Today in baseball: Ballpark openings

Today 107 and 106 years ago there were some ballpark christenings. In 1912 Fenway Park opened its doors. A year later another iconic ballpark would be opened: Ebbets Field.

Even though the first MLB game at Fenway Park was played on April 20, the first game ever was played on April 9, 1912. The Red Sox took on Harvard and beat them 2-0 in an abbreviated exhibition contest played on a cold and snowy afternoon in front of 3,000 hardy fans. During the season, while the Red Sox were on the road, a few amateur baseball games were held at the park and the construction of left-field and right-field bleachers was completed in time for the World Series. In late 1912, Fenway Park hosted the National High School Football Championship Game, concluding an eventful first year in the park’s history.

As it was built in the middle of the Fenway Neighborhood, which name can be derived from the fact that it was built on filled marshland or “fens”. Because it is built right in a neighborhood, it has a quirky shape with the iconic short left field and the Green Monster.

One year later, Ebbets Field opened its doors as the 1913 season started.
The Brooklyn Dodgers hosted the Philadelphia Phillies that spoiled the opener as they won 1-0. Ebbets Field was named after the former owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Charles Ebbets. He bought pieces of land in the Flatbush area that included the site of a garbage dump, that was known as Pigtown. It took Ebbets four years to acquire the needed pieces of land. He bought every piece secretly, trying to avoid rumors which could drive up the price of the land.

Eventually, the groundbreaking was in March 1912 and a bit more than a year later the ballpark was finished. The first ever game was played on April 5, an interleague exhibition game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees (just officially renamed and leaving the Highlander moniker behind).

When the park was opened, it was discovered that the flag, keys to the bleachers, and a press box had all been forgotten. It would take until 1929 before the press box was added.