Another Hidden Gem!

While last week’s post was titled “A Hidden Gem”, that title could have, and maybe should have, been used for this week’s visit to Baseballtown, aka the Reading Fightin’ Phils who play their home games in First Energy Stadium. A long history of baseball, longest affiliation with a major league team, and ostriches. What isn’t there to love?!

This park saw its first minor league game in 1951, but don’t let the age of this cozy 9000 seat stadium fool you. The original cost was roughly $650k, but they have put more than 10x that amount into upgrades over the last few years, without losing the ambiance of watching a game in an older park. 

The main concession area is located under the stands, and is lined with posters and signage detailing their long history going back 64 years. And it just smells like baseball! The aroma of cheap $2.50 hot dogs seems

  

to be burned into the walls. They have installed a very nice LED screen in the outfield, but you sit so close to the field, you don’t need it to see anything you might have missed. 

 

The stadium was originally named Municipal Memorial Stadium, and while they now have corporate sponsorship, they still remember veterans at the start of every game, and at the memorial flag pole outside the stadium, they have a statue of GI dog tags. 

The more minor league games I go to, I become more and more of a believer of the product they put out. Saturday was Irish heritage night, so the pregame entertainment on the concourse was an Irish rock band, and the Phils even had their lucky leprechaun running around. Before the game, they let little leaguers have a throw around on the field. And between innings…. well let’s just say I’ve never seen anything like the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor tossing hot dogs into the stands from an ostrich. OK, maybe not a real ostrich, although for a few years the team DID have a pair of live ostriches behind the outfield wall!! 

Reading has been home to organized baseball going back to 1858 in one form or another. Their major league affiliations in their current home have included Brooklyn, Cleveland, Red Sox, and since 1967, the Phillies. Out of the 118 minor league teams affiliated with a Major League parent club that year, only Reading and three others have remained associated with the same organization through the 2004 season. And I believe only the Lakeland Flying Tigers remain associated with their parent organization now.

This really was a fun place to visit. The food was awesome. If you’ve never had a Philly Dog, it’s worth a try. And like the name implies, it’s a combo of a Philly cheesesteak and a hot dog! They also have a churger, a combination chicken breast and cheeseburger. And Old Bay seasoned fries. The beer of choice throughout the stadium is Yuengling, which is appropriate since it’s America’s oldest operating brewing company and located in Pennsylvania! 

For the kids, not only do they have an indoor 27 hole putt putt course, there’s also a pool pavilion for parties in right field. And did I mention the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor…. and his own bobblehead??

 

With the moon rising over the stadium, the Fightins pulled out a 4-3 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels, scoring the go ahead run in the bottom of the 8th. Can I tell you who drove him in, who scored the run, who got the save? Nope. I CAN tell you that this place truly deserves the nickname “Baseballtown”!!

 

A Hidden Gem

When I was growing up in St. Petersburg, FL, and running cross country for the Northeast High Vikings, I ran countless laps around Crescent Lake both in practice and in meets. And although I was perpetually holding up the rear in practice and in meets, I sometimes would wonder about the baseball field on the south end of the park. Who practiced there? What's the story behind this little park with a couple small sections of bleachers? Hey, back in the day, I had plenty of time to ponder this. Sure, I knew that Saturday Night Live filmed a classic (and the FIRST) Chico Escuela installment in the late 70's there, with Bill Murray interviewing Ed Kranepool (whom this blog is dedicated to) about Chico's new book, "Bad Things 'Bout the Mets", where Ed famously denied borrowing Chico's soap and never returning it, or Yogi Berra being a "berry berry bad card player." While YouTube won't let me post it due to copyright rules, you can view it here. But mums the word.... shhhhh.... :-) But surely there's more to the field previously known as Crescent Lake Field than just Ed, Bill Murray, and Chico!


Crescent Lake Field was first constructed in 1925. Its first tenant for spring training was the New York Yankees. The Yankees had bounced around various locations in the south for spring training venues, including Savannah, Atlanta, Montgomery, Bermuda, Macon, Jacksonville, Shreveport, and New Orleans. They settled on St. Petersburg in 1924, primarily due to (rumor has it) reduce Babe Ruth's, uh, temptations! The Yankees would practice at Crescent Lake Field and have games at both Crescent Lake Field and

Waterfront Stadium (future home of Al Lang Field/Al Lang Stadium/Progress Energy Park). The Yankees called St. Petersburg home through 1950, with the exception of 1943-45 when travel restrictions were in place due to WWII. In fact, the Yankees were in the first game ever played in the newly remodeled and renamed Al Lang Field in the spring of 1947. But that's foder for another post.....

Crescent Lake Field was renamed Miller Huggins Field in 1931, after long time manager Miller Huggins passed away in 1929. This clip from the early 30's shows Ruth and Gehrig in FL, while this clip from the late
1930s shows the Yankees working out at Huggins field. Rumor also has it that at one point an alligator or two were sunning themselves on the shores of Crescent Lake, and some of the players refused to go to the outfield given the proximity of the alligators to the playing field! Welcome to Florida!!


The Yankees continued to train at Miller Huggins Field through 1961. The likes of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio graced the fields of St. Pete.  Marylin Monroe even graced the stands during spring training! I have to find that bench!  When the Yankees left in 1961, the new tenants were the expansion team New York Mets. The Mets were under the tutelege of long time Yankees skipper Casey Stengel. The Metropolitans continued to train there until the Payson Complex was built in 1968. The Mets would hold their spring training games at Al Lang Field (later Stadium) with the St. Louis Cardinals. The next time Huggins-Stengel Field would hold spring training workouts would be for the Baltimore Orioles from 1992-95.

Two long time plaques are still in existence at the field honoring Miller Huggins and Casey Stengel. The next time you are driving around St. Pete, and long for a piece of long time baseball history, it's worth a stop at Crescent Lake to see this hidden gem.