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Bosse Field

Baseball stadium in Evansville, Indiana

Baseball stadium in Evansville, Indiana

FieldValue
nameBosse Field
imageBosse Field, Evansville, Indiana.jpg
image_size300px
location23 Don Mattingly Way
Evansville, Indiana 47711
public_transitMETS
openedJune 17, 1915
ownerEvansville Vanderburgh School Corporation
operatorEvansville Otters
surfaceBermuda Grass
construction_cost$65,000
tenantsEvansville Otters (FL) 1995–present
List of previous tenants
seating_capacity7,180 (1915–1958)
5,181 (1958–present)
record_attendance8,253 (July 24, 2013)
dimensionsLeft field – 315 ft
Center field – 415 ft
Right field – 315 ft

Evansville, Indiana 47711 List of previous tenants 5,181 (1958–present) Center field – 415 ft Right field – 315 ft

Bosse Field is a baseball stadium located in Evansville, Indiana, seating 5,181 people. Opened in 1915, it was the first municipally owned sports stadium in the United States and is the third-oldest ballpark still in regular use for professional baseball, surpassed only by Fenway Park (1912) in Boston and Wrigley Field (1914) in Chicago.

It is the home field of the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League (FL), as well as high school and American Legion games, and in the past hosted spring training for the Detroit Tigers, college baseball, high school, college, and NFL football, college soccer, and concerts. Six Baseball Hall of Fame members played for Evansville teams at Bosse Field during their minor league careers, including Chuck Klein, Hank Greenberg, Warren Spahn, Bob Uecker, Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris. The historic stadium was also used in 1991 by Columbia Pictures for filming numerous game scenes in the 1992 comedy-drama, A League of Their Own.

History

Benjamin Bosse, mayor of Evansville from 1914 to 1922, reached an agreement with Thomas Garvin's family shortly after taking office in January 1914 to purchase land on the north side of the city for a park. However, the city was in a deficit and could not afford the full $50,000 price. Mayor Bosse conceived of the plan to sell part of the land to the school board who would then build a new stadium to be used for school functions as well as Evansville's baseball team, of which Bosse was a co-owner. When the president of the school board opposed the plan, Bosse had him replaced with a friend, and the new school board both approved the project and also voted to name it Bosse Field in honor of the mayor. Construction was completed the following summer, and Bosse Field opened on June 17, 1915. A Central League record crowd of 8,082 fans attended the stadium dedication and opening game, a 4–0 Evansville victory. Evansville was in third place when they moved to Bosse Field, but went on to win the league championship in 1915.

Ten baseball teams other than the Otters have played at Bosse Field. Some of the most famous are the Evansville Triplets (1970–84), Evansville Braves (1946–57), Evas/Pocketeers/Hubs (1919–1931) and the Evansville River Rats (1914–15). The River Rats had played in Evansville previously from (1903–1910) and (1901–1902). The Triplets won the American Association titles in 1972, 1975, and 1979. The River Rats won the Central League title in 1908 and 1915. The Braves won the Three-I League title in 1946, 1948, 1956, and 1957.

From 1921 to 1922, Bosse Field was used as a football stadium and was home to the Evansville Crimson Giants of the NFL.

The Otters franchise came to Evansville in 1995 and have attracted a record number of fans for the league. In 2006 the Otters won the Frontier League title.

Baseball Hall of Fame members Hank Greenberg, Chuck Klein, Edd Roush, Warren Spahn, and Sam Thompson played at Bosse Field during their careers; Hall of Fame Broadcaster, Bob Ueker spent part of the 1957 season as part of the Evansville Braves; another 95 Hall of Fame members visited Bosse Field on opposing teams. There have been over 20 Major League Baseball players from Evansville and dozens of Minor Leaguers.

Football Hall of Fame member Bob Griese played high school football and American Legion baseball at Bosse Field; Don Mattingly, Andy Benes, Rob Maurer, Jeff Schulz, Alan Benes and Jamey Carroll all played at Bosse Field during their high school and/or college careers.

Former/current professional teams

Current / former professional teams who have called Bosse Field home, have won a combined 10 league titles.

TeamSportLeaguePlayedClassAffiliationChampionships
Evansville River RatsBaseballCentral League1915BCentral League Title 1915
Evansville EvasBaseballCentral League1916–1917BNone
Evansville Black SoxBaseballThree-I League1919BNone
Evansville EvasBaseballThree-I League1920–1923BNone
Evansville Crimson GiantsFootballNational Football League1921–1922Major ProfessionalNone
Evansville Little EvasBaseballThree-I League1924BNone
Evansville PocketeersBaseballThree-I League1925BNone
Evansville HubsBaseballThree-I League1926–1931BDetroit Tigers, 1928–1931None
Evansville BeesBaseballThree-I League1938–1942BBoston Bees, 1938–1940
Boston Braves, 1940–1942None
Evansville BravesBaseballThree-I League1946–1957BBoston Braves, 1946–1953
Milwaukee Braves, 1953–1957Three-I League Title 1946, 1948, 1956, 1957
Evansville White SoxBaseballSouthern League1966–1968AAChicago White SoxNone
Evansville TripletsBaseballAmerican Association1970–1984AAAMinnesota Twins, 1970
Milwaukee Brewers, 1971–1973
Detroit Tigers, 1974–1984American Association Title 1972, 1975, 1979; Junior World Series 1975
Evansville OttersBaseballFrontier League1995–presentIndependentFrontier League Title 2006, 2016

Concerts

  • July 2, 1972: Freedom Festival and Ice Cream Social with Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Edgar Winter, Dr. John 'The Night Tripper', Cactus, Black Oak Arkansas, Spirit, Country Joe & The Fish, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Boones Farm and New Riders of the Purple Sage
  • August 20, 1974: Allman Brothers Band, Elvin Bishop, REO Speedwagon

References

References

  1. (March 17, 2025). "A Swing and a Hit".
  2. "Bosse Field". Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau.
  3. "Bosse Field Facts". Evansville Otters.
  4. Ethridge, Tim. (March 8, 2015). "ETHRIDGE: 100 on 100, the history of Bosse Field". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  5. Engelhardt, Gordon. (June 17, 2015). "Bosse Field a comfortable Evansville fixture for 100 years". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  6. Engelhardt, Gordon. (August 2, 2014). "Bosse Field still shines after all these years". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  7. "Bosse Field".
  8. (April 29, 2015). "BOSSE FIELD: The all-time Evansville team". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  9. (May 19, 2015). "Can you name Bosse Field's 100 Hall of Famers?". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  10. "A League of Their Own". The Internet Movie Database.
  11. Bosse, Jeff. (April 29, 2015). "BOSSE FIELD: Ben Bosse's grand idea". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  12. (June 15, 2015). "BOSSE FIELD: Opening Day, 1915". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  13. Johnson, Dave. (May 20, 2015). "BOSSE FIELD: Evansville's first home run". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  14. (2015-06-14). "BOSSE FIELD: Loving Cup on opening day". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  15. "Frontier League History". Frontier Professional Baseball.
  16. Ethridge, Tim. (April 29, 2015). "BOSSE FIELD: It rocked, good and bad". [[Evansville Courier & Press]].
  17. "Rock concert could draw 25,000". Evansville Press.
  18. (February 25, 2010). "The San Francisco Sound".
  19. "A Timeline". Country Joe's Place.
  20. "Allman Brothers, Bishop coming". Evansville Press.
  21. "Classic Rock Concerts".
  22. "Set Lists". Allman Brothers Band.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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