Locating Exposition Park by Denis Repp
(This article originally appeared in the December 2002 issue of BLACK AND GOLD, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Alumni newsletter.)
In October, some local fans and members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) surveyed the area between PNC Park and Heinz Field and located the infield of old Exposition Park. This particularly timely, as 2003 will mark the 100th anniversary of the first “modern” World Series, played on that spot between the Pirates and the Boston Americans.
Exposition Park was built in 1890 on the north shore of the Allegheny River, and the team that would shortly be called “the Pirates” moved in a year later.
The Bucs struggled during their first decade there, despite the efforts of future Hall of Famers Pud Galvin, Jake Beckley, and catcher-manager Connie Mack. The club improved with the arrival of Fred Clarke and Honus Wagner in 1900, and the Pirates were among baseball’s elite during the first decade of the 20th century. After winning their first National League pennant in 1901, the Bucs repeated in 1902, leading the pack by an amazing 27 ½ games. Exposition Park saw a third consecutive pennant in 1903.
The American League gained major-league status in 1901, and the National League at first refused to have anything to do with the upstarts. By 1903, however, the two leagues had made their peace. Pirate owner Barney Dreyfuss challenged the AL champs, the Boston Americans, to a post-season series. (That club would not be called the “Red Sox” until a few years later.) Henry Killilea, the Boston owner, assured by his players that they could win, accepted. The best-of-nine series started in Boston with the Bucs taking two of the first three games from the Americans.
The Series then shifted to Exposition Park, with the Boston contingent fortified by their “Royal Rooters” fan club. The Pirates won Game 4, but behind the pitching of Cy Young, the Americans took the next three games. The Pirates then lost the Series a few days later, back in Boston.
(The pennant-winning New York Giants declined the American League challenge in 1904, so there was no Series that year. Since 1905, the two pennant winners have automatically been paired up in the Fall Classic.)
Although they were a good team for the rest of their time at Exposition Park, the Pirates would win no more pennants there. They were in first place in June of 1909, when they moved across town to new Forbes Field, and held on to win another pennant (and their first World Series) that fall.
Exposition Park lasted for several more year, hosting rival leagues and other games, but by the 1920s it was a memory, lost in the mists of Pittsburgh history. When Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970, one occasionally heard references to the old ballpark that was “around here somewhere,” but it wasn’t until 1993 that SABR members Dan Bonk, Dennis and Jeanne DeValeria, and Ed Luteran took the time to find out exactly where it was.
The survey marked Exposition Park’s home plate. It was in a parking lot near Three Rivers, and this work culminated in the 1998 dedication of a state historical marker commemorating the ballpark and the 1903 World Series.
Unfortunately, when Three Rivers was demolished, the marks in the parking lot and the historical marker vanished. The marker has yet to resurface, and we have been working with the Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority and the Heinz History Center to get it replaced.
Re-marking the field was an easier matter. On October 13, 2002, Dan Bonk, Mike Smith, Ed Luteran, Len Martin, Dennis DeValeria and I gathered near PNC Park, armed with old maps and surveying equipment. Several hours later, we had marked Exposition Park’s home plate, pitcher’s plate, and bases.
Why do we do this? Who cares about an old, long-gone ballpark? We do it to remember the men who played there, and the fans who watched them. Today’s fans and players view PNC Park as the best ballpark in the land, a field that hosts the finest ballplayers in the world, and so it is. In their day, however, people said exactly the same things about Three Rivers Stadium, Forbes Field, and Exposition Park.
The 2003 Pirates might never consider the notion that, one day, they might be as forgotten as some of the 1903 Pirates are. We’re here to see that they won’t be. We know them now, and we will remember them later. And we feel that anyone who played, worked, or bought a ticket at Three Rivers, Forbes, or old Expo deserved the same.
Besides… stepping up to the plate, swinging a bat, and knowing that Honus Wagner once did the same thing while looking at Cy Young… that’s kind of a kick, isn’t it?
In June of 2003, Boston will be making its first return trip to Pittsburgh since 1903 as the Red Sox will be in town for three interleague games. Other than our marks on the field, it’s unclear at this writing what will be done to commemorate the Centennial.
Exposition Park was mostly contained in what is now Lot 2, outside Heinz Field. From PNC Park, walk down General Robinson Street, toward Heinz. Just after you cross Tony Dorsett Drive, under the bridge overpass, take a look in Lot 2, to your left. The left field line ran toward the river, and the right field line ran along General Robinson.
Update, 10/03: During the 100th anniversary of the week of that first World Series, the replacement historical marker was installed. It correctly identifies the teams involved as “National League champion Pittsburgh” and “American League champion Boston.” (The “Pirate” name was widely used at the time, but had not yet been officially adopted by the club. Boston did not have any one nickname; it has been shown that they were certainly not the “Pilgrims” or “Puritans”, and the Red Sox name was still in their future.) It now stands along the RiverWalk, at the bottom of the waterfall, near where the Gateway Clipper boats dock for Pirate games. The plate and base marks remain in Lot 2. This lot is slated, eventually, to be replaced by new construction. We will attempt to maintain the marks, as possible. The new marker, however, is on public parkland, and should remain undisturbed until the next Pirate World Series, at least, and for a long time after that.