Cleveland Chooses Which History to Save

Cleveland has been mentioned recently on National Public Radio (NPR) for restoring the downtown area and making it the place to live, work, and play. What is most unusual about the story that I heard on June 11, 2012 is that it featured all 3 cities we are visiting other than Chicago. However, Cleveland was the city with the most focus. This revitalization has been evolving over the last decade. It is no surprise that this spirit has spread outside of the downtown area to other historical neighborhoods and landmarks.

The League Park, located at East 66th and Lexington in Cleveland, is one of those landmarks that is getting $5 million to renovate the park. The city has decided to restore the old ticket house, the bleacher wall and the baseball diamond. They will also build a museum and a field for football and soccer to make the park more useful and accessible to the community. The decision was made in January 2012. 

All that is left at the site today is the ticket office that was at the corner of the right field, the first base side wall, and an open field. The wall is held up by steal beams and the arches have been bricked in for stability, but it has been standing for more than 120 year. In a country that likes to tear down buildings after a couple of decades, making it to a century is a huge milestone, let alone another 20 years on top of it. 

The park opened on May 1, 1891 and was used by the Cleveland Spiders and Cleveland Shores before the Cleveland Indians became one of the charter members of the new American League in 1901. In 1910, the wooden bleachers were replaced by steal and concrete. This park and Comiskey were the only 2 parks in the American League to open/re-open that year with steal and concrete.

The park closed on September 21, 1946, but not before visitors witnessed some of the best ball players and historical events in baseball:

• Cy Young pitched the first game played in League Park on May 1, 1891
• 1920 World Series
• First grand slam in World Series history (1920 series)
• First unassisted triple play in baseball history (1920 series)
• Babe Ruth got his 500th home run at League Park on Aug. 11, 1929
• Used only for the Indians weekday and Saturday day games from 1934 to 1946

• Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller's first game (1936)

Living in Iowa, I have a special place in my heart for Bob Feller. He played for the Indians from 1936 to 1941, went to war, and then came back to play for the Indians from 1945 to 1956. 

I personally signed the Petition Online to save League Park for League Park Society. I think it is too late, considering the Cleveland City Council has already agreed to spend $5 million for restorations, but I wanted to make sure they knew they made a good decision.

In 1931, a super large stadium that seated 74,000 people was built as part of a failed bid for the 1932 Olympics. During the Great Depression, the city of Cleveland spent $3 million to build Municipal Stadium. It was coined the "Mistake by the Lake", but it was used until 1993. Until the end of World War II, there wasn't enough fan support to use the Stadium full time. It was only used for night games on the weekends.