The 1960’s was a time of progress in our country. Large cars, booming business and the introduction of rock and roll brought about many changes. Atlanta Georgia was a city that needed to move forward with the times. The decision in 1964 for the then, non-identified Major League Baseball organization to offer a verbal commitment to Atlanta created the grounds to build a stadium. In 1965 the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was opened, having taken only 50 weeks to construct.
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baseball scoreboards
Busch Stadium: From Old to New
Busch Stadium was one of the most attractive stadiums in baseball. Originally constructed as a multi purpose venue, it was the talk of St Louis. Featuring the famous ‘Crown of the Arches’ to compliment the St Louis ‘Gateway Arch’, the stadium became best known as the pride of The Cardinals. The original name that it was given was Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, however in 1982 they decided to change the name to it’s now well known ‘Busch Stadium’. The venue was named after the famous family of the team’s ownership, the Anheuser-Busch, Busch Family.
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Tiger Stadium: the pride of Detroit
Many people may not know that the famous Tiger Stadium in Detroit started out in 1895 as just a simple ballpark. George Vanderbeck was the then owner of the Detroit Tigers, and built the stadium and called it Bennett Park. It had wooden grandstands and a peaked roof of wood in the outfield with the infield surrounded by bleachers. Ropes were used in some locations to mark off the outfield.
Many changes were made to ‘The Corner’, as it was lovingly coined. From 1911 to 1938 various owners changed, added and enhanced to encourage fans to attend. In 1961, John Fetzer decided to rename the location to Tiger Stadium. It seemed the name brought good luck because from 1968 and 1984, they held the seasons of the World Series championship. The historic feel of the stadium earned the love of the local Detroit fans; and that says a lot, because Detroit fans are some of the most devoted in the country. Roger Maris hit his very first homerun at the stadium.
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Veterans Stadium: home of the rowdiest fans
If you lived in Philadelphia during the 60’s and 70’s you had to be a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles. This isn’t a choice or an option, it’s a requirement. If you attended any of the games (and everyone did) then you would have found yourself at the Philadelphia Veterans Stadium, known as “The Vet” by the locals. The name was chosen to represent and honor all of the U.S. Veterans from all of the wars and was a proud moment when TheVet opened in 1971.
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Braves Field: Boston’s unsung hero of baseball
From 1915 through 1952 the Braves Field was known for hosting the then Boston Braves of the National League franchise. The original owners made a little known name change to the team, calling it the Boston Bees, and the field picked up the name of “The Bee Hive”.
The intended purpose of the field was to offer the ability to have more inside home runs. So, a stadium was constructed in the then ‘outskirt area’ of Boston. Sadly, the fans had to sit in stand areas that were literally outside of the foul marked areas. There were also strong breezes that entered into the field. Fences that were originally 400 feet away were often relocated based on the interests of the owners. This on again, off again relocation was much to the chagrin of both fans and players alike. It would be ten years before someone hit a home run to go up and over the outer wall. Other than that, it would always be referred to as a “pitchers park”.
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Denver’s Mile High Stadium: Iconic and Tragic
Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado was originally constructed in 1948 with a capacity seating of 17,000. It’s hard to believe in today’s stadium comparisons that so much was invested in such a small venue. The initial concept was that this would be the stadium for the Denver Bears and so when it was completed it was called Bears Stadium.
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Batlimore’s Memorial Stadium: The Old Grey Lady of 33rd Street
In 1922 a local Baltimore sports fan would not recognize the name Memorial Stadium. At the time of its opening, it was called Baltimore Stadium. Later it would also carry the names Venable Stadium, Babe Ruth Stadium and Municipal Stadium. It was lovingly referred to as “The Old Grey Lady of 33rd Street” and also not so lovingly as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Insane Asylum.”
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Shea Stadium: The magic of New York
If you have never heard of, you must have been living under a rock. Even if you aren’t a New Yorker, everyone in the world knows of Shea Stadium, home at one point of the famed New York Mets, New York Jets, New York Yankees and the New York Giants.
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Seattle’s Best: The Kingdome
The King County Multipurpose Domed Stadium might not be a name that you are familiar with, but you will know simply The Kingdome. This multipurpose stadium in Seattle Washington was home of some of Seattle’s best teams, covering the sports of baseball, football and basketball: Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sounders, Seattle Mariners, Seattle SuperSonics.
Opening in 1976, the Kingdome was actually visualized as far back as 1959. The existing stadiums in Seattle were simply not large enough to support any of the major leagues. The citizens of King County finally voted in approval for the Kingdome in 1968 and previewed around 100 different sites in the King County and Seattle areas for the project. Without a confirmed major league franchise, the stadium broke ground on King Street. It wasn’t until 1974 when the new stadium was awarded the NFL franchise of what would eventually be the Seattle Seahawks.
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The Original Yankee Stadium – Baseball’s Cathedral
Is there anyone in the world that hasn’t heard of Yankee Stadium? To say that this arena was iconic is a pure understatement. To this day, when someone says ‘Yankee Stadium’ – visions of hot dog vendors, sports music played on that famous Hammond organ, crowds filled with excitement and the electricity of the games fills the senses. When it opened in 1923, it was destined to be associated with everything good and wholesome about America and New York.
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