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BOSSE FIELD FACTS: Opening Day, June 17, 1915
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| Professional ballparks older than Bosse
Field: |
Fenway Park in Boston (1912)
Wrigley Field in Chicago (1914)
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| Original
construction costs: |
$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 |
|
Built as a SCHOOL BOARD PROJECT (first
municipally owned athletic facility in the
US). |
| School Board
Members at the time included: |
|
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. |
|
Seating capacity listed at 7,180; opening day
attendance reported as 8,082. |
| Seat
Prices: |
$0.75 Box Seats
$0.50
Grandstand
$0.25 Bleachers |
| 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 |
| Benjamin Bosse elected mayor in 1913; challenged citizens
to develop civic pride. His most famous quote: “When everybody boosts,
everybody wins.” |
| 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. |
| Prominent
Local Businesses: |
|
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 |
| Popular
Music of the time: |
|
“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 |
| Bosse Field Facts:
Players |
|
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) |
| 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 1916 –
1917 Central League
River Rats
1914 – 1915 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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Photo by Timeless Images
