Newington Park

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Newington Park
Data
place United StatesUnited States Baltimore , Maryland , USA
Coordinates 39 ° 18 '30 "  N , 76 ° 38' 25"  W Coordinates: 39 ° 18 '30 "  N , 76 ° 38' 25"  W.
capacity 3,000
Societies)

Lord Baltimore (1872–1874)
Baltimore Marylands (1873)
Lord Hannibal (~ 1874 ~)
Orientals (~ 1874 ~)
Baltimore Orioles NL (1882)

The Newington Park was a baseball stadium on the Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore , Maryland , USA . From 1872 to 1874 it was the home of the Lord Baltimore baseball team with play in the National Association (NA), and in the game year 1882 the home of the baseball team Baltimore Orioles NL with play in the National League (NL). The very short-lived professional team Baltimore Maryland , which between April 14 and July 11, 1873 spent six winless championship games in NA, called Ball Park its home. The Baltimore-based teams Lord Hannibal and Orientals are said to have played here around 1874. It was also used for cricket matches , athletics meetings and performances by the still young Barnum & Bailey Circus .

history

After the Madison Avenue Grounds , which were mainly used as a baseball arena in the 1860s and were already designed for spectators to visit, Newington Park was virtually the successor to this stadium, which, however, continued to be used during the existence of Newington Park became, though not to the same extent as before. During the construction of Newington Park, special attention was paid to the ever increasing number of people interested in baseball; after completion of the construction work there was space for 3,000 spectators. Until the construction of Union Park in 1891, which could already hold many times more visitors and was the first “large” stadium in Baltmiores, Newington Park was the main baseball venue in the North American port city.

Alfonso T. Houck (1840-1886), a local advertising tycoon who got rich with billboards and was present during the assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC , is considered to be the builder or tenant of Newington Park, who adopts the Baker , Carey, and Gold Streets and Pennsylvania Avenue Extended . The stadium was built on previously vacant land about two miles northwest of downtown and was only three blocks from the Madison Avenue Grounds. The horse tram from Fremont and Pennsylvania Avenues ran here regularly and passed the stadium on its way to the terminus on Retreat Street . The spectator stands were made of wood, although today it is no longer known whether they were also covered or in what type of the existing seating. Nevertheless, it can be seen from newspapers of the time that there was at least a clubhouse for the home team.

The price of admission in the early 1870s was quoted at 50 cents per person. Plus the travel expenses to the stadium, this was way above the budget of the working class, which is why mostly upper-class spectators were present at games.

Today there are no publicly known photos of the stadium.

Song about Lord Baltimore and Newington Park

In the 1870s, a song based on the melody of Down in a Coal Mine was also written about the baseball team Lord Baltimore and their venue, Newington Park. The song, entitled Lord Baltimore's Nine, consists of at least three stanzas of eight or nine verses each .

We are a jovial Base Ball Club,
Our heats are light an free,
And thought we meet with some
defeats,
Often gain the victory.
Give us fair play, and win or lose,
We'll never make a must
But be content and act like men,
Yes, that's the style of us.

 C  h  o  r.

Out at the Newington Park
On the base ball ground
When in earnest contest
Our gallant Nine are found,
Struggling with their rivals,
For victory and renown,
Out at the Newington Park,
On the base ball ground.

Of all the manly games in vogue,
Enumerate them all,
There's none you'll find that can
compare
With that known as Base Ball.
'Tis jolly fun when on the run,
Or when with eagle eye
You watch your adversary's ball
And take it on the fly.

 C  h  o  r.

Out at the Newington Park
On the base ball ground
When in earnest contest
Our gallant Nine are found,
Struggling with their rivals,
For victory and renown,
Out at the Newington Park,
On the base ball ground.

We make no boasts but stand
resolved
To win us a name,
And we will do the best we can
To merit all we claim.
We're not afraid of rival clubs,
We'll meet them anywhere,
And when they choose to meet us here,
We'll act upon the square.

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. depending on the design