Eclipse Park was the name of three successive

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 ...

grounds in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were the home of the Louisville baseball team first known as the

Louisville Eclipse The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

and later as the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

. The unusual name for these ballparks derived from the original name of the Association club, the Eclipse. The more local name "Colonels" eventually won out. Nonetheless, "Eclipse" was among the early team names to be a singular word, despite "sounding like" a plural. Semi-pro baseball had been played at the first Eclipse Park as early as 1874. The

played there from 1882 to 1884. The team was then renamed the

and continued to play under that name from 1885 to 1893. The team was a member of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

until 1891 when it joined the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

when the American Association folded. The park was destroyed by fire on September 27, 1892. The 1893 season started in what was left of the park. The original Eclipse Park was located at 28th and Elliott streets in west Louisville. The second Eclipse Park was built a block south of the original. City directories and local newspapers give the location as 28th Street (east) and Broadway (north). The

played there from early in the 1893 season until well into the 1899 season. This is the ground at which Hall of Famer

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

made his Major League debut on July 19, 1897. The second Eclipse Park was destroyed by fire on August 12, 1899. The club was on a road trip at the time. They returned to a partially-rebuilt park ten days later, but the stands were inadequate and the club played the final month as a road team. The fire contributed significantly to the once-strong Louisville club being contracted after the end of the season. Team owner Barney Dreyfuss moved on to acquire the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead of being scattered to the wind, the best players from the Louisville team roster were brought onto the Pittsburgh payroll, including Wagner, third baseman

Tommy Leach Thomas Andrew Leach (November 4, 1877 – September 29, 1969) was a professional baseball outfielder and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball from 1898 through 1918 for the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and ...

, outfielder-manager Fred Clarke, and ace right-hander

Deacon Phillippe Charles Louis "Deacon" Phillippe (originally Phillippi) (May 23, 1872 – March 30, 1952) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Louisville Colonels and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Biography Born in Rural Retreat, Virginia to Andrew ...

. This influx of talent soon turned the perennial cellar-dwelling Pirates into a three-peat pennant winner, and a participant in the first modern

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. After a one-year absence of professional ball, a Louisville Colonels entry in the Western Association opened at the remnants of the park in 1901. The club drew poorly and transferred to

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

near the end of June. The third and final Eclipse Park was built on a block bounded by 7th Street (east); Kentucky Street (south); 8th Street (west); and Florence Place (north) in the

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

neighborhood of Louisville. This ballpark was built by George "White Wings" Tebeau as the home for the American Association minor league

who played there from 1902 through 1922. The final Eclipse Park had better luck than the first two, remaining in operation for more than twenty years, until it too was destroyed by fire, on November 21, 1922. All three Eclipse Park locations had been destroyed by fire of various origins. The Louisville ''Courier-Journal'' covered each of these events in the days following. After the 1922 fire, the paper editorialized that wooden ballparks were obsolete and should be replaced by steel and concrete. The ball club followed that advice, opening

Parkway Field Parkway Field is the name of a baseball park that stood in Louisville, Kentucky. It was home to college, minor league, and negro league teams throughout its life, with the longest stints by the Louisville Colonels of the American Association f ...

the following spring.

References

* ''Green Cathedrals'', by Phil Lowry * ''Ballparks of North America'', by Michael Benson

External links

SABR article on Eclipse Park

{{coord, 38.2405, -85.76496, type:landmark, display=title Baseball venues in Kentucky Defunct baseball venues in the United States Defunct college football venues Defunct sports venues in Kentucky Defunct National Football League venues Louisville Cardinals baseball Louisville Cardinals football Louisville Colonels Sports venues in Louisville, Kentucky

See also

References

External links