Capitoline Grounds

Capitoline Grounds was a baseball park in Brooklyn, New York in the 1860s and 1870s. It was also known as Capitoline Skating Lake and Base Ball Ground (Lowry 1986). Presumably it was flooded for some winter seasons, as were Union Grounds in New York and Union Grounds in Cincinnati.

Built on a large block bounded by Halsey Street and Marcy, Putnam and Nostrand Avenues, the ballpark was intended to rival nearby Union Grounds, the first venue enclosed for baseball. It was given its lofty name in reference to Capitoline Hill, one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. It was home to several ballclubs in Brooklyn and New York from its opening in 1864 until around 1880. Its most prominent tenant was the Atlantic Club, the national champion undefeated and once tied in 1864 and 1865. The Atlantics hosted National Association games there in 1872, Capitoline is considered a major league ballpark by those who count the NA as a major league. Then Atlantic moved to Union Grounds for the next three seasons.

Probably the most famous event at the Capitoline Grounds occurred on June 14, 1870, when the Atlantics beat the Cincinnati Red Stockings, ending the Reds lengthy and storied winning streak.

Later that summer, sportswriter Henry Chadwick arranged a public demonstration of the curveball at the Capitoline Grounds. At Chadwick's instigation two stakes were placed twenty feet apart in a line between the pitcher and batter's boxes. A young pitcher named Fred Goldsmith, who would later star with the Chicago White Stockings, threw a ball to the right of the first stake, and to the left of the second. Prior to this demonstration, many had believed that the curveball was merely an optical illusion.

References

*"Green Cathedrals", by Philip J. Lowry, 1986.
*"Ballparks of North America", by Michael Benson, 1989.