Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds
Agricultural County Fair Grounds Worcester Driving Park | |
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| Location | Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 42°16′08″N 71°48′47″W / 42.269°N 71.813°W |
| Surface | Natural grass |
| Opened | May 1872 (for horse racing) May 1, 1880 (first NL game) |
| Closed | September 29, 1882 (last NL game) July 1894 (for horse racing) |
| Tenants | |
| Worcester Worcesters (NL) (1880–1882) | |
Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds was a 20-acre (8.1 ha) site in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the 19th century. The grounds are mainly known for having hosted the Worcester Worcesters, a professional baseball team of the National League from 1880 to 1882. As a major-league ballpark, the site is usually referred to as Agricultural County Fair Grounds or Worcester Driving Park.
Location
[edit]The site was bounded by Highland Street (north), Sever Street (east), Cedar Street or William Street (south – sources vary), and Agricultural (later Russell) Street (west). The grounds were just east of the large public park called Elm Park. Today, the former fairgrounds property contains a grid of streets, and many homes and businesses, including the now closed Becker College.
History
[edit]The Fairgrounds were home to an agricultural fair and to a horse trotting track, usually called the Driving Park. "Driving" was a commonly used synonym for trotting, long before the term came to be associated primarily with the not-yet-invented automobile. The Driving Park opened in May 1872,[1] and hosted baseball by August of that year.[2] Horse racing at the grounds took place as late as July 1894, but appears to have ceased after that time due to local officials disallowing "pool-selling" (gambling) on races.[3]
Professional baseball
[edit]Driving Park hosted some professional baseball games prior to Worcester acquiring its own franchise. These included an exhibition between the National Association (NA) pennant winner Boston Red Stockings and runner-up Philadelphia Whites, played on October 30, 1873, after the end of the season—Boston prevailed, 15–9, before a crowd of 2,000.[4][5] A regular-season NA contest was held at Driving Park on October 30, 1874, between Boston and the Hartford Dark Blues.[6] Hartford won, 17–11, in front of a crowd of 500.[7]
The Worcester Worcesters competed in 1879 in a later National Association (unrelated to the earlier NA), then for three seasons, 1880 to 1882, in the major-league National League (NL). On June 12, 1880, Worcester pitcher Lee Richmond threw the first perfect game in major-league history. There is a granite post commemorating the perfect game on the former Becker College campus.[8] The park was also the site of the first, true major league doubleheader. For the price of a single game, Worcester fans saw two games against the Providence Grays on September 25, 1882.[6]
The last game for the local major-league club was played on September 29, 1882, with Troy defeating Worcester, 10–7.[9][10] But it was not the last major-league game in Worcester; five years later, on August 17, 1887, the fairgrounds hosted an NL game between Washington and Boston.[11][12] The contest—to make up a previously postponed game in the District of Columbia—was played in Worcester at the recommendation of Washington manager John Gaffney,[13] who had grown up in Worcester. Boston won, 6–5.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Horse Notes". New York Herald. May 27, 1872. p. 9. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "New Club at Worcester". The Boston Globe. August 9, 1872. p. 5. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pool-Selling Stopped at Worcester, Too". Fitchburg Daily Sentinel. Fitchburg, Massachusetts. July 17, 1894. p. 4. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Philadelphia and Boston at Worcester". New York Clipper. November 8, 1873. p. 250.
- ^ "The Philadelphias Again Defeated". The Boston Globe. October 30, 1873. p. 5. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
Today, the [teams] play an exhibition game at Worcester.
- ^ a b Lowry, Philip J. (2006). Green Cathedrals. New York City: Walker Publishing Company. pp. 243–244. ISBN 9780802715623.
- ^ "Hartford Dark Blues 17, Boston Red Stockings 11". Retrosheet. October 30, 1874. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
- ^ "Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds". ratzenberger.org. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
- ^ "Agricultural County Fair Grounds I in Worcester, MA". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
- ^ "1882 Log For Agricultural County Fair Grounds I in Worcester, MA". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
- ^ "Agricultural County Fair Grounds II in Worcester, MA". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
- ^ "1887 Log For Agricultural County Fair Grounds II in Worcester, MA". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
- ^ "Boston is Lucky: 5000 People See a Great Game in Worcester". The Boston Globe. August 18, 1887. p. 3. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Boston Nine Has a Tight Squeeze". Boston Evening Transcript. August 18, 1887. p. 2. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
External links
[edit]- Game logs at Retrosheet: 1874, 1880–1882, 1887