Bennett Park was a

ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. Located at Michigan and Trumbull Avenues, it was home to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

and was named after Charlie Bennett, a former player whose career ended after a train accident in 1894. The Tigers began play at Bennett Park 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 The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in 1900, and the AL declared itself a major league starting in 1901.

History

The ballpark sat 5,000 when it opened in 1896 and was gradually expanded to 14,000 by the time it was closed after the 1911 season. When the American League became a major league in 1901 the ballpark seated 8,500, the smallest park in the majors. Private parties built "wildcat" bleachers on the rooftops of houses behind the left field fence, to the chagrin of Tiger ownership, since people paid to watch games from those bleachers but the Tigers did not get revenue. The park was noted for its dangerous playing surface, with

cobblestones Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a ...

beneath the dirt and sometimes protruding over the dirt. This small ballpark enjoyed some big success, as the Tigers and their young sensation

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...

won three consecutive pennants during 1907–1909. However, their success ran out in the post-season on each occasion, when they lost to stronger

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

teams in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. This ballpark was hallowed ground to fans of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, as it was on this site in both 1907 and 1908 that the Cubs clinched their first two World Series championships (and their last one for over a century, until

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

). 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 Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-use stadium located in the Corktown, Detroit, Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The stadium was nicknamed "The Corner" ...

on the same site, though the new stadium was shifted by 90°, with home plate where the left field corner had formerly been.

First night game

Bennett Park was home to the first nighttime baseball game in Detroit. On September 24, 1896, the Tigers played their last game of their first season at Bennett Park, an exhibition doubleheader against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. Tigers owner George Arthur Vanderbeck had workers string lights above the stadium for the nighttime game. A crowd of 1200 attended the experiment, which was described by a local newspaper as "an amusing and financial success". Nighttime baseball did not return to Detroit until June 15, 1948, when the first game under the lights was played at

Briggs Stadium Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a multi-use stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The stadium was nicknamed "The Corner" for its location at the intersection of ...

References

External links

Baseball-Almanac.com
{{Wooden baseball parks Defunct Major League Baseball venues Detroit Tigers stadiums Sports venues in Detroit Demolished sports venues in Michigan 1896 establishments in Michigan Sports venues completed in 1896 1911 disestablishments in Michigan Sports venues demolished in 1911 Baseball venues in Michigan