Bennett Park was a baseball park, named after Charlie Bennett,
that formerly existed in Detroit, Michigan, at Michigan and Trumbull. It
was home to the Detroit Tigers.
Tigers
(Western League, 1896-1900)
Tigers (American League, 1901-1911)
University of Michigan football (dates
unknown)
Seating
capacity
5,000
(1896), 8,500 (1901), 14,000 (1910)
Dimensions
(Unknown)
Fences - 10 ft
The ballclub began play here in the minor Western League with a 17-2
win over the Columbus Senators on April 28, 1896. That league was renamed
the American League in 1900 but was still officially a minor league. The
AL declared itself a major league starting in 1901.
Fly
to the site of the Baker Bowl!
If you have Google
Earth installed, click here
to be "flown" to the site of the Bennett Park. Bennett
Park is no longer there but you can see the park that replaced it.
(If you do not have it installed, get
it from Google. It allows you to view virtually anywhere on
Earth in 3D using satellite imagery.)
The ballpark sat 5,000 when opened in 1896 and was gradually expanded to
14,000 by the time that it was closed after the 1911 season. That did not
count the "wildcat" bleachers that were built on the rooftops of
houses behind the left field fence.
This small ballpark enjoyed some big success, as the Tigers and their
young sensation Ty Cobb won three consecutive pennants during 1907-1909.
Unfortunately, their success ran out in the post-season on each occasion,
losing to stronger National League teams in the World Series. This
ballpark is hallowed ground to fans of the Chicago Cubs, as it was on this
site that the Cubs clinched their last World Series championship.
Between the 1911 and 1912 seasons, the Tigers acquired the rest of the
block, demolished both the wildcat bleachers and Bennett Park, and built Navin
Field (later called Tiger Stadium) on the same site, though the new
stadium was shifted by 90 degrees, with home plate where the left field
corner had formerly been.
Bennett Park!
World Series game
between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago
Cubs at Bennett Park, Oct. 11, 1909.
Photo
courtesy of NARA
FIRSTS
at BENNETT PARK
Game
04/25/1901
Brewers 13, Tigers 14
Umpires
Jack Sheridan, Al Manassau
Managers
George Stallings, Tigers
Hugh Duffy, Brewers
Starting Pitchers
Roscoe Miller, Tigers
Pink Hawley, Brewers
Ceremonial Pitch
Alderman Jacob J. Haarer
Attendance
10,023
Batting
Batter
Irv Waldron (reached on error)
Hit
Billy Gilbert (single)
Run
Wid Conroy
RBI
Wid Conroy
Single
Billy Gilbert
Double
Wid Conroy
Triple
Hugh Duffy (04/26/1901)
Home Run
Sam Mertes (05/14/1901)
Grand Slam
Ty Cobb (05/13/1911)
IPHR
Emil Frisk (05/25/1901)
Stolen Base
Kid Gleason
Sacrifice Hit
Bill Hallman
Sacrifice Fly
Patsy Dougherty (04/16/1909)
Cycle
(None)
Pitching
Win
Emil Frisk
Loss
Bert Husting
Shutout
Roscoe Miller (05/24/1901)
Save
N/A
Hit by Pitch
Ned Garvin hit Doc Casey
(04/26/1901)
Wild Pitch
Emil Frisk
Balk
Ed Siever (06/07/1902)
No-Hitter
Frank Smith (09/06/1905)
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
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