Red Stocking Base-Ball Park was a

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 tea ...

grounds in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. It was home to the St. Louis Red Stockings of the National Association (NA) during the

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

season, so it is considered a major league ballpark by those who count the

NA as a major league The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

. In 1888, it was also the home of the

St. Louis Whites The St. Louis Whites were a minor league baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1888, the St. Louis Whites played briefly as members of the Class A (baseball), Class A level Western Association. The Whites were created as an early version ...

, a short-lived minor league club. The site is first known to have been used for baseball in about 1867, when it was the home of something called the Veto Club, and was called the Veto Grounds. The grounds were evidently already well-known, as local newspapers in 1867 were calling it the "old" Veto Grounds. In 1874, the Red Stockings—then a local amateur club—built a

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

behind home plate and a wooden stockade fence around the field. "The diamond lay near the southeast corner of the lot, home plate facing northwest," wrote Joan M. Thomas for the Society for American Baseball Research. The venue was also known as Compton Avenue Baseball Park or just Compton Park, as it was bordered by South Compton Avenue (east, first base). Its other boundaries were railroad tracks (south, third base); Edwin Street and Theresa Avenue (west, left field); Spruce Street (north, right field); and with Scott Avenue and Gratiot Street T-ing into Compton from the east. In 1892, a new fence and additional seats were installed. The park was used as a baseball venue off-and-on until it was razed in the late 1890s. The site is currently occupied by Metro Transit's Central MetroBus garage.

Historical marker

On September 13, 2008, a

historical marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

noting the site's history was unveiled by the

Bob Broeg Robert William Patrick Broeg (March 18, 1918 – October 28, 2005) was an American sportswriter. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he officially covered the St. Louis Cardinals for forty years. He graduated from Cleveland High School ( ...

Chapter of the

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

. The marker was financed with funds by the SABR Chapter Ballpark Marker Committee. Local papers reported that the plaque would be installed, with the permission of the Bi-State Development Agency, at the entrance of the Metro garage that now occupies the site.

References

External links

Library of Congress map collection, ''Pictorial St. Louis'', 1875, showing artist's conception of the ballparkHistory of the ballpark
*Retrosheet

Retrieved 2006-09-04.
Pictorial St. Louis. Compton, Richard J.; Dry, Camille N. 1876 Plate-69
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. Baseball venues in St. Louis Defunct baseball venues in the United States 1890s disestablishments in Missouri Defunct sports venues in Missouri Demolished buildings and structures in St. Louis Demolished sports venues in Missouri {{StLouis-sport-stub