RFK Stadium - Griffith Stadium article
Griffith Stadium
Formerly National Park and American League Base Ball Park
District of Columbia
First National League game: April, 1892
Last National League game: September, 1899
First American League game: Aprill 22, 1903
Last American League game: September 21, 1961
First NFL game: September 16, 1937
Last NFL game: December 18, 1960
Demolished: January-August, 1965
Baseball seating capacity: 6,500 (1892); 27,000 (1911); 30,171 (1936); 29,613 (1940); 25,048 (1948); 28,669 (1960); 27,550 (1961)
Architect: Osborn Engineering (1911 rebuild)
Owner: Washington Senators
Cost: $100,000 (1911 rebuild)
Surface: Natural grass
Dimensions:
LF foul line: 407 (1911), 424 (1921), 358 (1926), 407 (1931), 402 (1936), 405 (1942), 402 (1948), 386 (1950), 408 (1951), 405 (1952), 388 (1954), 386 (1956), 350 (1957), 388 (1961)
LF alley: 391 (1911), 380 (1950)
Center field: 421
Inner corner of center field angle: 409 (1943), 408 (1953)
Deepest corner in right-center: 457
RF alley: 378 (1954), 372 (1955), 373 (1956)
RF foul line: 328 (1909), 326 (1921), 320 (1926)
Height of fences:
Left field: 11 ft (foul pole to 408 mark, 1953), 12 ft (from 410 corner near left-field foul pole to 408 mark just right of dead center, 1954), 8 to 10 ft (corner in front of the bullpen at the foul pole, 1955), 6 ft (wire and plywood in front of bullpen, 1956)
Center field: 30 ft (408 mark to 457, 1954), 6 ft (wire and plywood, 1956)
Right-center: to the left of the scoreboard in front of the bullpen: 4 ft (from 457 mark to 435 mark, 1953), 10 ft (1955), 4 ft (1959)
Right-center scoreboard: 41 ft (1946)
Right field 30 ft (1953)
Hosted World Series: 1924, 1925, 1933
Hosted All-Star Game: 1937, 1956
William Howard Taft, a former ball player from Cincinnati, introduced the practice in 1910. Through the years other White House pitchers included Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy. As Seasons progressed, it was almost certain that every game would be witnessed by elite members of three branches of government.
Two years before the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter in 1861, the game was already a popular pastime in the nation's capital, drawing substantial crowds to games played by government clerks. In the immediate years when Andrew Johnson sought relief from his daily cares, the 17th President, it was recorded, strolled from the White House to the nearby White Lot to join as many as 6,000 others in watching games of the National Athletic Club.
The city's first enclosed baseball park was constructed in 1870 by Mike Scanlon, at 17th and S streets NW, seating 500 spectators. This was the home of the Washington Olympics in 1871 and the Olympics and Nationals in the National Association in 1872. When both teams dropped from the league in 1873, few shed tears because neither had performed in a manner to make the beltway proud. Beginning in 1884, a succession of major and minor league teams entertained the Washington fans, all failing in their attempts to swell the city's pride.
Noteworthy was the four-season ownership (1886-89) of the Hewitt brothers, Robert and Walter. They constructed 6,000-seat Capitol Park on Capitol Avenue between F and G streets, changed the name of their National League entry to Senators and brought up a young catcher named Cornelius McGillicuddy, who, as Connie Mack, broke in with a 10-game batting average of .361 in 1886 and captured the hearts of the spectators with his sparkling performance behind the plate.
Another set of brothers, George and Jacob Wagner of Philadelphia, acquired a major league franchise in 1892 when the National League expanded to 12 teams. The D.C. citizens greeted the Wagners enthusiastically, particularly when they built 6,500-seat National Park at the Boundary, at the intersection on 7th Street NW and Florida Avenue, the eventual site of Griffith Stadium. The franchise faltered however, due in large part to the Wagners' mismanagement. At the end of the 1899 season, the National League bought the team and the ballpark lease from the Wagners for $46,500. At the same time, the N.L. contracted to eight clubs, leaving Washington D.C. without a team. The situation was remedied in 1901 when Ban Johnson, proclaiming his American League a new major league, transferred the Kansas City franchise to the nation's capital.
Because the N.L. still held the lease on National Park, owners Jimmy Manning and Fred Postal were forced to find another site for a ball park. They selected a plot at 14th Street and Bladensburg Avenue NE. They christened the new wooden structure American League Park, which was dedicated on April 29, 1901 before a crowd of over 10,000, including Admiral Dewey, the hero of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War.
On March 17, 1911, tragedy struck the American League Base Ball Park. The all-wooden ballpark and four surrounding buildings were completely destroyed by a fire started by a plumber's blow lamp and a strong wind. American League Base Ball Park could not be saved as plumbers working on the park's drain pipes had shut off the water supply and by the time firefighters arrived, the grand stand and bleachers were engulfed in flames. At the time, the loss of the ballpark was estimated at $20,000.
Thomas C. Noyes, president of the Washington franchise, gained approval from the Club's Board of Directors to announce that work would begin immediately on a new ballpark with a steel grandstand. With the players at Spring Training and Opening Day less than a month away, crews worked tirelessly to get the ballpark ready for the home opener.
By Opening Day 1911, the grandstands were sufficiently erected for the Nationals to host the Boston Red Sox with President William Howard Taft in attendance. The work on the ballpark continued when the team was on the road and was completed on July 24, 1911 at a final cost of approximately $100,000. Seating capacity was more than 27,000, including a presidential box near the first base dugout. In 1920, after Clark Griffith became president and gave his name to the park, the stands were double-decked beyond first and third base. Curiously, the roof of the new stands was built higher than the roof of the old stands, giving the impression that the new stands had been built by a carpenter with a faulty foot rule.
During the late-1930s and 1940s, Griffith Stadium had another part-time tenant - the famed Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. Originally from Pennsylvania, the Grays played half of their games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and half at Griffith Stadium when the Washington franchise was on the road. Some of the most revered players in Negro League history played for the Grays, including Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell and Sam Bankhead, as they won nine Negro League championships.
Griffith Stadium, which also hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1937 and 1956 and three World Series in 1924, 1925 and 1933, remained the home of the Washington franchise until it was moved to Minneapolis following the 1960 season.
The expansion Washington Senators played their inaugural season at Griffith Stadium in 1961 before moving into District of Columbia Stadium for the 1962 season.
After having been the site of professional baseball in Washington, DC, since 1892, the final game at Griffith Stadium was played on September 21, 1961 as the Senators fell to the Minnesota Twins, 4-3, before a crowd of 1,498 fans (Read our in-house article). Griffith Stadium was demolished in 1965 and is now utilized by Howard University. Nearly 1,000 of the original seats from Griffith Stadium were moved to a Spring Training facility near Orlando, Fla., Tinker Field. Those seats remain there today.
Relying almost exclusively on a sidearm fastball, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound right-hander liked to finish what he started. He completed 531 of 666 starts, including 36 of 37 in 1911. The entire National League had only 143 complete games in 2,268 starts in 1997. The seventh game of the 1924 World Series was perhaps the finest moment of Johnson's distinguished career. The loser of two complete games in the Series, he relieved in the ninth inning with the score tied against the New York Giants. Pitching with one day of rest, he threw four scoreless innings to record his first Series victory as Washington won its only Series ever.
He was nicknamed "The Big Train" by sports writer Grantland Rice, who was reminded of an express train by Johnson's size and fastball. Not only a legendary pitcher, Johnson was considered to be a class person, with the virtues of decency, charm and style.
At New York's Hilltop Park in September, 1908, he did the incredible. "We are grievously disappointed in this man Johnson of Washington," wrote W.W. Aulick, with tongue in cheek, in The New York Times. "He and his team had four games to play with (New York). Johnson pitched the first game and shut us out (Sept. 4). Johnson pitched the second game and shut us out (Sept. 5). Johnson pitched the third game and shut us out (first game of a doubleheader Sept. 7 after an off day). Did Johnson pitch the fourth game and shut us out? He did not. Oh, you quitter!"
Three shutouts in the span of four days -- amazing, Mr. Johnson.
Notes, Facts & Features
Memorable Moments:
April 14, 1936: At Griffith Stadium, Vice-President James Garner makes the march to the flagpole for the President. Then to a standing ovation from 31,000 Franklin Roosevelt tosses out the first ball in the Senators opener against New York. Nats starter Bobo Newsom pitches a masterful game, surviving a 5th inning beaning when he is hit by a throw to first by 3B Ossie Bluege, to shut out the Yankees, 10, on four hits. Lefty Gomez loses his second straight 10 Opener.
May 28, 1941: The New York Yankees edge the Washington Senators, 65, before 25,000 in the first night game at Griffith Stadium. George Selkirk twinkles with a pinch grand slam, and Joe DiMaggio triples against Sid Hudson.
May 31, 1942: Before 22,000 at Griffith Stadium, Satchel Paige pitches five innings to defeat the Dizzy Dean All-Stars, 81. Dean pitches just the first inning, giving up three hits and two runs. Private Cecil Travis plays 3B. The game a week earlier, in which Paige won 31 at Wrigley Field, drew 29,000. Judge Landis will prohibit a scheduled July 4th matchup because the first two games outdrew ML games.
May 21, 1943: At Griffith Stadium, the Chicago White Sox top the Washington Senators 10 in one hour, 29 minutes, the quickest night game in American League history.
September 30, 1945: Hank Greenberg's grand-slam HR in the 9th inning on the final day of the season beats the St. Louis Browns 6-3 and clinches the AL pennant for the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers had been assured of a tie on September 26 when Newhouser won his 24th game, an 11-0 shutout of the Indians. There were 3 off days before the season finale today. The 2nd-place Senators had finished the season a week before, on the 23rd, to make Griffith Stadium available for pro football.
May 8, 1946: At Griffith Stadium, Detroit 2B Eddie Mayo snags a 3rd inning liner off the bat of Gil Torres to start a triple play. The ball was deflected by P Hal Newhouser, but Mayo grabbed it before it hit the ground. It is the 2nd time in a year that Mayo has started a triple play off Torres: in the 2nd inning of a nitecap on July 20, 1945, Mayo grabbed a Torres line drive to start the TP.
May 8, 1948: At Griffith Stadium, Larry Doby pounds a 408-foot homer to CF, which hits the loudspeakers 35 high, to help the Indians top the Senators, 61. Larry's ball bounces back onto the field and was initially declared in play. The 8th-inning three-run homer is the longest home run in the Stadium since Babe Ruth's shot in 1922, and is the first of Doby's four career inside-the-park homers. World War two veteran Gene Bearden makes his first start, allowing just three Nat hits. He walks four in the 9th inning to allow the lone run, as Washington finally scores after three straight shutouts.
September 10, 1950: Joe DiMaggio becomes the first player to hit three HRs in one game at spacious Griffith Stadium, as the Yanks beat Washington 81. Joe also adds an RBI double, to pass the 100-ribbie mark for the ninth time. The Senators lead the second game 62 when rain washes it out in the fourth. New York is now a half-game in back of the leaders with Boston a half game behind the Yankees.
April 17, 1953: Batting right-handed against southpaw Chuck Stobbs, Mickey Mantle walloped a ball over the left-field bleachers and into a yard behind a three-story tenement. According to Red Patterson, the Yankees' publicity director who computed the distance, the ball traveled 565 feet.
September 7, 1954: The Senators and Athletics draw just 460 fans to a game, the smallest crowd in Griffith Stadium history. The Senators win 5-4.
August 9, 1956: The Senators get a license to sell beer at Griffith Stadium.
August 12, 1961: At Griffith Stadium, Roger Maris belts his 43rd homer, off Dick Donovan, but its New York's only score as they lose, 51, the Yanks first loss in 10 games. For Washington it is their first win in eight games. Gene Green's pinch grand slam off Luis Arroyo is the big blow for the Nats.
September 21, 1961, the last baseball game was played at the stadium. The site was next developed into Freedmens Hospital which eventually became Howard University Hospital.
The reason for the difference in the height of the roof between the old grandstand and the new grandstand, was simply because the newer section was built nine rows deeper than the original deck. However, it is still a mystery why there was a 12-foot gap in the roof between the sections - leaving many patrons exposed to the elements.
The stadium not only served as the central venue for sports but for entertainment and civic events as well. The May Day celebrations, the Howard-Lincoln football rivalry, the safety patrol days, the Cadets, the citywide church revivals, and the distinction of serving as a staging and training area for the military earned Griffith Stadium its place in history.
The center-field wall detoured around five houses (Whose owners refused to sell) and a large tree, leaving several right-angle projections.
The home of baseball comedians Al Schacht and Nick Altrock
Three pennants (1924, 1925 & 1933) have flown from Griffith Park Stadium masts and, one world championship flag in 1924.
In 1953, Mickey Mantle clouted the longest recorded home-run - 565 feet, over the left-centerfield bleachers and into the backyard of a nearby tenement.
In 1950 Griffith Park was the site where Joe DiMaggio became the first player to hit 3 home runs in one game.
Griffith is also the ballpark where Babe Ruth hit his last American League home run.
The fifty-foot high National Bohemian Beer bottle was visible above the right-center scoreboard.
The Washington Redskins called Griffith Park Stadium home for twenty-four seasons before moving to RFK Stadium.
Briefly known as Beyer's Seventh Street Park, League Park and Clark Griffith Park.
It was downhill from the plate to first base, to save a step for slow Washington batters.
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