Armory Park was a minor league baseball park in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

. It was the home of the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

and their predecessors from 1897 until mid-season 1909 when Swayne Field opened. Armory Park is the first Toledo ballpark for which any

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

is known to survive. The various sources listed herein give somewhat different descriptions of the ballpark's location. The clearest description is provided by the book ''Baseball in Toledo'', which includes a "bird's-eye-view" (p. 20) of the downtown area, including the Armory and the ballpark. This illustration is not contemporary but is a reconstruction drawn in 1943. That book does not give specific dimensions but states that right-field was so short that fly balls hit over the fence in that area were ground-rule doubles. The Sanborn map (pictured) defines its location well. The Armory itself was on the south corner of Spielbusch Avenue (to the northwest, the portion of the road later renamed Judge Joseph Flores Avenue) and Orange Street (to the northeast). The next street southwest was Beech Street. The lot between Beech and the Armory was the location of the ballpark, precisely where the current U.S. District Courthouse now stands. The ballpark and the rest of the Armory property were bounded on the southeast by North Ontario Street. When the land was redeveloped for the government complex, Beech and Ontario were removed as public streets in that area, resulting in the larger block now bounded by Speilbusch, Orange, North Erie Street (southeast), and Jackson Street (southwest). The Lucas County Courthouse is across Jackson to the southwest. The home plate/grandstand area of the ballpark was tucked into the Spielbusch-Beech corner, with the lot being otherwise surrounded by a board fence, except for the left field area, whose high masonry wall was actually the rear wall of the Armory building. This is visible in the photograph in the external link. This venue immediately replaced one of the two previous Toledo ballparks, Ewing Street Park. Weekend games continued to be played at Bay View Park through the 1900 season. For the next seasons, Armory Park was the Mud Hens exclusive home. The final game at Armory Park was played on July 2, 1909, the day before Swayne Field's debut. (''Toledo Baseball Guide'', p. 98) The Armory building itself was destroyed by

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...

in 1934, in connection with rioting in the Auto-Lite strike.

Sources

*'' The Toledo Baseball Guide of the Mud Hens 1883–1943'', Ralph Elliott Lin Weber, 1944. *'' Ballparks of North America'', Michael Benson, McFarland, 1989. *'' Baseball in Toledo'', John R. Husman, Arcadia, 2003.

External links

Photo of Armory ParkSummary of Toledo ballparks
{{coord, 41.656297, -83.5362, display=title, region:US-OH_type:landmark, format=dms Toledo Maroons Baseball venues in Ohio Ohio League venues Defunct National Football League venues Defunct baseball venues in the United States Defunct minor league baseball venues Sports venues demolished in 1934 1934 disestablishments in Ohio American football venues in Ohio