The Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium is 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 t ...

stadium located inside the

Rizal Memorial Sports Complex The Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC; formerly known as Rizal Memorial Field) is a national sports complex of the Philippines, located on Pablo Ocampo St. (formerly Vito Cruz St.), Malate, Manila. It is named in honor of the country's national ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 10,000.

History

1934 Far Eastern Championship Games

The

Far Eastern Championship Games The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. History In 1913, Elwood Brown, president of ...

(also known as Far East Games) was a small Asian multi-sport competition considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. In 1912, E.S. Brown, president of the Philippine Athletic Association and Manila Carnival Games, proposed the creation of the "Far Eastern Olympic Games" to China and Japan. It was at that time that Governor-General

William Cameron Forbes William Cameron Forbes (May 21, 1870 – December 24, 1959) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He served as governor-general of the Philippines from 1909 to 1913 and ambassador of the United States to Japan from 1930 to 1932. He was ...

was the president of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Association from 1911-1913. Governor-General Forbes formed the Far Eastern Olympic Association. Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium 5

The first Far Eastern Championship Games was held in the Manila Carnival Grounds in Malate, Manila, Philippines on February 4, 1913. Forbes was also the one who formally declared the games open. Six countries participated in the eight-day event: The Philippine Islands, Republic of China, Empire of Japan, British East Indies (

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

), Kingdom of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and British crown colony

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. The Philippines also hosted the games in 1925 and 1934. The Manila Carnival Grounds was redeveloped into the

in 1934, named in honor of the country's national hero, Dr.

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Gali ...

, before the 10th Far Eastern Games. Baseball was a main event in every Far Eastern Games and, in that year, the games were played at the new Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. Legendary American players

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

and

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 ...

hit the first and second home runs, respectively. The game that saw the participation of an all-star team, which included Gehrig, Ruth and Jimmy Foxx, was one of the highlights of the stadium’s history.

World War II

In February 1945, the Japanese forces built a defensive stronghold in their retreat against the advancing American infantry. The stronghold was built in the Harrison area, which included De La Salle University and the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. The 1st Cavalry Division of the Americans defeated the Japanese by utilizing three tanks, demolitions, and flamethrowers. The Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium suffered devastation due to the war. By April 1945, Garrisoned American & Filipino soldiers under the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Philippine Commonwealth Army The Philippine Army was established on December 21, 1935, as the Army of the Philippines, with a general headquarters in Manila, and units and formations based throughout the provinces of the Philippines. The Philippine Army was initially org ...

Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; tl, Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas, ''HPP''; es, Policía de Filipinas, ''PF'') was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Po ...

were playing baseball before thousands of spectators at the ruins of the stadium after the liberation. The stadium was repaired with the floodlights of the then newly renovated stadium first opened by January 1946.

1954 Asian Baseball Championship

The stadium was the venue of the

1954 Asian Baseball Championship The Asian Baseball Championship was the first continental tournament held by the Baseball Federation of Asia, from 18 to 26 December. The tournament was held in Manila, Philippines, and was won by the host nation. 17,000 people attended the final ...

. The year 1954 is considered as the beginning of the golden era in Philippine baseball history as the Philippines won first place in the Asian Baseball Championships. The Philippines was the inaugural champions of the Asian Baseball Championships in 1954 but finished fourth in seven of the next eight editions of the biennial events.

Architecture

The Rizal Memorial Stadium is considered to be an Art Deco architectural design that incorporated streamlines and simpler lines, flat surfaces and rounded edges. The design represented stability and modernity. The complex, built under the supervision of architect

Juan Arellano Juan Marcos Arellano y de Guzmán (April 25, 1888 – December 5, 1960), or Juan M. Arellano, was a Filipino architect, best known for Manila's Metropolitan Theater (1935), Legislative Building (1926; now houses the National Museum of F ...

, started construction in 1927. Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium (Malate, Manila; 11-23-2019).jpg, The stadium's facade featuring Art Deco lettering Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Baseball Stadium Pit Bull.jpg, Stadium's bullpen RMSjf9924 04.JPG, Grandstand of the stadium

References

External links

Revisiting an Aging MeccaRizal Memorial Baseball Stadium
{{coord, 14, 33, 42, N, 120, 59, 34, E, type:landmark, display=title Sports venues in Manila Baseball venues in the Philippines Art Deco architecture in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Malate, Manila Juan M. Arellano buildings Sports venues completed in 1934 1934 establishments in the Philippines