October 2011

Named after Evansville mayor Benjamin Bosse, Bosse Field opened in 1915 and is one of the oldest ballparks in the United States.

In its nine decades of baseball over a dozen minor league teams have played their home games at Bosse Field; however, it currently hosts the Evansville Otters, a franchise in the independent Frontier League. Bosse Field has been home to several Hall-of-Fame players working their way up to the Majors including Warren Spahn and Hank Greenberg. 

Opened on August 18, 1910, Rickwood Field is one of the oldest baseball parks in the country. Financed by Rick Woodward, Rickwood Field was constructed as a home ballpark for the Birmingham Barons, who played in the Southern Association, a top-level minor league. 

Rickwood Field has also hosted Major League teams, as both the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates played in Birmingham during spring training. The Birmingham Black Barons, a Negro League team, also played at Rickwood Field, frequently drawing larger crowds than the Barons.

Since 1992 the Friends of Rickwood have supervised its maintenance and schedule. While the Barons, a Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, play their home games in Hoover, Alabama, they play one throwback game at Rickwood Field in period uniforms. 

Constructed in 1912, Fenway Park is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. Named Fenway Park after the surrounding neighborhood, it has hosted the Boston Red Sox for 100 years. Beginning in 2003, Fenway Park has continued a streak of consecutive sell-outs, breaking the MLB record in 2008. 

Fenway Park is perhaps best known for the "Green Monster", a 37-foot tall fence in left field that stands just 310 feet from home plate. Down the right field line stands Pesky's Pole, the shortest right field fence in Major League Baseball, named for Red Sox infielder Johnny Pesky. 

Baseball is not the only sport that has been played at Fenway. Both the Boston Redskins (now the Washington Redskins) and Boston Patriots (now New England Patriots) played home games in Fenway Park, and in 2010 Fenway hosted the third NHL Winter Classic that saw the Boston Bruins defeat the Philadelphia Flyers. 

First used as a baseball sandlot in 1908, Cardines Field has hosted baseball in Newport for over a century. Originally named Basin Field, the ballpark was renamed in honor of Bernardo Cardines, the first Newport man to die in World War I.

Currently, the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League play at Cardines Field every summer, along with the George Donnelly Sunset League, the oldest amatuer baseball league in the nation. Over its history Cardines Field has hosted Negro League games, Navy sailors participating in the Sunset League, and high school baseball. Bob Feller, Phil Rizzuto, and Yogi Berra all played in the Sunset League while stationed at Naval Station Newport, and Larry Doby helped integrate the Sunset League before he became the first African-American to play in the American League. 

Opened in 1914, Wrigley Field is the second oldest Major League Baseball stadium in use, behind Fenway Park. Originally named Weeghman Park, its first tenants were the Chicago Whales of the Federal League before the Chicago Cubs became the primary tenants in 1916. While the stadium was constructed for baseball, the Chicago Bears played at Wrigley Field between 1921 and 1970.

Several unusual features embody Wrigley Field. The outfield wall is made of solid brick and is covered with ivy, which is in play for baseball games. While most of the ivy has not grown in during the Spring, the wall is usually covered with the ivy in full bloom in the second half of the season. In addition, the Cubs only played day games until 1988, when Major League Baseball threatened moving postseason games away from Wrigley Field if the ballpark refused to install lights. Wrigley Field also houses one of two hand-turned scoreboards (along with Fenway Park) still in operation.