Haight Street Grounds

Haight Street Grounds was one of San Francisco's earliest baseball parks. It was built for use by the California League and was located on the east side of Golden Gate Park, bounded by Stanyan, Waller, Shrader, and Frederick streets. [1889 Sanborn map showing the "Cal'a league base ball grounds". San Francisco, 1886-1893, vol. 3, 1889, sheet 88f_a. [http://sanborn.umi.com Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970.] ] The opening game on April 3, 1887 between the Haverlys and the Pioneers was attended by 10,000 fans. [Lange, Fred W. "History of Baseball in California and Pacific Coast Leagues 1847-1938: Memories and Musings of an Old Time Baseball Player". Oakland, CA, 1938.] In 1893, the California League folded, and, in 1895, plans were announced to use the ballpark land for residential development. [Spalding, John E. "Always on Sunday: The California Baseball League, 1886 to 1915." Manhattan, KS: Ag Press, 1992.] ["Fresno Morning Republican," "Haight Street Grounds Doomed," March 1, 1895.]

While built for baseball, Haight Street Grounds is noteworthy for being the birthplace of the Big Game, a now annual football game between Stanford University and Cal.In fact, Haight Street Grounds was the site of the first four Big Games, which were played March 19, 1892; December 17, 1892; November 28, 1893; and November 29, 1894. [Sheehan, Jack F. and Louis Honig. " [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC21772250&id=kBQJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22haight+street+grounds%22+%22big+game%22 The Games of California and Stanford: Nine Years of Intercollegiate Athletic Contests.] " San Francisco: Commercial Publishing Company, 1900.]

References