Recreation Park
Posted by: 
S5280ft
N 42° 21.057 W 083° 03.300
17T E 330744 N 4690788
Located in Brush Mall, where Brush Road used to be. I think there is legal parking down by Brady Street. That is not where I parked, but that is all I will say.
Waymark Code: WM12QR
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 12/27/2006
Views: 36
In 1879, Recreation Park was established on the land surrounding this site. The park extended from Brady Street to Willis Avenue. It included the baseball field that was the home park of the Detroit Wolverines of the National League from 1881 to 1888. Here on May 2, 1881, the first major league baseball game in Detroit was played before 1,286 spectators. After that first game against Buffalo, more than four hundred major league games were played here over eight seasons. This marker stands in what was the left field. Home plate and a wooden grandstand were near Brady Street to the south. Fans strolled in a nearby grove of trees owned by Harper Hospital. Two Wolverines, Dan Brouthers and Sam Thompson, have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
(SIDE TWO) At Mayor William G. Thompson's suggestion, the Detroit Wolverines were organized as a major league team to play at Recreation Park. In its first years the team finished from the middle to the bottom of the National League. It began to improve after it was purchased by pharmaceutical manufacturer Frederick K. Stearns in 1885. In 1887 it won the National League Pennant and the national championship, defeating St. Louis of the American Association in a fifteen-game series. Poor attendance caused the Wolverines to break up after the 1888 season. The franchise moved to Cleveland, where it finally disbanded in 1899. From 1889 to 1894 other baseball teams played at Recreation Park. In 1894 the park was closed, the grandstand torn down, and the land was subdivided.
Historical Date: 05/02/1881
Historical Name: William G. Thompson, Frederick K. Stearns
Parking nearby?: yes
D/T ratings: 
website: [Web Link]
Registered Site #: Local Site #1426
Description: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:Take a photo of your GPS at the marker. We'd prefer a photo of you with your GPS, but we realize that sometimes that's just not possible or preferable.
Also include a bit about your visit to the marker.
NEW: Instructions for logging Missing Marker Visits.
If the Marker is missing, but still listed here, you must provide a photo of you at the actual item historically honored. (This should be the waymark's "default" image). Indicate in your log that you took your photo at the Historical Location instead of the marker, because the marker was missing. Please also still include a bit about your visit to the site.