place

Greenlee Field

1932 establishments in Pennsylvania1938 disestablishments in PennsylvaniaBaseball venues in PennsylvaniaDefunct baseball venues in the United StatesDefunct sports venues in Pennsylvania
Demolished sports venues in PennsylvaniaNegro league baseball stubsNegro league baseball venuesNortheastern United States baseball venue stubsPennsylvania sports venue stubsPittsburgh building and structure stubsSports venues completed in 1932Sports venues demolished in 1938Sports venues in Pittsburgh

Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, was one of few black-built and black-owned major league baseball field in the United States.The field was the dream of Gus Greenlee, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. In 1931, construction started on Bedford Avenue between Chauncey and Duff in Pittsburgh's Hill District. The park opened on April 29, 1932, and reportedly cost $100,000. The first game was the next day, April 30, 1932, and had future hall of famers Satchel Paige pitching to catcher Josh Gibson as City Council members, the Allegheny County commissioners, and Mayor Kline watched from the stands. Greenlee Field held 7,500 spectators and it was the home field for the Crawfords throughout the Great Depression era. The Homestead Grays also played there for a time. Greenlee Field was located a few blocks up Bedford Avenue from Ammon Field, home to the Pittsburgh Keystones. Contemporary city directories list the ballpark's address as 2501 Bedford Avenue. Greenlee was forced to shut out blacks from ballpark jobs during the 1938 season. This angered the team's fans, and attendance lagged as a result. After the season, the Crawfords disbanded and Greenlee Field was torn down. The Bedford Dwellings housing project was later developed on the property. The Pittsburgh Steelers used the field for in-season practices during the 1930s.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Greenlee Field (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Greenlee Field
Chauncey Drive, Pittsburgh

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Greenlee FieldContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.4514 ° E -79.9727 °
placeShow on map

Address

Chauncey Drive 2566
15219 Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places

Central Park (Pittsburgh)

Central Park was a baseball venue located in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1921–1925. The stadium was the first black-owned, controlled and managed baseball park in the city. The ballpark served as the home of the Pittsburgh Keystones of the Negro National League. Officially named Central Amusement Park, the field's construction was commissioned in 1920 by Keystones' owner Alexander M. Williams and was designed by the prominent African-American architect Louis Arnett Stuart Bellinger, who would later design Greenlee Field for the Pittsburgh Crawfords.The ballpark was on a block bounded by Humber Way (north/northwest, third base); buildings and Junilla Street (northeast/east, left field); Hallett Street (southeast/south, right field); and Chauncey Street (southwest/west, first base). Across Humber were buildings and then Wylie Avenue. Well south of Hallett was a larger thoroughfare named Centre Avenue. Newspapers often gave the location as Wylie, Chauncey and Centre. After the Keystones folded after their 1922 season, Williams lost his savings, and by 1924 he had sold the park to Sell Hall. Central Park was sold again and turned into a “summer dancing pavilion.”In 2012, Central Park was denied an historical marker by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. According to the Commission, the venue was seen as a local or regional interest rather than a national and the state already had several other markers commemorating the Negro leagues.The ballpark site is now occupied by a public park.

Josh Gibson Field

Josh Gibson Field is a baseball venue located in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The field was known as Ammon Field or sometimes Ammons Field until 2008, when it was renamed for Baseball Hall of Fame player Josh Gibson. Gibson began his career at Ammon Field in 1929 while playing with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and continued playing there, as the Crawfords and Homestead Grays regularly played at Ammon. Known as the "black Babe Ruth," Gibson was a leading home run hitter until his death from a stroke in 1947 at age 35. In 1972, he became the second Negro leagues player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Originally a youth semi-pro team, the Crawfords eventually played at Ammon Field, earned a strong reputation and attracted games with many white teams. W.O.W., the defending champions of the white Greater Pittsburgh Semipro Tournament, played the Crawfords at Ammon on June 15, 1930. Although usually covering on the fully professional Homestead Grays, the Pittsburgh Courier reported the 9–8 Crawfords victory. Grays owner and manager Cum Posey recognized the Crawfords competition with his own team and sought to undermine their appeal. In 1929, he persuaded Crawfords manager Hooks Tinker to take on his older brother Seward "See" Posey as a part-time assistant and booker. While admission to the Crawfords amateur games were free by law, at one tournament in 1930, See Posey closed all but one gate to the park and required fans to make contribution, with two police officers stationed at the gate. After the game, he brought Tinker a burlap bag with $2000 in small bills. The Posey brothers were also able to lure Gibson to play with the Grays. Displaced by a low-cost housing project, Ammon Field was moved in the 1940s a block west from its original location. It was ultimately configured as two smaller fields suitable for youth leagues. In 1996, a historical marker commemorating Josh Gibson's career was erected at the newer park site, 2217 Bedford Avenue. It reads: "Hailed as Negro Leagues' greatest slugger, he hit some 800 home runs in a baseball career that began here at Ammons [sic] Field in 1929. Played for Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, 1930-46. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, '72." The original name of the park honored Edith Darlington Ammon, a pioneer in establishing playgrounds in the city.