Katy Park was a baseball park located in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

and was used by many minor league baseball teams as well as the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...

for a short time.

Significant Moments

* The

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

played an exhibition game against the

Waco Cubs The Waco Cubs were a minor league baseball team based in Waco, Texas for six years (1925–1930, 1933). The Cubs were members of the Texas League from 1925 to 1930 and the Dixie League in 1933. They played at Katy Park for their entire six-year e ...

on April 4, 1929. * The first night game in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

took place at Katy Park between the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

and Waco Black Cardinals under the Monarchs' portable light system on May 5, 1930. The perennial Monarchs won the game, 8-0. * The first night game in

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

history was played at Katy Park on June 20, 1930 between the Waco Cubs and the

Fort Worth Cats The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball. ...

. Waco beat

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

13-0. This photo shows Katy Park's famous lighting system: * On August 6, 1930, Gene Rye hit 3 home runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. He hit a solo home run in his first at-bat, a 3-run HR in his 2nd AB, and a grand slam in his last AB. Waco was down 6-2 at the beginning of the bottom of the 8th and won the game 20-7. *The

Dallas Rebels Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

of the Texas League held their initial three "home" dates at Katy Park because Rebel Stadium was not finished. *The Waco Pirates were in the playoffs many different times while they existed. They made the playoffs in 1948, 1953 (as the Longview Cherokees), and 1956. In 1949 and 1954, they captured the Big State League crown. In 1956, the Waco club finished as the runners-up to the Port Arthur Sea Hawks. *In May 1953, a tornado came through Waco and destroyed most of Katy Park. During the natural disaster, then-General Manager Buster Chatham of the Waco Pirates, who had complained about the trains that went by the park's west side, found refuge in large engine car; he never had a problem with the trains after the tornado. Also, In the aftermath of the tornado, the Pirates moved to Longview to become the Cherokees for the rest of the season, then returned the next season at Katy Park. A game scheduled for May 12, 1953, between TCU and Baylor was canceled. For a while, a Texas "colored" championship had taken place at Katy Park as well, but that year's game was moved to

due to the devastation of the ballpark.
*In 1954, the park re-opened for baseball, having been completely rebuilt after the previous year's tornado. This photo shows the new grandstands.
*In 1961, the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

' Bibb Falk refused to play a game at Katy Park because for many reasons. The last game of the season fell on the day of final exams, and according to the rules at the time, no games could held during final exams. The second reason was that Manager Falk did not want to play in a stadium with lights; the lights were one mile away from the ballpark. In the end, the game was not played. The Longhorns won the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

by one game over the Baylor Bears with an 11-3 record.

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

was infuriated;

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

was joyed. *In 2020, American reality TV show Fixer Upper presenters Chip and Joanna Gaines reopen the field as Katy Ballpark, a whiffle ball field that pays tribute to the historical site.

Location

The ballpark was located at the corner of Eighth Street and Webster Avenue. It was razed for a junkyard. The Katy Field site is now Katy Ballpark and comprises one of many locations within Magnolia Market at the Silos. The building that houses Magnolia Press Coffee Company is located almost directly on the spot where Katy Field's fence stood in deepest center field.Diagram of Katy Field, cited in footnotes a
Cottonseed Clark biography
/ref>

Sources

* "Baseball in the Lone Star State: Texas League's Greatest Hits," Tom Kayser and David King,

Trinity University Press Trinity University Press is a university press affiliated with Trinity University, which is located in San Antonio, Texas. Trinity University Press was officially founded in 1967 after the university acquired the Illinois-based Principia Press. T ...

2005 * "Texas Almanac 2008-2009," The Dallas Morning News, c.2008 * "Southwest Conference's Greatest Hits," Neal Farmer, c.1996 * "Silos Update: Bringing the Ballpark Back," Magnolia Blog article, 2020

References

{{Reflist Baseball in Waco, Texas Sports venues in Waco, Texas Baseball venues in Texas Sports venues completed in 1905 Sports venues demolished in 1965 Defunct minor league baseball venues 1905 establishments in Texas 1965 disestablishments in Texas Demolished sports venues in Texas