List of Baseball Parks in San Francisco, California - First Baseball Park, Recreation Grounds

First Baseball Park, Recreation Grounds

California's and San Francisco's first enclosed professional baseball park, located in the heavily Irish workingman Mission District, was named simply 'The Recreation Grounds' and opened November 26, 1868 and operated until November 23, 1884. Built on the site of the Pioneer Race Course, a horse race track owned by George Treat, and the facility was used for multi-purposes including base ball games and cricket matches as early as October 1860. The grandstand accommodated initially a capacity of 12,000 fans and was later expanded to hold 17,000. Home of the Pacific Baseball League beginning in 1878, was owned an operated by the politically active Captain Al Fritz of the influential Workingman's Party of California in partnership with Samuel Shear on land leased from San Francisco Mayor Andrew J. Bryant. In the later years after the death of Fritz, the Recreation Grounds was leased by Waller Walace and Andy Pierce for organized ball play with the preeminent team of that era being the Haverlys. In 1879 league play included a new Military League, organized by newspaper reporter Joseph H. McCloskey, drawn from teams of local militias which were generally aligned along ethnic lines. The period of 1881 to 1886 saw league play from the California League which falied to achieve much organizational competence, during the year 1883 for instance, there was only 36 games among four teams.

The location of this ballpark bordered Harrison, Twenty-Fifth, Folsom and Twenty-Sixth Streets, including present day Garfield Square. Photo. Other teams playing in Recreation Grounds included the Eagles, Wide Awakes, Niantics, Woonsockets and the Reddingtons. 37°45′2.63″N 122°24′49.33″W / 37.7507306°N 122.4137028°W / 37.7507306; -122.4137028 (home plate)