Bugle Field was a
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
based, predominantly wooden
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
utilized by the two primary
Negro league
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
teams of the 1916 to 1950 era, the
Baltimore Black Sox, (1916-1933), and the
Baltimore Elite Giants
The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues from to . The team was established by Tom Wilson (Negro baseball), Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nash ...
, (1938-1950). The Black Sox had a short tenure at the park, moving into the park permanently in 1932 before folding during the 1934 season. The Elite Giants were the park's primary tenants until its dismantlement during the 1949
Negro National League Championship Series. It was located on the northeast corner of Federal Street and
Edison Highway, address 1601 Edison Highway. The site is in use today as the headquarters and local manufacturing plant of
Rockland Industries, the first major corporation on record in
Baltimore County, Maryland
Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...
.
An earlier Negro league baseball field was the "Maryland Baseball Park", 1923–1929. Games were also played at the old Westport Stadium, near Old Annapolis Road (
Maryland Route 648) and Waterview Avenue, in the
Westport neighborhood of southwest Baltimore. The site location was impacted by the routing and construction, in the early 1950s, of the
Baltimore–Washington Parkway (Interstate 295) going north into downtown on Russell Street.
Players that the field served include
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
and
Negro league
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
players
Roy Campanella,
Leon Day,
Joe Black,
Junior Gilliam
James William "Junior" Gilliam (October 17, 1928 – October 8, 1978) was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach (baseball), coach in Negro league baseball, Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league car ...
,
Jud Wilson
Ernest Judson Wilson (February 28, 1894 – June 24, 1963), nicknamed "Boojum", was an American third baseman, first baseman, and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Homestead Grays, and the Philadelphia S ...
, "The Ghost"
Oliver Marcelle
Oliver Marcell (June 21, 1895 – June 12, 1949), nicknamed "Ghost", was an American third baseman in the Negro leagues for a number of teams around the league from 1918-1931. He also played shortstop. A Creole born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, h ...
, and
Dick Lundy. Short time
Washington Senators player
Lou Thuman was said to have been discovered by Senators scouts while playing at Bugle Field, which was owned by the owners of the Senators ball club, also operators of a local laundry. Mr. Thuman played a total of five games in 1939 and 1940 with the Senators before being drafted into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and enduring a career-ending injury.
Bugle Field had opened in 1910,(''Baltimore Sun'', September 19, 1949, p. 28) and its 40th season would be its last.
The final game was played on September 18, 1949. The Elites defeated the
Chicago American Giants
The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Fo ...
5–4 to take a two games to none lead in the playoff series.(''Baltimore Sun'', September 19, 1949, p. 18) Despite being compelled to stage their next game at a neutral site in Virginia and finish the series in Chicago, the Elites would go on to sweep the Giants four games to none.(''Baltimore Sun'', September 23, 1949, p. 42)
Sources
* ''Baseball in Baltimore, The First 100 Years'', by James H. Bready.
* ''Baltimore News-American'' Newspaper, September 1949.
* ''Baltimore Afro-American'' Newspaper, September 1949.
References
External links
Photo showing demolition of Bugle Field - note left field distance 332 feet
Negro league baseball venues
Sports venues in Baltimore
Defunct sports venues in Maryland
{{Maryland-baseball-venue-stub