Gilmore Field

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Gilmore Field
nickname =


location = Beverly Boulevard Hollywood, California
USA
coordinates =
broke_ground = 1938
opened = May 2, 1939
renovated =
expanded =
closed = September 5, 1957
demolished = 1958
owner =
operator =
surface = Grass
construction_cost =
architect =
project_manager =
main_contractors =
former_names =
tenants = MLB Spring Training:
Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) (1948)
Minor League Baseball:
Hollywood Stars (PCL) (1939-1957)
seating_capacity = 12,987
dimensions = Left Field - 335 ft.
Center Left - 385
Center Field - 400 ft.
Center Right - 385
Right Field -335 ft.

Gilmore Field is the name of a former minor league baseball park that served as home to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League from 1939-1957 when they, along with their intra-city rivals, the Los Angeles Angels, were displaced by the transplanted Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League.

History

Gilmore Field opened on May 2, 1939 and was the home of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League until September 5, 1957. The stadium had a seating capacity of 12,987 people.

Location

The ballpark was located on the south side of Beverly Boulevard between Genesee Avenue and The Grove Drive, just east of where CBS is currently located. A couple hundred yards to the west was Gilmore Stadium, an oval-shaped venue built several years earlier, which was used for football games and midget auto racing. To the east was the famous Pan-Pacific Auditorium. Both facilities were built by Earl Gilmore, son of Arthur F. Gilmore and president of A. F. Gilmore Oil, a California-based petroleum company which was developed after Arthur struck oil on the family property. [http://www.projectballpark.org/history/pcl/gilmore.html] The area was rich in petroleum, which was the source of the "tar" in the nearby La Brea Tar Pits.

Field

The field had intimate quarters from the spectator standpoint - first and third bases were 24 feet from the first row of seats. Home plate was 34 feet from the stands. [ [http://www.farmersmarketla.com/history/marketfacts.html The Sporting Life (Farmer's Market)] , Retrieved June 22 2007] The outfield gave the pitchers more of a break with foul lines 335 feet long, power alleys about 385, and 407 to center field. (Ritter, p.75) The power alleys were thus 40 feet deeper than in the cross-town counterpart, Wrigley Field.

Hollywood Stars

In 1938 Herbert Fleishaker, owner of the Mission Reds moved his team to Los Angeles, and took the name of the Hollywood Stars after the city's previous PCL franchise. After but one season, the team was sold to new owners, among them Bob Cobb of Brown Derby Restaurant fame and the inventor of the California Cobb Salad. In their salad days, as it were, the Stars attracted glamorous actors and other celebrities or anyone else who wanted to be "seen", much as Dodger Stadium would later. One of the L.A. Angels players, Chuck Connors, made a successful move from one side of the box seat railing to the other, becoming a popular TV star. The Stars would play at Gilmore Field until 1957.

Pittsburgh Pirates

In 1948, Gilmore Field became the spring training location for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Movies

Although L.A.'s Wrigley Field seemed to get the lions' share of Hollywood screen time, Gilmore Field also had its moments on celluloid. It was featured in a 1949 movie called "The Stratton Story", starring James Stewart and June Allyson, the true story of a promising pitcher (Monty Stratton) whose career was curtailed due to a hunting accident that left him with an artificial leg. Stratton's major league baseball career was over, but he made a comeback at the minor league level. The scenes at the end of the movie were set elsewhere, but were filmed at Gilmore Field. The layout of the outfield, and especially the exceptionally high left and right field corners, help to identify it.

Demolished

The ballpark site was abandoned after 1957. Gilmore Field was razed in 1958, and much of the site is now occupied by a parking lot at CBS Television City, near the Farmers Market. In September of 1997, the Pacific Coast League Historical Society, CBS, and the A.F. Gilmore Company dedicated a bronze plaque in commemoration of Gilmore Field on a wall outside CBS Studio 46.

References

*"Lost Ballparks" by Lawrence Ritter.

External links

* [http://www.ballparktour.com/Gilmore_Field_Gallery.html Gilmore Field gallery at BallparkTour.com]
* [http://www.baseballreliquary.org/GilmoreFieldModel.htm Gilmore Field Model]