Does anybody know what Greenlee Field looked like?
I’ve been trying to figure that out for awhile now.
Greenlee Field was the ballpark financed by Pittsburgh Crawfords owner Gus Greenlee. It was used by both the Craws and Homestead Grays for many home games during the mid-1930s, but there are very few photographs of the venue in existence today. In fact, I think I’ve seen maybe 5 photos. I’ve contacted several museums in Pittsburgh, but nobody has been able to come up with anything new. One shot most of us have seen is the famous exterior shot of the Crawfords lined up in front of their team bus outside the stadium. There are a couple of interior shots, featuring the Grays inside the field, which give us a good view of the right field stands and some of the bleachers down the right field line. There was (in Larry Lester’s Black Baseball in Pittsburgh book) a couple shots which showed the bleachers down the left field line. I don’t own the book, but the photos were once available in Google Book search, but I can no longer access them.
Below is my crudely rendered drawing of Greenlee based on the anecdotal evidence and handful of black-and-white shots which exist. I’m not a great artist, sort of like Grandma Moses meets a second grader who hates art, so my apologies!
Here are the clues we have:
- The left and center field fences were made of tin.
- The LF and CF dimensions were said to be similar to Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, but larger.
- There was no fence in right field, just a one-foot cinder block base which supported wooden bleachers. The bleachers were built into a steep hill, in back of which was a tall wooden fence, trees and homes or commercial buildings.
- Electrical or telephone wires criss-crossed directly across the field, near home plate, with a utility pole in foul territory, by the dugout along the first base line.
- The light-standards had two poles and were positioned inside the field of play (at least in right field)
- There was no roof over the outfield bleachers or stands along the first base line.
- There WAS (based on Lester’s pictures) a roof over the stands down the left-field foul line.
- The entrance to the stadium, behind home plate, was an attractive brick structure with arched doorways.
- There may have been an American Flag positioned in center field, in the field of play.
- The grass appeared to be in lousy condition in several of the interior photographs.
- I believe the bullpens were positioned right in front of the dugouts, along the foul lines near the heart of the action.
So what do you know? Can anybody help out here?
9 Comments
February 23, 2009 at 4:07 am
I see that the book Ballparks Then and Now makes mention of Greenlee Field:
“ammed with history and facts, this unique city-by-city tour of America’s hallowed playing fields pairs archival images with modern photos of baseball’s beloved landmarks like Union Grounds, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and the Negro League’s Greenlee Field.”
Also, have you contacted the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum?
February 23, 2009 at 5:18 am
Have you seen this one? Baseball game at Greenlee Field, view towards second base
February 23, 2009 at 5:28 am
Here’s one down the right field line:
Baseball game, possibly the Baltimore Elite Giants playing at Greenlee Field
Looks right, but in 1945?
February 23, 2009 at 11:32 am
JoeT, my man! Awesome pictures! Looks like it’s back to the drawing board for some slight modifications. Couple interesting things: There is, indeed, a flag pole in play in center field. The light standards ARE in play throughout the entire outfield. It IS some kind of industrial building on the hill beyond rightfield. Judging by the shadow in the “Baltimore” game, the field appears to face NE. Also, and this is important: There seems to be a huge foul territory area and a gigantic embankment curving up toward the fence in left-field. Does anybody know what the ground rules were for balls bouncing into the ground level bleachers in right field? It must have happened all the time.
February 23, 2009 at 2:32 pm
the Baltimore game couldn’t be later than 1938, the year the field was torn down and the property sold.
February 23, 2009 at 9:02 pm
This is interesting… Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum:
Highlights include the Negro Leagues Theater and Gallery, with a 15 minute documentary “Something to Cheer About: The Negro Leagues in Pittsburgh,” and a virtual reality computer program illustrating Greenlee Field and the Hill District circa 1935.
Looks like they may have the goods…
February 24, 2009 at 4:10 am
Thanks for the assist, JoeT. I’ve tracked down some additional anecdotal stuff on Greenlee as well and hope to post something more substantial on the ballpark in the very near future.
February 28, 2009 at 12:25 am
Doing a search on the SABR-L List, I found the following bits of info (some — or all — of which you may already know):
– Apparently an inside-the-park pic appears at the top of page 190 in the Fourth Edition of Philip Lowry’s Green Cathedrals.
– There is a photo of RF from home plate in Eric Enders’s book Ballparks Then And Now (a book mentioned in a comment above). The photo is from the 1930s and is on page 131. No signs are visible.
– A SABR-L List poster, john b holway, stated that “[s]ome old-timers estimated the dimensions as 340-50 down the line, but this isn’t sure. There was a slope in front of of the left field fence like Duffy’s Cliff in Fenway or like Crosley Field in Cincinnati.”
December 14, 2009 at 12:39 pm
The new issue of “Black Ball: A Negro Leagues Journal” (volume 2, number 2, Fall 2009) has my article on Greenlee Field, with ground and aerial photographs of the ballpark. These are the photos I showed at SABR in DC and the Jerry Malloy Negro Leagues Conference in Pittsburgh this summer. Enjoy!