Fleming Field (originally known as University Athletic Field) was the first on-campus home for the football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

teams representing the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville. Construction began in 1910, and the facility debuted as the home field for Florida Gators outdoor sports programs during the spring semester of the 1910-1911 academic year. University Athletic Field had limited spectator seating and primitive amenities when first opened. Larger bleachers were installed in 1915, when it was renamed "Fleming Field" in honor of a former governor of Florida, and a track for the university's new

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

program was added in 1923. However, its maximum capacity never exceeded about 5,000 with standing room, and as the Florida football program grew in national prominence during the 1920s, university leaders saw a need for a modern stadium.

Florida Field Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium),Perry Field in 1949. Fleming Field continued to be used for general student recreation until 1991, when a major expansion of the north endzone of Florida Field extended the structure well onto the Gators' old playing surface. Today, the remaining portion of Fleming Field is the landscaped northern approach to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. On football gamedays, the grassy area is used for parking and

tailgating Tailgating is the action of a driver driving behind another vehicle while not leaving sufficient distance to stop without causing a collision if the vehicle in front stops suddenly. The safe distance for following another vehicle varies depend ...

, and the brick walkway cutting across Fleming Field is the site of the pregame Gator Walk.

Earlier facilities

The modern University of Florida was established in 1905 and first held classes in Gainesville in the fall of 1906. The new campus had limited facilities, however, with additional construction continuing as funding allowed. The university established an intercollegiate football program and a club-level baseball team immediately upon opening of its new campus. Since the school did not yet have its own athletic facilities, these teams began play at a Gainesville city park known simply as " The Ballpark", which they used until the end of the 1910 football season.

Home of the Gators

In 1910, the university cleared and leveled a plot of land along

University Avenue A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

adjoining the Murphree student housing area on the western edge of the existing campus, just north of the present stadium site. With the installation of wooden bleachers purchased from the city of Gainesville and transported from the old downtown ballpark, University Athletic Field was unveiled as the new home of UF's baseball team in January 1911. The 1911 football team was the first to adopt the nickname "Gators" and the formerly club-level baseball team became an officially sanctioned intercollegiate program during the 1912 spring semester, making University Athletic Field the first true "home of the Gators". Larger bleachers were added in the summer of 1915, and in October 1915, the facility was rechristened "Fleming Field" in honor of recently deceased former Florida governor Francis P. Fleming. In 1923, a compact

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

was added to accommodate the university's new track and field program. Florida's football squads posted a 49–7–1 home record during the University Athletic / Fleming Field era, which spanned from 1911 to the first few games of the 1930 season. However, due to the facility's limited capacity (approximately 5,000 with temporary bleachers and standing room) and the relative inaccessibility of Gainesville in the early 20th century, most "home" games against top opponents were scheduled at larger venues in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

or Tampa, with a few also played in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

.Norm Carlson, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, p. 38 (2007). Gator football first earned national prominence in the

1920s File:1920s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Seán Hogan during the Irish War of Independence; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which ...

, prompting incoming university president

John J. Tigert John James Tigert IV (February 11, 1882 – January 21, 1965) was an American university president, university professor and administrator, college sports coach and the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Tigert was a native of Tennessee and the ...

to begin a drive to construct a new and larger stadium upon his arrival in 1928. With an initial capacity of 22,000,

Florida Field Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium),Perry Field nearby. Perry Field at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium remained the home field of Florida baseball until 2020, when the program moved to a new ballpark on the southwest side of campus.

Major League spring training

Besides the university's sports teams, Fleming Field intermittently hosted

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), ...

spring training games and practices featuring many teams including the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

, New York Giants, Philadelphia Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Braves from 1916 until 1929. This was an era in which major league teams usually prepared for the regular season by playing exhibition games in several towns instead of establishing a spring training base in one location as is now the case. Among the baseball notables to appear at Fleming Field were

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Mel Ott Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through . He batted left-handed an ...

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball as a right-ha ...

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby Sr. (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 193 ...

, and

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...

. The Gators' most notable baseball player of the era was

Lance Richbourg Lance Clayton Richbourg (December 18, 1897 – September 10, 1975) was an American professional baseball player who was a Major League right fielder for eight seasons between and . Richbourg played college baseball for the University of Florid ...

, who played over a decade in the majors and returned to coach Florida's baseball team for three seasons during the Fleming Field era. The university used the proceeds earned by hosting spring training to help finance several capital projects, including construction on the University Gym, the first permanent home of the Florida Gators basketball program.

Later uses

The Gator baseball program continued to utilize facilities on the western side of Fleming Field until the late 1940s while

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

and

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s for student use were built on the eastern side. The baseball team moved to a new ballpark in 1949, and Fleming Field was used for

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

classes,

intramural sports Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...

, general student recreation, and football gameday parking for the next several decades. A major expansion of north endzone seating at Florida Field extended the stadium structure across an existing street and onto Fleming Field in 1991. The courts were removed, and the grassy field was landscaped with trees, sidewalks,

infiltration basin An infiltration basin (or recharge basin) is a form of engineered sump or percolation pond that is used to manage stormwater runoff, prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay. It is ...

s, and a life-size alligator sculpture on a pedestal. The former location of Fleming Field is now the main approach to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier - Florida Field. On football game days, the remaining open area is used for

and parking while the brick sidewalk cutting through the approximate center of the Gators' old home field is the site of the Gator Walk, in which the football team and coaches are greeted by thousands of fans as they make their way into the stadium. File:1912Gators.jpg, The 1912 Gators practicing at University Athletic Field. Note Thomas Hall in the background File:FlemingField2019.jpg, Same location before a football game in 2019. Note Thomas Hall through the trees, background center File:Fleming Field UF 1920.png, Game at Fleming Field circa 1920 File:Fleming Field pregame 2021.jpg, Tailgating on Fleming Field in 2021. Note Ben Hill Griffin Stadium above the trees

References

{{Philadelphia Phillies Florida Gators football Florida Gators baseball venues