a hot house, with a few cows grazing over the countryside. A ravine ran through the property and I knew that the first thing necessary to make it suitable for baseball was to level off the entire field."

Ground for the new park was broken on March 1, 1909. Four months later, the new $2 million showplace was ready for occupancy. On opening day, June 30, a crowd of 30,338 overflowed the 25,000-seat facility into a roped-off area in the outfield. The first pitch of the game was smacked for a single by Johnny Evers of the Cubs, who beat the Buccos, 3-2. But it was a great day for the 44-year-old owner. Weeks later, he chortled: "One friend bet me a $150 suit we could never fill the park, but we filled it five times the first two weeks."

The 1910 Reach Baseball Guide reported on the new park as follows:
"The formal opening of Forbes Field . . . was an historic event, the full significance of which could be better felt than described. Words also must fail to picture in the mind's eye adequately the splendors of the magnificent pile President Dreyfuss erected as a tribute to the national game, a beneficence to Pittsburgh and an enduring monument to himself. For architectural beauty, imposing size, solid construction and public comfort and convenience, it has not its superior in the world."

The Pirates brought Forbes Field's inaugural season to a rousing climax by winning the pennant and the World Series that pitted the majors' batting champions, Wagner and Ty Cobb of Detroit, against each other. Rookie pitcher Babe Adams accounted for two of the Bucs' three victories at home and clinched the championship with a third win at Detroit.

LEFT -- This photo from 1951 shows the expanded 3rd deck "Crow's Nest" and mezzanine press box, constructed in the late 1940s. RIGHT -- Fans cheer on the Bucs from atop the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning.

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Notes, Facts and Features

In 1909, Forbes Field, along with Shibe Park which opened the same year in Philadelphia, were revolutionary in their design, being the first ballparks ever to be constructed entirely of steel and concrete, effectively and instantly ending the era of wooden ball park construction.

Forbes Field featured a tri-deck design when opened in 1909. A small level of box seats was constructed on top of the roof of the second deck and ran the entire legnth of the stands. In 1938, the third deck behind home plate was reconstructed to include more seating and a new press box dubbed the "crow's nest". An elevator was installed (The first in a major league ballpark) to ferry patrons to the highest level.

Originally, the distance from home plate to the backstop was a whopping 110 feet! In 1938 the distance was shortened to 84 feet with the addition of extra seating behind home plate.

After the 1924 season, the double-decked grandstand was extended around the RF foul pole and into right-center field, rasing capacity from 25,000 to 41,000 spectators. The new grandstand dramatically shortened the distance down the RF line from 376 feet to 300 feet. In 1932, a wire fence, varying in height from 24-28 ft., was erected in front of the new RF grandstand.

Forbes Field hosted the last Triple Header in the Major Leagues (October 2, 1920 vs Cincinnati Reds).

August 5, 1921 -- KDKA, the world's first commercial radio station to schedule broadcasts on a regular basis, airs the first broadcast of a Major League game as Harold Arlin describes the action of the Pirates' 8-5 win over the Phillies at Forbes Field.

BELOW -- October 13, 1960 -- In Game Seven of the World Series at Forbes Field, Bill Mazeroski leads off the bottom of the ninth with one of the most dramatic home runs in Series history, a blast over the left field scoreboard, breaking a 9-9 tie with the Yankees and bringing Pittsburgh its third World Championship.

Foam-rubber crash pads were placed on the concrete wall in right and right-center field in the 1940s. They were the first of their kind in the majors. The original wooden outfield walls in left and center field were replaced with ivy-covered brick walls in 1946.

The All-Alou outfield by the San Francisco Giants happened at Forbes on September 15, 1963, when Felipe, Jesus, and Matty took the field for the Giants.

There was never a no-hitter thrown at Forbes Field in its 61-year history.

Fans in the upper corner of the leftfield bleachers couldn't see the home plate, because the third base grandstand was in the way.

Three of the Forbes Field's light towers that were erected in 1940 were in the field of play -- Metal cages were built around the base of the towers in the outfield. The center-field flag pole and the Dreyfuss memorial were also in the field of play in center-field.

October 15, 1925 -- In Game Seven of the World Series at Forbes Field, Kiki Cuyler laces an eighth-inning, two out, bases loaded, double off Washington's Walter Johnson to lead the Pirates to a 9-7 victory and their second World Championship.

Eighteen homers were smashed over the RF roof by 10 different players. With the Boston Braves, on May 25, 1935, Babe Ruth hit three home runs against the Bucs. His last homer, number 714, cleared the right field roof. Other players to clear the roof: Ted Beard, Mickey Mantle, Wally Moon, Bob Skinner, Eddie Mathews, Jerry Lynch, Rusty Staub, Willie McCovey, and the Bucs' Willie Stargell, who accomplished the feat seven times.

From June, 1943, until the end of the season, a 32 foot high wooden figure of a U.S. Marine was erected in left-field to advertise war bonds.

A suspended press box beneath the second deck was added in 1946, and for the 1959 All Star Game, three rows of VIP box seats were added, which reduced the distance from home plate to the backstop to 75 feet.

In 1947, in order to boost home run production from newly acquired slugger Hank Greenberg, a fence was installed in left field - reducing the distance from 365 feet to 335 feet. The bullpens were moved to this enclosed area and it was quickly dubbed Greenberg Garden. When Greenberg retired it became known as Kiner's Korner after another Pittsburgh slugger, Ralph Kiner. After the 1953 season, the temporary fence was removed, restoring the original dimension of 365 feet.

In November of 1958, Forbes Field was sold to the University of Pittsburgh, who still owns the land to the present day.

Today, there are still a few reminders of the Oakland ballpark. In the University of Pittsburgh's Forbes Quadrangle, home plate sits in a hallway (Which is said to be alligned with the third-base line), in a glass case embedded in the floor. The plate is actually 10 feet or so away from its acurate location because the exact spot is inside of what's now a restroom. Outside on a sidewalk, a plaque marks the spot where Bill Mazeroski's World Series winning home run left the park in 1960. A fairly large portion of the left to left-center field brick wall still stands (below), as it has since 1946, complete with ivy and the original distance markers. The fence is actually on land outside the University-owned plot, and is therefore maintained by the city. A row of bricks is embedded into the sidewalk to show where the rest of the wall ran all the way to the foul pole.

The final games at Forbes Field were played on June 28, 1970. The Pirates swept a double header from the same Chicago Cub team that opened the park almost 61 years to the day.

Largest Crowd at Forbes: 44,932 on September 23, 1956 vs the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The first night game in Pittsburgh was June 4, 1940; Pirates 14, Boston Braves 2

The Barney Dreyfuss monument was next to the exit gate in right-center field where fans exited the ballpark into Schenley Park. It was unveilled on June 30, 1934, on the park’s 25th anniversary.

There were several different outfield walls during Forbes's life. The final one, the red brick one that's still partially standing, was built by the new owners (the Johnson/Galbreath group) in 1946. The original walls were made of wood.

The Honus Wagner statue was erected in Schenley Park in 1955. It stands
18 feet high and was moved to Three Rivers Stadium along with the Bucs in 1970.

Beer was never sold at Forbes Field. However, fans could carry beer into the ballpark with them into the 1950s.

Forbes hosted many different events. In addition to the Pirates, Forbes Field was also the home to the Negro League Homestead Grays. Football was played at Forbes by the Steelers (originally called the Pirates), the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne, and Carnegie Tech. Forbes was also the site of political rallies, benefit shows, basketball, soccer, the circus, concerts, wrestling matches, and boxing events.

The original version of the movie "Angels in the Outfield" was filmed at Forbes Field in 1951.

The land purchased by Barney Dreyfuss was not completely large enough for his ballpark, so some additional land was leased from the city. The outfield wall was built on that leased land.

In 1901, Ban Johnson's new American League was preparing to begin their inagural season. They considered putting a team in Pittsburgh and building a ballpark on a site near present day Magee hospital.

Forbes Field's "toothbrush style" light towers were the inspiration for the light towers at PNC Park

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A University of Pittsburgh football game at Forbes, circa, 1913

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Synopsis courtesy of The Sporting News
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