Some Jazz-Age Ballparks

[niu354]

A certain home run record may have been broken with a little help from a hitter friendly ballpark in Atlanta that you may be familiar with….

[asrivkin]

Ha! OK, I guess I should make time after work to watch...

[niu354]

Originally Posted by asrivkin

I have a few parks I'd like to make in time for Opening Day--Offermann Stadium in Buffalo and Spiller Park in Atlanta

Do you have an estimate for when the new Spiller Park will be available? I'm about ready to start my next season. I'll hold off if you are close or switch to plan B if not.

Zero rush intended. I only ask to ensure I don't switch to plan B hours before you share the new version.

[asrivkin]

Originally Posted by niu354

Do you have an estimate for when the new Spiller Park will be available? I'm about ready to start my next season. I'll hold off if you are close or switch to plan B if not.

Zero rush intended. I only ask to ensure I don't switch to plan B hours before you share the new version.

It'll probably be a couple of weeks--I'd like to do this last 19th century Philadelphia park before I move back here. It definitely won't be before this weekend, though I suppose I could get to it by the following weekend of the 15th/16th?

[niu354]

Originally Posted by asrivkin

I suppose I could get to it by the following weekend of the 15th/16th?

Thanks for the update and the work on this! I’ll get started on my next season and incorporate it the following season. Probably two weeks before that happens, so don’t rush for next weekend.

[asrivkin]

niu354: I've been plugging away at Spiller Park and should have a version ready by this weekend. My own league needs a 20's version, but I'll also make one with a 40's/50's vibe (lights and ads) for you (though the seating/dimensions might not quite be right for that era)...

[asrivkin]

After spending several months working on the 19th century parks where only rudimentary information was available, it was quite the contrast to work on a ballpark that lasted into the TV era. So here's Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta, known as Spiller Park from 1924-1933. I'm providing two versions--a Spiller Park version more representative of the late 1920s and a later version that's more 1940s/1950s and later. The main difference is that the later version has fences up in right field that weren't up in the 20s, as well as some cosmetic things like different billboards and the presence/absence of lights.

Google Drive Link to Spiller Park (1920s-era Ponce de Leon)

Google Drive Link to Ponce de Leon Park (1940s and later)

This is more or less an updated version of the 1910s-era Poncey, which I made a few years back when I was lower on the ballpark mod learning curve. In real-life, that park burned down, and I tore this park down as well leaving the hill in place, adding the famous tree(s), and other background elements like the Sears building (today's Ponce City Market) and nearby houses.

The hill is still a problematic element in general, and I set the boundaries at its base so that players don't disappear into it. The fence that the later version has did exist, but in earlier times players were expected to run up the hill and there was a only a fence up top to keep folks off of the train tracks. The fences in left/left-center were changed with time, the later version here matches some overhead shots but not others.

I used the in-game calculator for the Park Factors, and used the Sketchup dimensions for that rather than the real-life dimensions (which changed, anyhow). It seems to have switched its character from the 1910s version to be more of a doubles/triples park than a home run park, at least for righties. Depending on what you're looking for, you may be best off setting all the factors to 1.00.

Let me know if there are problems and please enjoy! Next up here should be Offermann Park in Buffalo. I know there are some other requests, I'll see if I can get to them, but I'm also planning to ease into an end-of-year vacation before too long!

[zappa1]

Wow. Very nice parks. With the right information, you make it pretty exact.

[niu354]

Woohoo! Can’t wait to play at this park.

[asrivkin]

I'm heading off for a few weeks, but since I've got this one ready to go I might as well give the boards a holiday gift. If I have time tomorrow I'll see if I can squeeze another one in. If the internet is good on our cruise maybe I'll even post one a day during Hanukkah. No promises, though.

But for now, here's Offermann Stadium, home to Buffalo baseball from 1924-1960. In addition to the AAA Buffalo Bisons, the field hosted early NFL teams and some Negro League teams.

Google Drive Link to Offermann Stadium

This one is set up for the sim I'm running, in which Buffalo and Baltimore joined the NL from the Federal League in 1915, which explains the scoreboard listings. The sim is in 1924, so there are no lights and the ballpark ads are at least trying to reflect mid-1920s Buffalo (except I'm pretending there's no Prohibition).

There was plenty of material to work with, especially compared to the 19th-century stuff I've been doing. Hopefully it'll be a fun park for everybody! I have a couple of requests, which I'll try to get to early in 1925, and I'm also planning to get stuff put together to submit to Steam, with lots of help from LansdowneSt.

Enjoy and let me know if there are any issues!

[micropterus58]

Sweet. Enjoy your cruise (but not too much, In southern New England we know the snow is coming).

[Ty Cobb]

Thanks for another beauty. Have a wonderful trip. May the sun shine and the gentle breezes blow in your favor!

[zappa1]

Agree that this is cool. Love the signage you've added. Have fun.

[asrivkin]

Hi all,

At Oosl's request, I'm posting Victory Field I (aka Perry Stadium and Bush Stadium), which served Indianapolis from 1931-1996. It served Indianapolis' AAA team throughout that entire stretch, but also served various Negro League teams during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as a minor league football team. Today it's been converted into an apartment complex, with much of the footprint intact.

Google Drive link to Victory Field I

Contrary to the 19th century parks, which took up most of my 2024 modeling time, Victory Field had dimensions that were easy to find and I didn't feel like I had to do a lot of guesswork with it. The walls were ivy-covered (and apparently inspired Wrigley's ivy), but I didn't have many clear images that showed it, plus making them entirely ivy-covered didn't really look right, so I made it patchier on the walls. That would be easy enough to change if there were an outcry. The background is actually as true as I could get--I perched Google Earth up on the roof of the apartments where the press box used to be and did the panorama from there. So, whether or not it fits the time frame you use it, it's true to place.

As a last note for now, we had a great cruise and end-of-year vacation, and are now equilibrating to being back and current events. It's my hope to be able to contribute here at the same kind of pace I have been, but I might need to prioritize other activities and aspects of my life. My top priority for the models is to get a bunch of them in shape to go into Steam for the next version of OOTP, and I know there are a few requests for parks that I'll try to get to. I'm not expecting to disappear, but new parks may be a bit less common.

In any case, enjoy the parks and let me know if you have any issues!

[LansdowneSt]

Looks great - and welcome back from what sounds like a great vacation!

[Braden]

Originally Posted by asrivkin

Hi all,

At Oosl's request, I'm posting Victory Field I (aka Perry Stadium and Bush Stadium), which served Indianapolis from 1931-1996. It served Indianapolis' AAA team throughout that entire stretch, but also served various Negro League teams during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as a minor league football team. Today it's been converted into an apartment complex, with much of the footprint intact.

Google Drive link to Victory Field I

Contrary to the 19th century parks, which took up most of my 2024 modeling time, Victory Field had dimensions that were easy to find and I didn't feel like I had to do a lot of guesswork with it. The walls were ivy-covered (and apparently inspired Wrigley's ivy), but I didn't have many clear images that showed it, plus making them entirely ivy-covered didn't really look right, so I made it patchier on the walls. That would be easy enough to change if there were an outcry. The background is actually as true as I could get--I perched Google Earth up on the roof of the apartments where the press box used to be and did the panorama from there. So, whether or not it fits the time frame you use it, it's true to place.

As a last note for now, we had a great cruise and end-of-year vacation, and are now equilibrating to being back and current events. It's my hope to be able to contribute here at the same kind of pace I have been, but I might need to prioritize other activities and aspects of my life. My top priority for the models is to get a bunch of them in shape to go into Steam for the next version of OOTP, and I know there are a few requests for parks that I'll try to get to. I'm not expecting to disappear, but new parks may be a bit less common.

In any case, enjoy the parks and let me know if you have any issues!

Any chance of getting the Sketchup file for this? I would like to work on the outfield wall

Thanks.

[asrivkin]

Originally Posted by Braden

Any chance of getting the Sketchup file for this? I would like to work on the outfield wall

Thanks.

Here you go: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QYa...usp=drive_link

Have fun (and let me know if there's a problem)!

[Ty Cobb]

Happy to hear the vacation was good. Glad you're back and making parks again too. This looks like another great addition.

[oosl]

Originally Posted by asrivkin

Hi all,

At Oosl's request, I'm posting Victory Field I (aka Perry Stadium and Bush Stadium), which served Indianapolis from 1931-1996. It served Indianapolis' AAA team throughout that entire stretch, but also served various Negro League teams during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as a minor league football team. Today it's been converted into an apartment complex, with much of the footprint intact.

Google Drive link to Victory Field I

Contrary to the 19th century parks, which took up most of my 2024 modeling time, Victory Field had dimensions that were easy to find and I didn't feel like I had to do a lot of guesswork with it. The walls were ivy-covered (and apparently inspired Wrigley's ivy), but I didn't have many clear images that showed it, plus making them entirely ivy-covered didn't really look right, so I made it patchier on the walls. That would be easy enough to change if there were an outcry. The background is actually as true as I could get--I perched Google Earth up on the roof of the apartments where the press box used to be and did the panorama from there. So, whether or not it fits the time frame you use it, it's true to place.

As a last note for now, we had a great cruise and end-of-year vacation, and are now equilibrating to being back and current events. It's my hope to be able to contribute here at the same kind of pace I have been, but I might need to prioritize other activities and aspects of my life. My top priority for the models is to get a bunch of them in shape to go into Steam for the next version of OOTP, and I know there are a few requests for parks that I'll try to get to. I'm not expecting to disappear, but new parks may be a bit less common.

In any case, enjoy the parks and let me know if you have any issues!

Welcome back and thank you, thank you, thank you!!

So excited to use this addition! Very much appreciate you and your work!

[niu354]

Great news! I’m setting up a 1903 save and can’t wait to use more of your work.