Crosley Field

The Incline

The park sat in the floodplain of Mill Creek, on Cincinnati's western edge, bounded by York Street to the north and Findlay Street to the south. The site sat as much as six feet below the grade of the surrounding streets, and so left field had a terrace — a grass-covered incline roughly 20 to 30 feet wide, rising about six feet to the base of the wall.

Built in five months at a cost of $400,000 on the site of the demolished Palace of the Fans, the park opened in April 1912. Nearly 6,000 overflow fans stood in the outfield and foul territory on Opening Day to watch the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 10-6. Owner Garry Herrmann had resisted suggestions to name the place after himself; he chose Redland Field the next day, folding the team's color into the name. It became Crosley Field later.

What the Slope Did

The original dimensions were 360 feet down the left- and right-field lines and 420 feet to straightaway center — deep enough that Pat Duncan's fair ball over the fence on June 2, 1921, was the first one the park had seen in more than nine seasons of play.

The terrace tripped visiting left fielders unfamiliar with its slope. On May 28, 1935, Babe Ruth injured his knee chasing a ball in front of it, and announced his retirement less than a week later. That July, a night game against the defending World Series champion Cardinals drew an overflow crowd of more than 30,000, with thousands sitting on the terrace and against the fences. Fans edged onto the field until umpires threatened a forfeit. Afterward the club extended the terrace artificially from left field into center and right, tiering it for standing-room crowds.

Lee May hit the park's last home run and Bobby Bonds made the final out in 1970. The terrace existed because the field sat below the grade of the streets around it. It was still there when the park closed.

Reporting: SABR, baseballhistory.org, Cincinnati Reds. Park data: MLB StatsAPI and Retrosheet, via the Fever engine.