Some Jazz-Age Ballparks

[twins_34]

What program are you using to do your parks? I have never messed with doing 3d stuff but it might be fun to try and learn.

[asrivkin]

I've been using Sketchup Make, which is what is used in all the great park-making tutorials people have posted here. It's an older version--I think the newest version is online-only? It keeps reminding me that it's old, but it doesn't seem to actually affect any functionality. The learning curve was a bit steep, but making the parks has been an engaging way to pass the pandemic...

[asrivkin]

Next up is Waco's Katy Park, built in 1905, used by the White Sox occasionally for spring training prior to 1920. Unlike Jacksonville, this one had a lot of character, and I had a lot of fun making it. As with many of the others, finding photos from the time frame I'm trying to model was a bit of a challenge, so I'm again certain that it has some anachronistic elements. Hopefully it'll be of use/interest! Next up is Havana's Almendares Park.

Google Drive link

[Ty Cobb]

Consider the Thanks button pressed!

[asrivkin]

Hello all!

Next up for use in your 1910s Spring Training Tours is the pride of Havana, Almendares Park. This is the first park by that name, it was replaced in 1916 or so by another Almendares Park not far away. This was the the site of several early MLB tours, including Ty Cobb's Tigers and a Philadelphia Athletics team. It also hosted some early Black ballplayers before the first recognized Negro League teams played. It also hosted college football, of all things.

The view from the usual high-behind-home-plate position isn't particularly inspiring--the field was by all accounts gigantic in all directions. I did the park factors based on a simplistic comparison of 1B/2B/3B/HR per at bat from the Seamheads database and it seems like outfielders played deep to keep things from going over their heads, and successfully cut down on extra base hits at the expense of a lot of singles dropping in in front of them.

The park itself had multi-story pavilions rather than grandstands in places, which look amazing in some paintings I've seen. That's where most of the visual interest in this park is, though I also put in one of the old forts way out past right field since I think it would have been visible. I tried to give something of a flavor of the setting, using some likely-looking street scenes from Havana for the surrounding area.

I'd intended to take a break from stadiums for a little while after this one, but I did convince myself to do one more. I should post that one soon...

Google Drive link to Almendares Park 1

[asrivkin]

Hello all!

Here's the "Gimnasio Escolar" in Santo Domingo, home to the early teams in the Dominican League, some of which still exist like Licey and Escogido. In 1930 a hurricane destroyed this park, its successor (which I haven't tackled yet) hosted the famous 1937 team with Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, et al.

A distinctive feature of this park, amazingly to me, is a shipwreck just beyond the outfield--the USS Memphis ended up there after a tidal wave wrecked it. As usual, I didn't have as much documentation as I might have preferred, but I did what I could.

Google Drive Link to Gimnasio Escolar zip file

[asrivkin]

I'm thinking this will likely be my last park for a little while (so I can get on with 1916 in my game), but I've been having fun making these so I might do more sooner than I think. Next batch may be the 1910s/1920s batch of PCL fields (Washington Park in LA, Rec Park in SF, Dugdale in Seattle) or I may go for southern ones like Houston/Dallas/Atlanta.

I also realized that the zip files I posted didn't always have the .prk files in them. I'll eventually get around to fixing that, but if someone needs one sooner let me know!

[Ty Cobb]

It's good work. Enjoy your rest time. I, for one, will look forward to more when the mood strikes you. Thank you for sharing your hard work with all of us!

[asrivkin]

Thank you so much for your encouragement!

[asrivkin]

With the end of the 1916 regular season in my simulation (Boston looking for their third World Series win in a row, facing the White Sox) I'm back to preparing a few parks for 1917's Spring Training (and for fun). I've got several that are within shouting distance of completion including Recreation Park (SF), Washington Park (LA), and Red Elm Park (Memphis) among others.

For today, I'll post a bit of a niche field: Tucson's Elysian Grove.
Here's the link: Elysian Grove Google Drive Link

This park was associated with an amusement park, as seems to have been the fashion in the early 1900s. It looks like only one minor league team played there: the 1915 Tucson Old Pueblos of the Rio Grande Association. The park wasn't terribly big but it's a reasonable place for a barnstorming team to play, and since I lived in Tucson for 9 years, met my spouse there, and still have lots of friends in the area I thought I'd give it a go.

The attached images are a screenshot from Sketchup, a screenshot from OOTP, and a couple of period images that I used to help figure things out.

[Ty Cobb]

Thanks!

[asrivkin]

OK, time for another one. This is Red Elm Park, later renamed Russwood Park (and probably much better known under that name). It was home of the Memphis Chickasaws of the Southern Association from 1896-1960, succumbing to fire just after a major league exhibition game. Its Wikipedia page is here for those interested, and its Digital Ballparks page is here.

This is the link to download a zip file of the ballpark for OOTP. I don't think I was fully consistent as to the ballpark name I used, so if for some reason things don't work try renaming files to be consistent.

As usual, I'm shooting for its appearance c. 1915-1920. I worked from the Sanborn maps, old pictures from about the right era, and later pictures that I tried to work backward from. The park was in a natural depression, the topography is in the park but I used the left field grass slope as seating (which may or may not look right)...

[bctrackboi11]

Originally Posted by asrivkin

OK, time for another one. This is Red Elm Park, later renamed Russwood Park (and probably much better known under that name). It was home of the Memphis Chickasaws of the Southern Association from 1896-1960, succumbing to fire just after a major league exhibition game. Its Wikipedia page is here for those interested, and its Digital Ballparks page is here.

This is the link to download a zip file of the ballpark for OOTP. I don't think I was fully consistent as to the ballpark name I used, so if for some reason things don't work try renaming files to be consistent.

As usual, I'm shooting for its appearance c. 1915-1920. I worked from the Sanborn maps, old pictures from about the right era, and later pictures that I tried to work backward from. The park was in a natural depression, the topography is in the park but I used the left field grass slope as seating (which may or may not look right)...

Simply perfect. Are you taking requests? I'd love to see Hinchliffe.

[asrivkin]

Originally Posted by bctrackboi11

Simply perfect. Are you taking requests? I'd love to see Hinchliffe.

Thank you so much! And sure, I'm happy to give it a shot. I'd been considering Greenlee Field anyhow. I'll probably put it (or them) in a separate thread since it's not from this time period, but I'll put it on my to-do list!

[asrivkin]

All right, here's a stop for barnstorming teams en route to Japan: Mo'ili'ili Park in Honolulu. This is the park before Honolulu Stadium was built right across the street. Interestingly (at least to me), the baseball diamond is still in place, as seen in the Google Maps image. I also included the two 1910s-era pictures I could find, one of which seems to involve everything but baseball. Finally, I put in a screenshot from behind home plate--who could blame an umpire if their mind happened to wander with that view of Diamond Head?

Here's the Google Drive link for ballpark

[asrivkin]

Next up is Washington Park in Los Angeles, the park used before Wrigley Field and after Chutes Park (though there's substantial overlap with Chutes Park in all sorts of ways). This was used by the PCL Angels 1911-1925, its Wikipedia page is here. I debated whether or not to try to mimic the dirt/grass pattern seen in the aerial photo but decided it looked a bit too weird and (ironically) unnatural.

Google Drive link to Washington Park zip file

[Gambo]

Ahem...where's the Water Slide? Lol.

(No seriously...great work!)

[Ty Cobb]

Nice! This'll be getting used regularly by me!

[asrivkin]

Originally Posted by Gambo

Ahem...where's the Water Slide? Lol.

(No seriously...great work!)

You're about 10 years too late to visit this stadium, or I am. But I'm planning on tackling Hanlan's Point Stadium in Toronto before too long, so you'll get a roller coaster there.

(and thank you!!)

Originally Posted by Ty Cobb

Nice! This'll be getting used regularly by me!

Wonderful! That's very gratifying.

[silvam14]

This is great stuff! really good work!

have you thought about doing any of the negro league parks?

I have done a few but I don't really plan on doing many more