Union Base-Ball Grounds 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 t ...

park located in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. The park was "very visibly

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

", its small block bounded on the west by Michigan Avenue, on the north by Randolph Street, and on the east by railroad tracks and the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

shore, which was then much closer than it is today. The site is now part of

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center ne ...

Baseball

1871 Chicago view before the Great Conflagration cropped

Union Base-Ball Grounds was also called White-Stocking Park, as it was the home field of the Chicago White Stockings of the National Association in 1871, after spending the 1870 season as an independent professional club playing home games variously at Dexter Park race course and

Ogden Park Ogden Park, also known as Ogden Skating Park, was a recreational facility on the near north side of Chicago around the 1860s and 1870s. It was home to the Ogden Skating Club. It was on a piece of land east of where Ontario Street (at that time) T-e ...

. The

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

of October 8 destroyed Union Base-Ball Grounds and all of the club's possessions. After fulfilling its 1871 obligations by playing on the road, the club did not field a team for the next two seasons, and the ballpark was not rebuilt. Lake Shore Park 1883

In 1878, the White Stockings returned to the 1871 site and to a new park that is usually called Lake-Shore Park, Lake Front Park, or simply Lake Park, which was actually the name for the entire waterfront area (not just the ballpark) until being renamed Grant Park in 1901.In 1883, the second Lakefront Park opened. The second Lakefront Park is noted for its extremely short dimensions. A ball hit over the wall was normally considered a

ground rule double A ground rule double is a baseball rule that awards two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter-runner, as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a condition of the groun ...

. However in 1884, these short dimensions allowed the Cubs to set

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

records that would not be broken until

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 ...

over 30 years later.

Ned Williamson Edward Nagle "Ned" Williamson (October 24, 1857 – March 3, 1894) was a professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball. He played for three teams: the Indianapolis Blues of the National League (NL) for one season, the Chicago Whit ...

Fred Pfeffer Nathaniel Frederick Pfeffer (March 17, 1860 – April 10, 1932), nicknamed "Dandelion" and "Fritz", was an American baseball player. He was a second baseman in Major League Baseball between 1882 and 1897. His final game took place on June 14, 18 ...

Abner Dalrymple Abner Frank Dalrymple (September 9, 1857 – January 25, 1939) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who hit 43 home runs (including 22 in 1884, the second-highest total to that date) and batted .288 with 407 RBI during his 12-s ...

, and

Cap Anson Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association (NA), he played a record 27 ...

each hit over 20 homers, with Williamson leading the way with 27. It is Lake Front Park, often with a numeral I or II, in recent reference works including Retrosheet and the 1986 edition of Lowry. At the new park, the outfield area was especially close in right field. The right field fence was less than 200 feet away, so anyone hitting the ball over that fence was awarded only a

. Batters would aim for the fence, and during their years at the park, the Chicago club regularly led the league in doubles. In what would be their final season on the lakefront, the White Stockings decided to make the entire outfield fence home run territory. Thus, the team slumped in the number of doubles while boosting their home runs from typically a dozen or two to 142, easily outdistancing second place Buffalo, which had 39 for the season. The entire league's home run totals were up, thanks to the change to the Chicago ground rules. The team played at Lake-Shore Park through the 1884 season. After the season, the city reclaimed the land, and the White Stockings became a road team for the first couple of months of 1885 while awaiting construction of the first

West Side Park West Side Park was the name used for two different ballparks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois. They were both home fields of the team now known as the Chicago Cubs of the National League. Both ballparks hosted baseball championships. T ...

. The lumber from the stands was disassembled and reconfigured as the new stands at West Side Park. hicago ''Tribune'', March 15, 1885, p.11

Football

The first

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

game in the Midwest was played at the park on May 30, 1879, when the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

met

Racine College Racine College was an Episcopal preparatory school and college in Racine, Wisconsin, that operated between 1852 and 1933. Located south of the city along Lake Michigan, the campus has been maintained and is today known as the DeKoven Center ...

. Michigan won, 1-0, on a place-kick by David DeTarr.

Notes

References

*Jack Bales,
Ballparks,"WrigleyIvy.com
*Jack Bales
''Before They Were the Cubs: The Early Years of Chicago’s First Professional Baseball Team''.
Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2019. * * Retrosheet

Retrieved 2006-08-31. * Retrosheet

Retrieved 2006-09-04.

External links

Library of Congress map of Chicago showing the ballpark, supposed to be 1892
{{coord, 41, 53, 2, N, 87, 37, 26, W, region:US-IL_type:landmark, display=title Defunct baseball venues in the United States Defunct college football venues Chicago Cubs stadiums Baseball venues in Chicago Sports venues in Chicago Sports venues completed in 1871 Defunct sports venues in Illinois