Fogel Field

Early baseball and the Philadelphia Phillies

Beginning with the spring of 1886, when the Chicago White Stockings' (today's Chicago Cubs) President Albert Spalding, the founder of A.G Spalding, and player/manager Cap Anson brought their players to Hot Springs, Arkansas. The concept was for players to have training and improved fitness before the start of the regular season. This move gave credit to Hot Springs being called the "birthplace of spring training baseball."

After the White Stockings had a successful season in 1886, winning the National League Pennant, other teams began bringing their players to Hot Springs. The St. Louis Browns, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Spiders, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, New York Highlanders, Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Red Sox were among the early squads to arrive in Hot Springs. Needing venues to play, Whittington Park, Majestic Park and Fogel Field (1912) were all built in Hot Springs specifically to host Major League teams. Later, Sam Guinn Field was built in 1933 at 497 Crescent Avenue to host Negro League Spring Training Teams.

After the Hot Spring Baseball Grounds were used for other purposes, that left Whittington Park and Majestic Park as the only two fields in Hot Springs. Fogel Field was than built by the Hot Springs Park Company in 1912 to meet the demand. Philadelphia Phillies' President and owner Horace Fogel secured the field for his franchise and the field was named after him. The Phillies used the field for the 1912 season.

Located directly across the street from Whittington Park, Fogel Field had a small grandstand. Besides the Phillies, and Pirates, the park was utilized by teams using Whittington Park, due to its convenient proximity. Hall of famers such as Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Honus Wagner, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Pie Traynor were among the roster of players to play at the site. Fogel was banned from baseball after the 1912 season for saying that umpires favored the New York Giants and were treating the Phillies unfairly. Thereafter, the park was called Fordyce Field for a time, renamed after the nearby Fordyce Bathhouse, just as Majestic Park had a namesake in the Majestic Hotel.

Babe Ruth Home Run

On St. Patrick's Day, 1918, Babe Ruth, played the field for the first time in a spring training game. Playing at Whittington Park with the Boston Red Sox, Ruth hit a home run that traveled an estimated 573 feet. The home run sailed over Whittington Avenue, landing in the Arkansas Alligator Farm, which still exists, mostly unchanged. Fogel Field sits just adjacent to the Alligator Farm. At the time, Ruth had exclusively been a successful left-handed pitcher, but in part due to his home run that day, he soon switched to hitting. Today, the Alligator Farm has a marker recognizing the Ruth home run, near the marker for Fogel Field.

Pittsburgh Pirates

After the Phillies, with Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, in 1912, the Pirates followed at Fegel Field in 1921, having utilized Whittington Park for many years. The Pirates (1921–23, 1926) trained with rosters that included Baseball Hall of Famers Rabbit Maranville, Kiki Cuyler, Charlie Grimm, Joe Cronin, Paul Waner, Pie Traynor and Max Carey.

Major League teams eventually migrated to the warmer climates of Florida and Arizona for spring training. Fogel Field became then the spring training site for Negro League and Minor League teams. The Negro League Kansas City Monarchs (1928), Homestead Grays (1930–31) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–35) utilized the site. The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords have been called one of the best teams ever assembled. Indianapolis, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Montreal were Minor League franchises that utilized Fogel Field for spring training. From 1938-1941 the Hot Springs Bathers used the field for batting practice and other practices, as their Whittington Park home field was just across the street.

Pittsburgh Crawfords

The Pittsburgh Crawfords of the Negro Major Leagues utilized Fogel Field for spring training from 1932-35. The 1935 Crawfords team has been called one of the greatest teams ever assembled, eventually winning the 1935 Negro League World Series. With a roster full of stars and future Hall-of Fame players, the 1935 Crawfords were nicknamed "the best team money could buy," as many of their players came from other clubs. Their 1935 roster contained Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Judy Johnson.

Homestead Grays

The Negro League Homestead Grays, which represented the borough of Homestead, Pennsylvania, located 7 miles from Pittsburgh, held spring training at the Field in 1930 and 1931. On their roster were numerous Hall of Fame players: Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, Bill Foster, Judy Johnson, Smokey Joe Williams and Willie Wells. Franchise owner Cum Posey was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Kansas City Monarchs

The 1928 Monarchs who used Fogel Field had Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Andy Cooper and Bullet Rogan.

Minor League Teams

Among other minor league teams, the 1935 St. Paul Saints trained at the site. A pitcher for the squad was Monty Stratton. Stratton was portrayed by Jimmy Stewart in The Stratton Story. An All-Star pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, Stratton lost his leg in an accident during the height of his career and pitched afterwards with a prosthetic leg.

Baseball schools

From 1933–38, the annual Ray Doan Baseball School was held in Hot Springs, with Fogel Field utilized as one site for the hundreds of campers. Doan's school drew hundreds of younger players annually, with 1938 drawing 450 players. Doan had many noteworthy players on his instructional staff, including Rogers Hornsby, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Red Faber, Dizzy Dean, George Sisler, Bob Feller, Tris Speaker and Burleigh Grimes. Legendary female athlete Babe Didrickson, attended in 1933. At the time Didrickson was the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist hurdler in the 1932 Summer Olympic Games and she went on to major success in professional golf.

In 1939, Rogers Hornsby took over for Doan in Hot Springs and created the Rogers Hornsby Baseball College which operated until the 1950s, continuing to utilize Fogel Field.

The first recognized Umpire School was held in conjunction with both baseball schools, starting in 1935. Drawing aspiring umpires, the George Barr Umpire School was the first of its kind and was operated by Major League umpire George Barr. Future Major League Umpires Bill McKinley and Scotty Robb were attendees, as was war hero Harry Ladner.

Media/history

The National Baseball Hall of Fame library has a series of photos of the baseball schools and Cassidy Lent, Reference Librarian at the Hall of Fame, wrote the feature School Days in Arkansas, highlighting the baseball schools with mention of their use of Fogel Field.

Memorabilia from the Umpire School, baseball schools and George Barr's umpiring career are on display at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. The items were donated by George Barr.

The George Barr Umpire School and the Hornsby Baseball School were featured in the March 10, 1947 issue of Life.

Fogel Field is featured in The First Boys of Spring, a 2015 documentary on Hot Springs Spring Training produced by Larry Foley. The film is narrated by Hot Springs area native, actor Billy Bob Thornton. The documentary began airing nationally on the MLB Network in February, 2016.

The site today

The grass field still exists at the site and is used by the Arkansas Alligator Farm for overflow parking.

There are two plaques at the site. The plaques are part of the Hot Springs Baseball Historic Trail and recognize Fogel Field and Babe Ruth. The ballpark plaque reads:

The plaque for Babe Ruth says the following: