Ponce de Leon Park

Ponce de Leon Park, also known as Spiller Park or Spiller Field during 1924-1932, was the primary home field for the minor league baseball team called the Atlanta Crackers for nearly six decades. The Crackers played here in the Southern Association (1907-1959) and the International League (1962-64).

The ballpark was at 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue, which was to the park's north along its first base side. To the west behind third base was North Avenue. Up the slope to the east and northeast behind the outfield was a set of railroad tracks once belonging to the Southern Railway.

The original ballpark on the site opened in 1907. The structure was destroyed by fire in 1923. It was rebuilt in 1924 and was named for club owner Tell J. Spiller. It reverted to its original name in 1933. The seating capacity of the park was about 20,000.

The park was known for a magnolia tree in deep centerfield. Balls landing in the tree remained in play, until Earl Mann took over the team in 1947 and had the outfield wall moved in about fifty feet [ [http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/0403/25tree.html Tree stands as link to city's baseball roots] , an April 25, 2003 article from "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"] . During exhibition games, Babe Ruth and Eddie Mathews both hit home runs that became stuck in the distant tree.

After the Crackers moved to Atlanta Stadium in 1965, Ponce de Leon Park was demolished in favor of a shopping center. The famous magnolia tree is still standing at the edge of the shopping center.

The ballpark's name, like the street that ran beside it, is pronounced the anglicized way, "Pahns duh LEE-ahn", by native Atlantans, instead of the Spanish pronunciation, "Pahn-say day lay-OHN".

References

*"Ballparks of North America", by Michael Benson, McFarland Press, 1989.
*"Ernie Harwell's Audio Scrapbook", by Ernie Harwell and Bob Harris, AudioBook Publications, 2006.

External links

* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/SportsRecreation/IndividualandTeamSports/Baseball&id=h-2475 Georgia Encyclopedia]
*Sarah Toton, " [http://www.southernspaces.org/contents/2008/toton/1a.htm Vale of Amusements: Modernity, Technology, and Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park, 1870-1920] " "Southern Spaces", 15 January 2008.