Did anyone try (or care?) to save the old ballparks from the 60s/early 70s?

Estil

Okay so we all know that there were those who couldn't bear the thought of Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium (though most of it was already torn down in the mid-70s makeover), as well as Fenway Park (there was a proposed new Fenway in the late 90s early 00s) and possibly Comiskey.

But what about the old ballparks that were replaced/torn down in the 60s/early 70s? Like Ebbets, Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Forbes Field, Crosley Stadium, and so on? Was there in fact back then a movement or something hope to save those old ballparks or did (most) people not really care back then? You know, shrugs shoulders Oh well, out with the old, in with the new?

perkdog

There wasn’t social media back then so getting a bunch of people together for a cause was much tougher I would think.

I doubt it mattered what anyone said or wanted back in those days

Interesting topic Estil 🍻

coolstanley

They should've saved Tiger Stadium.

thisistheshow

I agree with perk, this is an interesting topic. To properly answer this question would probably require some real research. Maybe someone reading this thread will have memories of campaigns to save specific stadiums.

I can't believe how many people I've met who are all for them replacing Fenway.

perkdog

@thisistheshow said:
I agree with perk, this is an interesting topic. To properly answer this question would probably require some real research. Maybe someone reading this thread will have memories of campaigns to save specific stadiums.

I can't believe how many people I've met who are all for them replacing Fenway.

Fenway couldn’t and shouldn’t ever be replaced!!!!

OAKSTAR

@Estil said:
Did anyone try (or care?) to save the old ballparks from the 60s/early 70s?

I tried. I got/stole a chunk of infield sod from Shea Stadium after the 69 World Series, does that count?? 😂 🤣

Alfonz24

Could this be comparable to some of the franchises that moved? Mainly Dodgers from Brooklyn and the Giants from NY. My childhood memory from the 70s seemed that many fans in Brooklyn never forgave the Dodgers.

thisistheshow

@perkdog said:

@thisistheshow said:
I agree with perk, this is an interesting topic. To properly answer this question would probably require some real research. Maybe someone reading this thread will have memories of campaigns to save specific stadiums.

I can't believe how many people I've met who are all for them replacing Fenway.

Fenway couldn’t and shouldn’t ever be replaced!!!!

..
I agree. I hated when they replaced the original Garden. Fenway does not offer the comfort of modern parks, but it does offer an ability to almost go back in time and enjoy a game a different way. When you walk in and catch that first glimpse of the grass it is perfect. I'm a bigger guy and the seats are small. No big deal. Lol.

Estil

@OAKSTAR said:

@Estil said:
Did anyone try (or care?) to save the old ballparks from the 60s/early 70s?

I tried. I got/stole a chunk of infield sod from Shea Stadium after the 69 World Series, does that count?? 😂 🤣

Maybe it's for the best the Cubs didn't win the World Series at Wrigley...if it's anything like what happened to Shea Stadium (they won all three; division/league/world championships at home) the place (or at least the field!) would be half destroyed!

Estil

@Alfonz24 said:
Could this be comparable to some of the franchises that moved? Mainly Dodgers from Brooklyn and the Giants from NY. My childhood memory from the 70s seemed that many fans in Brooklyn never forgave the Dodgers.

Losing the team is a LOT different than just losing a historic stadium.

Estil

@perkdog said:

@thisistheshow said:
I agree with perk, this is an interesting topic. To properly answer this question would probably require some real research. Maybe someone reading this thread will have memories of campaigns to save specific stadiums.

I can't believe how many people I've met who are all for them replacing Fenway.

Fenway couldn’t and shouldn’t ever be replaced!!!!

I feel the same way about Comiskey...it should've had the same historical reverence as Wrigley but noooo...Jerry Reinsdorf just had to throw a temper tantrum and threaten to move the Good Guys to Tampa if he didn't get his new stadium. :P

coolstanley

Comiskey was special. Should've kept that stadium.

Estil

@coolstanley said:
Comiskey was special. Should've kept that stadium.

Not special enough for Jerry :P

Estil

I guess they did try to keep Shibe Park around but once it got half ruined in a fire... So I guess no one cared about trying to save say, Forbes Field or Crosley Field, or the Polo Grounds for example?

And even though Baker Bowl was considered a joke for years before the Phillies finally left it in 1938, but it still hung on for 12 more years as a race track; not a bad looking recycling job if you guys don't mind me saying so...

Maywood

The change is partly economic, partly a change in fan dynamics and partly ownership.

Quite a bit in the sports world changed from the 1920's up to the recent past. The old stadiums were designed for larger crowds and multi-purpose use. New owners don't like to share "their" stadiums with other owners of sports teams and the crowd sizes are now much smaller. Additionally, every game is now a showcase on TV and owners want fans to see their wealth, so they get the cities to build them a new stadium. It's all sort of perverted.

Cleveland had a stadium dating to the early 1930's that could seat 85,000 for football and about 70,000 for baseball. Football filled it but with baseball they'd have a crowd of 20,000 and the place seemed like it was empty. The solution: get the city to tear down the old stadium and build two new ones!!! I've never been to the football stadium, I think it holds around 55,000 and usually gets close to full, for baseball it seats about 35,000 and always seems to be half full. If either team ever succeeds again they'll be filled, easily.

It's a weird concept, but if an owner can blackmail a city into building a new stadium, what the heck, why not, right???

1948_Swell_Robinson

https://southernliving.com/travel/texas/abandoned-astrodome-fate-uncertain

Houston Astrodome is still around.

With the way Travel baseball has turned into a million dollar business they could host weather proof travel tournaments and even make the field smaller like in the Bad News Bears 2 and "Let them play!'

Estil

@1948_Swell_Robinson said:
https://southernliving.com/travel/texas/abandoned-astrodome-fate-uncertain

Houston Astrodome is still around.

With the way Travel baseball has turned into a million dollar business they could host weather proof travel tournaments and even make the field smaller like in the Bad News Bears 2 and "Let them play!'

Yeah but I'm not talking about today or say, back when there was a Tiger Stadium Fan Club...I'm talking about in the late 60s/early 70s when you saw a bunch of the old classic ballparks be replaced, more often than not by the infamous cookie cutters (Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati...well at least St Louis TRIED to make theirs distinctive with the arches on top...)

JoeBanzai

There was a "Save the Met" movement here in Minnesota when the Vikings blackmailed us for the (UGH) Metrodome.

Originally, the Twins were not going to move with the Vikes, but then Calvin Griffith changed his mind.

Metropolitan Stadium was a pretty good, if not great, place to see a game. Metrodome was OK for football, totally sucked for baseball.

Target field is VERY nice!

BillJones

I have thought about this issue as I thumb through books with pictures and stories of old ballparks. The trouble is they have to be repurposed to another team of some sort, or they can’t survive. Upkeep is expensive, and vandals are always looking for another place to set on fire. That’s what happened to Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

The other problem is the value of the land under it. Often it can be reused for a superior economic purpose.

GroceryRackPack

@coolstanley said:
Comiskey was special. Should've kept that stadium.

I always liked that picnic/dugout area behind the left field wall...
and when they had bat day back then that was pretty cool...

or even the towel give away...

Estil

If they had been under the right ownership maybe they would've. Had it been up to the previous Red Sox owners all that'd be left of the original Fenway would be the Green Monster and the third base side.