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BOSSE FIELD FACTS: Opening Day, June 17, 1915
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Professional ballparks older than Bosse Field:
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Fenway Park in Boston (1912)
Wrigley Field in Chicago (1914)
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Original construction costs:
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$10,000 10 Acres of land at Southeast corner of Garvin Park
$50,000 Materials & Labor
$5,000 City fees (grounds, improvements, etc.)
$65,000
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Built as a SCHOOL BOARD PROJECT (first municipally owned athletic facility in the US).
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School Board Members at the time included:
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Abraham Strouse
Charles B. Enlow
Daniel Wertz
Howard Roosa
The Reverend J.V. Schneider presented the stadium to the people of Evansville on behalf of the School Board.
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The ballpark was named for Benjamin Bosse, then Mayor (elected in 1913), in honor of his “great encouragement and support” to the development of an athletic program in the local schools.
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Seating capacity listed at 7,180; opening day attendance reported as 8,082.
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Seat Prices:
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$0.75 Box Seats
$0.50 Grandstand
$0.25 Bleachers
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EVAS DEFEATED ERIE, 4-0. Winning Pitcher: Fromholtz.
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“The Night of Opening Day”: Portable lighting installed around a wrestling ring; reportedly another 1,500 attendees (10,000+ both events)
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Bosse Field Facts: The Outfield Walls
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Current Statistics
Left Field 315 ft
Center Field 415 ft 455 ft. 476 ft.*
Right Field 315 ft.
Seating Capacity 5,110
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Home plate was moved closer to the grandstand in 1938, lengthening the distance to dead center: there are NO recorded home runs which left the park in straight-away center (not even Hank Greenberg).
“Inner Fence” was installed in 1950, removed for the 1951, ’52, and ’53 seasons, then reinstalled in 1954.
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Bosse Field Facts: Evansville, IN 1915
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Benjamin Bosse elected mayor in 1913; challenged citizens to develop civic pride. His most famous quote: “When everybody boosts, everybody wins.”
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Civic Improvements that were completed during Bosse’s years as mayor:
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• Horse drawn fire carriages were replaced.
• The Evansville Police Department moved into a separate Police Station (previously in city offices).
• Most Downtown streets were paved (brick).
• Improved public markets were built in several locations.
• The Public Recreation Department was formed and – in addition to creating both GARVIN and MESKER parks – built Evansville’s first public playgrounds, tennis courts and swimming pools.
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Prominent Local Businesses:
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Strouse’s: Clothing
DeJong’s: Clothing
Harding & Miller: Music
Smith & Butterfield: Office Sundries
Finke Furniture: one of 41 furniture factories in business in the years 1912-1916
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Popular Music of the time:
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“When Irish Eyes are Smilin’” (1912)
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1912)
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First Boy Scout Troop in Evansville formed in 1910
The YMCA Building (begun in 1912) was dedicated in 1914
Hotel McCurdy opened June 6, 1917
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum was completed in March of 1917
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Bosse Field Facts: Players
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Hall of Famers who played here:
Bob Uecker 1957 Braves
Warren Spahn 1941 Bees
Hank Greenberg 1931 Hubs
Chuck Klein 1927 Hubs
Big Sam Thompson (elected to the Hall in 1974) played in Evansville as a rookie in 1884.
Oakland City’s own Hall of Famer Edd Roush played for Evansville teams (’12 Yankees and ’13 River Rats)
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Bosse Field Facts: Teams & Leagues
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Home to:
Otters 1995-present Frontier League
Triplets 1970 – 1984 American Association
E Sox 1966 - 1968 Southern League
Braves 1946 - 1957 Three-I League
Detroit Tigers Spring Training 1942 –1945 (?) American League
Bees 1938 - 1942 Three-I League
Hubs 1926 – 1930 Three-I League
Pocketeers 1924 - 1925 Three-I League
Little Evas 1923 Three-I League
Evansville Crimson Giants 1921 - 1922 National Football League
Evas 1920 - 1922 Three-I League
Black Sox 1919 Three- I League
Evas 1915 – 1917 Central League
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Bosse Field: Significant Events
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1925: Three- I League adopted the practice of adding numbers to players’ jerseys to help fans better identify the players, and the Pocketeers became the first team to appear in numbered uniforms in Evansville.
September 1925: Louis Chado (pitcher, Decatur) died of “a ruptured artery in the brain”. The day prior to his death, Chado was struck in the head by a ball thrown by Evansville pitcher Elmer Gray. Chado left the field under his own power after (all accounts agree) “leaning into the pitch”…the beaning was NOT intentional.
1930: $50,000 in School Board financed improvements.
August 12, 1931: In the first night game ever played at Bosse Field, the Evansville Hubs lost to Decatur, 7-6.
1957: Approximately $ 400,000 was spent on renovations to the ballpark to make it “fit and safe”.
April 1966: Chicago White Sox (parent club of Evansville’s White Sox) played the Cincinnati Reds in an exhibition game at Bosse Field. “Standing room only” crowd of 5,714 reported.
1971: Beer sales permitted for the first time.
1978: Electric Scoreboard installed. (Prior to that time, the scoreboard was operated manually by Marvin Gray.)
August 30, 1984: Last Triplets game.
June 15, 1995: First Evansville Otters game.
May 28, 2005: First Frontier League team to reach 1,000,000 fan plateau.
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Bosse Field Facts: Ticket Prices
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Box Grandstand Bleacher
1917 $ 0.75 $ 0.50 $ 0.25
1941 $ 0.90 $ 0.60 $ 0.65 $ 0.44 $ 0.28
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