Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)

Memorial Stadium

Missing image Memorial-stadium.jpg
Location	Baltimore, Maryland
Opened	1950
Last major league game	September 30, 1991
Capacity	54,000
Owned By	City of Baltimore
Architect:	L.P. Kooken Company
Dimensions: Left Left-center Center Right-center Right	309 ft (94 m) 446 ft (136 m) 1954, 447 ft (136 m) 1955, 405 ft (123 m) 1956, 380 ft (116 m) 1958, 370 ft (113 m) 1962, 385 ft (117 m) 1970, 375 ft (114 m) 1976, 378 ft (115 m) 1977, 376 ft (115 m) 1980, 378 ft (115 m) 1990 445 ft (136 m) 1954, 450 ft (137 m) 1955, 425 ft (130 m) 1956, 410 ft (125 m) 1958, 400 ft (122 m) 1976), 405 ft (123 m) 1977, 410 ft (125 m) 1978, 405 ft (123 m) 1980; 446 ft (136 m) 1954, 447 ft (136 m) 1955, 405 ft (123 m) 1956, 380 ft (116 m) 1958, 370 ft (113 m) 1962, 385 ft (117 m) 1970, 375 ft (114 m) 1976, 378 ft (115 m) 1977, 376 ft (115 m) 1980, 378 ft (115 m) 1990 309 ft (94 m)

Memorial Stadium was a sports stadium that formerly stood in Baltimore, Maryland. It stood on an oversized block bounded by 33rd Street, Ellerslie Avenue, 36th Street and Ednor Road. Its two different incarnations hosted the following professional teams over the years:

Baseball

• Baltimore Orioles, International League, mid-season 1944 – 1953
• Baltimore Orioles, American League, 1954 – 1991
• Bowie Baysox, Eastern League (Orioles farm club), 1993

American Football

• Baltimore Colts, AAFC 1947 – 1949, NFL 1950
• Baltimore Colts, National Football League, 1953 – 1983
• Baltimore Ravens, National Football League, 1996 – 1998

Canadian Football

• Baltimore Stallions, Canadian Football League, 1994 – 1995

Memorial Stadium started out in life as Baltimore Stadium, also known as Municipal Stadium, and as Venable Stadium. It was built in 1922, in a previously undeveloped area called Venable Park. It was primarily a football stadium, a large horseshoe with its open end facing south. In its early years it hosted various college-level games, including the occasional Army-Navy Game. In mid-summer 1944 it was pressed into service as a baseball park by the Baltimore Orioles of the International League, when their previous home, Oriole Park, was destroyed by fire. The diamond was positioned in the northwest "corner" of the field, making for a short left field (about 290 feet) and spacious center and right fields.

The minor league Orioles literally rose from the ashes, in heroic fashion, going on to win the International League championship that year, and also the Junior World Series over Louisville of the American Association. The large post-season crowds at Municipal Stadium, which would not have been possible at Oriole Park, and which easily surpassed the attendance at major league baseball's own World Series that year, caught the attention of the major leagues, and Baltimore suddenly became a viable option for teams looking to move.

Spurred by the Orioles' success, and also by the presence of professional football, the city chose to rebuild the stadium as a facility of major league caliber, which they renamed Memorial Stadium in honor of the dead of World War I and World War II. It was also known for a time as "Babe Ruth Stadium", after the recently deceased Hall of Famer and Baltimore native. The reconstruction was done in stages, slowly obliterating the old Municipal Stadium stands, even as the Orioles continued playing on their makeshift diamond in the northwest corner.

Memorial Stadium was completed in 1950 at a cost of $6.5 million. Seating 31,000 at the time, the stadium consisted of a single, horseshoe-shaped deck, with the open end facing north, and was designed to host both football and baseball. A roofless upper deck was added four years later when the St. Louis Browns committed to moving to Baltimore and becoming the major league version of the Baltimore Orioles.

The general layout of Memorial Stadium resembled a somewhat scaled-down version of Cleveland Stadium. As such, the playing area was initially quite large in center field for baseball, due to the need to fit a football field on the premises, and foul territory was also quite large as well. The construction of inner fences after 1958, however, shrunk the size of the outfield somewhat. The addition of several rows of box seats also shrunk the foul ground, ultimately making the stadium much more of a hitters' park than it was originally.

Both the Orioles and the Colts had some great successes over the next few decades, winning several championships. Hard times for the ballpark began when the Colts' fortunes sagged and they transferred to Indianapolis. Then the Orioles began pressing for a new baseball-only facility, resulting in the first and arguably the best of the 1990s retro-ballparks, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Memorial Stadium was relegated to temporary-home status for several sports teams, and was finally abandoned for good in the late 1990s. The venerable and historic stadium was demolished over a ten-month period beginning in April, 2001. Much of the stadium remnants were used to build an artificial reef in Chesapeake Bay.

Sources:

• House of Magic, by the Baltimore Orioles
• The Home Team, by James H. Bready

External links

• USGS aerial photo (http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=18&X=1809&Y=21773&W=2&qs=%7cbaltimore%7cmd%7c)